Wet track suits Charlton
Event: NOY2 - Kitchener
Map: Shotgun Avenue
Weather: Wet, medium to light rain, slippery
Setter: Denis Lyons
Setup: Denis Lyons, Mick Kavur, Carolyn Chalmers, Geoff & Margaret Peel
Rego: Cheryle Todkill, Denis Lyons
Finish: Geoff Peel, Carolyn Chalmers, Joy Guy
Collection: Mick Kavur, Shane Jenkins, Rudi Landseidel, Joy Guy, David Kitchener.
Long weekends usually mean at least some wet weather and this time it happened to coincide with our event. Plenty of hardcore orienteers still made the journey to Kitchener to contest NOY2 regardless of the damp conditions.
The Shotgun Alley map is a terrific area for orienteering offering mostly good running with some technically challenging, and I must say spectacular at times, erosion gullies.
Many competitors were doubling up after the Saturday's NSW Night Champs held just about 12 hours prior in Sydney. This didn't seem to hinder them as both the winner of the Long and Medium Red courses had contested that event.
Peter Charlton took the full 100 points for what must be the first time in many years, proving he still has the speed needed when required. He pushed junior Alex Massey into second with Glen Burgess rounding out the top 3.
Jenny Enderby topped the Medium Red a couple of minutes ahead of a surprisingly fast David Kitchener. Alarmingly he seems to get better the less training he does.
Our junior girl state representatives blitzed the Short Red with Sally-Anne Henderson and Elly Ross a step ahead of the pack, relegating Graeme Taplin to a very distant third.
Great to see the return of the Doyle family after a reasonable absence. Gavin showed he hasn't forgotten how to navigate, winning the Orange course, while the kids placed well on the Blue course.
Next weekend we have a "National Orienteering Day promotion giving free entry to new participants (but we'd prefer that they let us know they are coming so we can produce enough maps) so tell your friends or work colleagues about it.
See you there, and btw it's at Mount Sugarloaf and there are BBQ's there so it should prove to be a great social occasion as well.
NOY3 - Masses come to the Mountain
Event: NOY3 - Mount Sugarloaf
Weather: Foggy early on then perfect.
Setter: Greg Bacon
Setup: The Bacons, Carolyn Chalmers, Mick Kavur, Geoff & Margaret Peel
Rego: Matt and Sarah Bacon
Finish: Greg & Kerry Bacon, Andrea Hackney, Peter Orr
Collection: Maria Orr, Dennis Lyons, Mick Kavour, Arthur Kingsland and Matt Bacon
From Greg Bacon (course setter)
This weekends event was held in conjunction with National Orienteering Day. There was a lot of work behind the scenes by the club to promote orienteering and it was hoped that there would be a good turn out of first time orienteer’s at the event. As it turned out we were swamped on the day and with nearly 150 entries and all involved were kept busy most of the day.
The weather was a mixed bag with fog and damp bush to greet the early starters with sunshine and dry conditions later in the day. Many of the first timers took on an additional course after they finished the Blue course. Carolyn Rigby also had extra games/activities for the large number of children that turned up.
With such a big turnout it was great that many of our club members offered to help out with the first timers and the admin in running the event.
This was my first time at setting a bush event and I received valuable help from Geoff Peel in making sure the courses were suitable, especially the Blue and Green and in planning for the event.
It was a Bacon family affair in setting the course with our first time in the area ending up with a trip to the hospital for my wife Kerry. A sharp stick gave her a nasty leg injury which tore some muscle off her right leg. Kerry spent two days in Maitland Hospital but all is well now.
The Sugarloaf Map has a large amount of detail, especially the rocks and boulders. Setting the course was a challenge for me as I had to make sure that I could at least place controls in locations where I could find them and make sure they were located correctly. The course map scale of 1:10000 was a little hard to read and this became more evident as a number of competitors marked their maps incorrectly. The Blue, Green and Easy Orange were 1:7500 scale, which was a lot easier to read.
The feedback was generally positive for the event and many of the first timers seemed keen to take on another event with the club. Thanks for all the help from the Bacon’s, Kerry. Matt and Sarah. Thanks to Geoff and Margaret Peel in helping to make the day a success. A big thanks to all the other helpers.
NOY4 - Gymea Gullies
Event: NOY4
Location: Gymea Gullies (Nth of Cooranbong)
Weather: Fine, mild
Organiser: Arthur Kingsland
Setup: Geoff Peel, Mick Kavur, Denis Lyons, David Messenger, Shane Jenkins
Rego: Cheryle Todkill
Finish: Peter Charlton, Denis Lyons
Collection: Karen Blatchford, Ben Reuter, Denis Lyons, others?
The fourth round of the Newcastle Orienteer of the Year (NOY) series was contested on the Gymea Gullies map north of Cooranbong on Sunday. This area is predominantly spur gully with enough vegetation to lessen visibility but not hinder progress through it too much.
Course setter Arthur Kingsland utilised his years of experience to set challenging but fair courses.
Our events continue to grow in popularity with the army now also turning up to utilise our courses for some navigational practice.
Don't forget to check out the photos and to draw or upload your course on routegadget.
Dark Hill minor results
Event: Minor
Location: Dark Hill (Seaham)
Weather: Fine, mild
Organiser: David Kitchenerthur
Rego: Ann Kitchener
Finish: David Kitchener, Denis Lyons
Collection: David Kitchener, Joy Guy, Denis Lyons
David and Ann Kitchener opened up their property to club members for an exciting dash around their "yard".
While normal Blue and Green courses were available the Orange and Red competitors got to try out a bush score event. Both were 45 minutes, with different maximum points available.
There was also a Map Memory course available for those brave enough to try it.
David is keen for everybody to plot their routegadget courses so he can see how people tackled the score course challenge.
Sydney Series1 & NOY5 Results
Event: Sydney Series 1 and NOY5
Location: Pelaw Main (Standford Scrubs)
Weather: Fine, mild
Organiser: Margaret Peel
Planner: Denis Lyons
Controller: Geoff Peel
Newcastle Club members hope you enjoyed this event. A report, results, splits, RouteGadget, photos and even the opportunity for (constructive) feedback is now available via the links below.