NEWS

22nd April - WAS THERE ONE EXTRA CONTROL ... OR ONE LESS?

SHOO Club Event: Planner - John Hodsdon

A great day for some orienteering at Appin.

This is SHOO's most technical map with lots of fine navigation needed to get around Moderate and Hard courses. It is also the hardest map we have to plan courses on because there is no vehicular access to any of the map. John took this in his stride by first tagging all controls (first visit), then putting out all controls (second visit), and then running the event (third visit). That must have worn out a pair of shoes!

He also provided not just the normal 4 courses, but 5 for those with enough energy to do the Long Hard course.

The Hard courses were steep, long and needed very fine navigation. Congratulations to SHOO members Val and Brian for taking out the honours in the Long Hard course, and to Ted and Barry -(2 WHO runners), and our Pete for taking out the honours in the 'Short' Hard.

Congratulations to Laura who went out on her first Moderate course after attending the SHOO coaching course. She did extremely well, missing only 1 control .... which was also missed by her coach.

The Brooks boys and James flew around the Very Easy and Easy courses, only to be pipped by that dynamo Sophie Jones.

Thank you John for setting great courses and for Chippie, Sue and Val for bringing in controls.

Full results can be found on the SHOO results page.

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THE EASTER 3 DAYS - Stanthorpe Qld

SHOO had a good turn up for the annual Easter event:- Peter Meyer, Val Hodsdon, John Hodsdon, Corinne Fulford, Neville Fathers and Lyn Malmgron. Some ran in the Prologue (Peter, John and Val) and some stayed on for the run on the famous 'Cascades' map. Famous, due to its sheets of grey bare rock and excellent cartography.

Day 1 - was open spur/gully area peppered with rocky outcrops and a number of indistinct tracks. It wasn't really a runner's map due to all the fallen timber. The last control was less than 20m from the finish and that made runners nervous as everyone could see you dithering.

John said he was never really in touch with the map and Val made a costly error on one control. Corinne made a very good course choice by running down the fence and then negotiating the broken track. Lyn was pleased with her map contact although relied heavily on red-lining until she could work out which were spurs and which were gullies. Nev found the first leg of nearly a kilometre quite vague. Seeds!

Day 1 places: John 8th, Peter 11th, Neville 9th, Corinne 4th, Lyn 3rd, Val 8th.

Day 2 - an open spur/gully area with a number of minor creeks. It was agreed that the courses the map allowed were rather boring, just going from creek to creek. Lyn and Corinne, however, added a bit of spice by exploring whole areas not mapped. The runners made good time and Peter, Val and John picked up some time on the others in their classes. Everyone came back looking like hedgehogs, the grass seeds were unbelievable!

Day 2 places: John 4th, Peter 10th, Neville 9th, Corinne 6th, Lyn 9rd, Val 6th.

Day 3 - dense rocky outcrops trisected by a creek and a railway line. Really enjoyable courses. This map required a lot of fine navigating but with enough catching features to relocate from. Corinne had a wonderful run, making some excellent course choices. Nev found climbing through the rocks hard going but navigated very well. Peter made a very clear course choice by running along the railway line which led him nicely into his next control. Val had an excellent clear run. More seeds, but different!

Day 3 places: John 5th, Peter 10th, Neville 8th, Corinne 4th, Lyn 6rd, Val 3rd.

Overall places: John 5th/19, Peter 10th/19, Neville 8th/11, Corinne 4th/6, Lyn 8th/14, Val 5th/18.

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18 March - SHOO Club Event, Mittagong. Organised by Neville Fathers

SHOO's first Club event for the season was also the first bush event for those members taking part in the coaching series conducted by Sue Davis and Lyn Malmgron. We were lucky to have Maggie Jones, ONSW Communications Officer, who ran another one of her special coaching sessions, which SHOO took advantage of. Maggie is a coach for Uringa club.

Seventeen runners or pairs (eleven from SHOO) turned up to brave wet tracks and slippery rocks. The Hard course was short but testing, with Ian Jones (UR) blitzing the field. His time of 35:10 minutes put him well ahead of the rest, although Stephan Wagner (SHOO) at about 8 minutes behind began his comeback very well. John Russell, Val Hodsdon and Corinne Fulford from SHOO also came in under the hour. Corinne was mentored by Michael Davis, but he was hard pressed to keep up with her.

Lachlan Brooks (SHOO), aged nine, is showing potential in the Very Easy division, as he did in the SummerSats; his 24 minutes over about 2km was most creditable. Our other potential orienteers in the Very Easy class were unable to participate, unfortunately.

Ross Hutcherson, who has not orienteered before, bravely attempted the Moderate course, which he found pretty hard going, but he was smiling when he finished.

The weather was kind, as the day before saw a cloudburst that had water gushing everywhere down creeks and tracks. A local resident had some photos of the resultant waterfalls near the lake. Thanks to Peter Meyer and Paul and Sue Davis for helping bring in the controls after the event.

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** THE COACHING ...... IS ON!

The Coaching Team at Southern Highlands Orienteering Club would like to invite all who wish to improve their navigation skills to help them in everyday life, and with the sport of orienteering.

The Coaching offers 3 training days with 3 supported events to practice your skills. Orienteers with short or long term experience are invited to attend.

Entries close on 6th March, 2012.

To find more information download the flyer/application pdf.

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19 February - West Sydney Summer Series #4

A good team from SHOO turned up to help Lyn with her event in the West Sydney Summer Series at Parramatta on Sunday 19th February. These events are intended to take advantage of cool mornings, with the first runners going out at 8:30 am.

The course was good, because, while it had plenty of options, it needed thought. Many competitors spent half an hour planning which controls they would attempt. Runners were enticed to controls all over the area from the Cathedral to James Ruse Drive to the southern most edge of the map. Even locals discovered parts of the town they didn’t know about.

A lovely sunny day after all the rain meant a humid, tropical atmosphere. The hills didn’t look challenging, but in that weather they were.

Regular competitors James McQuillan and Glenn Horrocks visited every control, but neither could manage it in under 45 minutes. The top woman runner was Lisa Grant from WHO. Newcomer Dean Williamson surprised his fellow SHOO members (and himself?) by coming 7th overall; one to watch, as Dean also won his class in our Summer Saturdays series.

Results can be found here.

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