Over 80 competitor turned out on a brisk, foggy Pelton morning for the 4th installment of the Newcastle Orienteer of the Year (NOY) series. The door was open for a few of the other contenders to take the 100 points on offer today with current series leader Steven todkill being the course setter and Josh Blatchford away in Poland to contest JWOC. The event was originally set down to as the Poppethead area at Kitchener, but had to moved as that area was hastily embargoed for use at next years NOL WOC trials in March. (more about that later). Terrain is typical of the Cessnock area maps, spur gully with some rock detail crossed by tracks and firetrails. It can get steep in some parts and is probably overall a little thicker vegetation wise than the other maps in this area. The main feature of the longer courses was a long leg in the middle part of the course with another reasonably long leg to return. These both offered a slightly shorter bush option versus a longer track run. With the bush option offering few truely open areas it appears that the majority opted for the track run. The denser vegetation and resulting lower visibilty and the need to detour around the thicker patches really lifted the stakes when it came to navigating. Robert Vincent managed the 6.7 km Long Red course best, holding out the much younger Alex Massey by about a minute. Recent QLD import Scott Simson was a furhter 12 minutes adrift in third. Despite a making 180 degree error late in the course, Karen Blatchford was the first woman on the same course. Jenny Enderby's time in the 5.2 km Short Red will see her gain decent points, taking second place sandwiched between Daniel Orr and Colin Bailey. Robert Preston and Carolyn Matthews were relatively untroubled as the top two over the 4.0 km Short Red. Mick Kavur was kilometers ahead in the 4.0 km Orange, Ric Slatter overcame some early difficulties to take out the 2.7 km Short Orange, Tyler Sheehan continues his winning form on the Green and Phoebe vandermaster was the best of the Blue competitors.
Feedback on the day was very positive with many enjoying what should be considered a challenging orienteering area.
Credits
Planning: Steven Todkill
Vetting: Sally Anne Henderson
Setup: Mick Kavur, David Messenger, Cheryle Todkill, Geof Todkill
Admin: Cheryle Todkill, Sally Anne Henderson
Finish: Steven Todkill, Mick Kavur, Denis Lyons
Control collection: Joy Guy, Steven Todkill, Tony Welbourne, Louis Welbourne, Karen Blatchford
NOY3 - O'Donnelltown
Map: "Sugarloaf No 1", near West Wallsend
The map area is scattered with relics of old underground coal mines and named after the former mine site at the end of the road past the assembly area. The course setter, Peter Charlton, avoided the temptation to visit all of the big rock on the steeper upper slopes near the road to the Sugarloaf summit and struck a good balance with the more runnable forest closer to the freeway. Weather perfect - crowd happy.
Course Planning: Peter Charlton
Course Vetting: Glen charlton
Set-up: Geoff Peel, Mick Kavur, Robyn Charlton
Admin: Cheryle Todkill, Kris Todkill
Finish: Denis Lyons, Mick Kavur, Peter Charlton
Control collection: Peter Charlton, Steven todkill, Sally-Anne Henderson, others?
Results | Routegadget | Photos
Botanic Gardens Report/Results
Newcastle Minor Event
Botanic Gardens
Just over 40 competitors braved the downpour this morning to get in some practice before the approaching Oceania Carnival.
Weather conditions were absolutely atrocious – thunder, lightning, heavy downpours and flooding in the assembly area early on. Conditions eased later in the morning to give some runners the chance of a run without rain!!
Thanks to those that did turn up and with so many venturing out on a second course it was obvious people enjoyed the area and appreciated the effort. The Short and Long orange courses both involved an initial course on a 1:5000 map and then a short, busy stint on a 1:2000 version. Alex Massey, Steven Todkill and Andrew Morris were once again leaders on the long course, with Jenny Enderby and Mel Simpson the fastest women. Nice to have Mel back at a local event
Not many takers opted for the Short Orange, (except as an option for a second course) and the fastest official competitors were Viola and Sylvia who certainly braved the early drenching conditions.
Three runners (Rhiana, Joy and Glenn) opted to enjoy the 1:2000 sprint version and just ran the second loop of the orange course.
Richard Lawrence and Alison Henderson were the quickest blue/green course competitors.
Whilst a large contingent of regular club members couldn’t make today’s event, it was pleasing to welcome a lot of newcomers. They ventured out and returned with such favourable comments that hopefully we’ll see them at future events. Massive positive impressions with the use of SI today.
There were a few DNF’s on the day, mostly due to the terrible earlier conditions, although Isabelle Trotter did let us in on the reason why they had to cut their run short ..... brothers!!! Haha ;)
A HUGE Thankyou to Joy, Nicola, Russell, David, Josh, Rhiana, Marie, Mick and Denis for their help on the day. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
A few runners tested the new Newcastle O tops ... the general consensus: AWESOME!!
Cheers
Karen
Abernethy Results
The last bush event for the year was contested at Abernethy with course planner Denis Lyons offering a 45 or 60 minute score course challenge. This was an ideal way to close off the club bush season with many finding it so much fun they stayed out beyond their allocated time allowance.
Planner: Denis Lyons
Desk: Cheryle Todkill
Finish: Bob Gilbert, Denis Lyons
Control collection: Denis Lyons, Bob Gilbert, Joy Guy, Neil and Lachlan Curryer, Geoff & Margaret Peel
19 March 2011. Under threatening skies and very humid and steaming conditions competitors enjoyed two events as part of the Lake Macquarie Masters Games.
Brush Creek Results
Urban Safari Results