Tag Archives: orienteering

Gwynneville event coming up on Saturday 13 May

The next local IKO event will be on Saturday 13 May at Gwynneville in Wollongong. Starts are from 2-3pm. If you haven’t run on the Gwynneville map you will be pleasantly surprised – it is a hidden gem. Newcomers are very welcome and club members will be on hand to provide guidance. For details on the event go to https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/18342 .

Run down on State League # 3 event at Belanglo 29 April 2023

Despite continuous rain throughout the day 90% of competitors who had pre-entered the NSW State League #3 event turned up to run in the middle distance event in the Belanglo State Forest organised by IKO. The courses, complete with spectator control, were set by Ken Mills who also took on the task of turning on all 45 controls prior to the 12 noon start. The shorter courses were set in the native forest with its distinctive rock features, whilst the longer courses also included some legs in the pine forest. In spite of being soaked to the skin there were few complaints from the runners at the finish – apart from those of us who had difficulty locating the termite mounds which were now grey rather than their usual red-brown colour. Check out photos on our Facebook page. Results are available from https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/ResultList?eventId=17753&groupBy=EventClass With club members pitching in to pick up controls and pack up some very wet gear after the event we were soon negotiating the, by now, very slippery dirt road out to the highway and a welcome dinner at the Sutton Forest Inn. The following day David and Vicki were kept busy drying off all the wet gear.

State League events Southern Highlands 29 & 30 April

IKO is organising the State League #3 middle distance event in Belanglo State Forest on Saturday afternoon the 29^th of April. Starts are from 1-2pm. See details on Eventor. Whilst pre-entry is encouraged there will be a limited number of enter on the day courses available. Ken Mills is setting the courses so dust off your O shoes and be prepared for a for an interesting forest run and a chance for those new to orienteering to try out bush orienteering. There will be club members at hand to guide you on your way.

On Sunday morning 30th April the Southern Highlands Occasional Orienteers are organising the State League #4 long distance event at Soapy Flat near Mittagong. See details on Eventor. Why not make a weekend of it and stay overnight in the Southern Highlands or at the ONSW Belanglo Forest Hut – bookings should be made through Orienteering NSW.

Club members able to help out at the IKO event on the Saturday should email julespeter3@optusnet.com.au .You will be able to run a course as well as volunteer.

METRO LEAGUE starts next Sunday 23 April

The Metro League is the annual inter-club orienteering competition for greater Sydney metropolitan clubs. The series is run from March through until August/September with events conducted on one Sunday morning per month. Teams of five compete against each other. Courses are of a Moderate (Division 4-6) or Hard (Division 1-3) standard and a variety of distances. Most people finish within an hour.

Illawarra Kareelah Orienteers (IKO) combine forces with Southern Highlands Occasional Orienteers to form teams that run in 5 Divisions.We are looking for runners to enter divisions 6,5,4,3 and 1 for the first race of the 2023 competition at Mitchell Park, Cattai, this coming Sunday. For event details and entries go to https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/18674

Note: Pre-entries close at 12noon Saturday 22 April.

New members are especially welcome to come along and find out what it’s all about. If you would like to run in a team contact our Club Captain James Stuart at ikorienteers@gmail.com. Otherwise turn up and compete in one of enter on the day courses that will be available.

Next event at Kirrawee South 18 March – New Map

The next IKO event will be held in the Sutherland Shire on the new Kirrawee South map on Saturday 18^th March. See Eventor for details. Courses will take you through reserves and streets and for those running on the long and medium courses there will be the added challenge of navigating to controls in the bush.

Volunteer of the Year 2022

Steve Holloway receiving his award from Ken

Congratulations to our very own Stephen Holloway who was awarded the honour of Volunteer of the Year for 2022 by Orienteering NSW.

The award was passed on to club President Ken Mills who presented it to Steve at our recent AGM in Wollongong. The Volunteer of the Year Award is presented to a member/s who are recognised for meritorious service to the sport of orienteering in NSW.

Making orienteering visible in the general community in the Illawarra region, Steve has been paramount in initiating and implementing hands-on workshops at Wollongong and Thirroul libraries to attract newcomers. These successful 2-hr workshops offer the public a chance to experience orienteering instruction via a video then a hands-on demo course, followed by a course in the nearby local area. More library workshops are being considered for this year.

Steve also provides coaching in local schools to support their orienteering programs and is an invaluable and pro-active member of our club. Well done Steve, we appreciate everything you do for our club and our sport!