Tag Archives: wollongong

Get ready for Illawarra Map Running 2024

As in previous years, IKO will be hosting a series of 4 Sunday events in the Illawarra beginning 4 February 2024. The series aims to promote the sport of orienteering in the Illawarra and encourage first-timers to give it a go in a safe and welcoming environment. All courses are based around local parks and streets.

Starts are from 10-11am Sundays and competitors have the choice of short, medium or long courses. Families and groups welcome!

4 February – South Wollongong
11 February – Kiama Downs
18 February – Thirroul
3 March – Shell Cove

Entries are preferred via Eventor as it gives us a good idea of how many people to expect. But enter on the day is possible (card payments only) for beginners.

A special offer to newcomers – compete in at least 3 events and receive a free 12 month membership with our club!

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.

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!

Illawarra Map Running #2 Fairy Meadow

It was all smiles at our 2nd event of the Illawarra Map Running Series today at Fairy Meadow. Course setter Vicki made the most of Guest Park and Cabbage Tree Creek with a few slightly hilly forays into the surrounding streets for the medium and long courses.

We had 30 starters including 7 newcomers and a couple of visiting Austrian orienteers who came first and second on the medium course! David and Helen provided great instruction at the start for those new to the sport.

The short series concludes next week at Figtree where Ken and Helen have warned us that our feet may get wet!

Below are just a few of the happy faces snapped at today’s event. See Facebook for more photos.

Lets try orienteering @ Wollongong Library

IKO is pleased to be partnering with Wollongong Library for an introductory workshop on orienteering. The workshop on Saturday 30 July at 1pm will include an introductory presentation on orienteering and a fun demonstration event around the streets and parks of Wollongong.

Anyone who wants to learn more about orienteering and how to get started is welcome to join and the event is FREE!

Follow the link below to register with the library:

https://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/library-events/adult-wol/lets-try…-orienteering-wollongong-library

REMINDER: This weekend we also have our club training day at Belanglo Forest on Saturday and the SHOO Highland Forest event on Sunday, also at Belanglo. See previous posts for more details.