News
August 2016 News
Published Wed 10 Aug 2016
Upcoming Dates
11 September
Training Day at Woodhill (likely to be entrance via Restall Rd gate). More details will come in a separate email.
9 October NWOC Club Championships.
This is possibly going to run as a pre-entry event – more details will be sent out in plenty of time to register. We will also encourage members to join together for a shared picnic after their run. See http ://nwoc . aoa . org . nz/ for grade categories. More details will be sent out later.
WOC
20-28 August in Sweden (starts TONIGHT!)
We wish Jula McMillan and Gene Beveridge, who are our NWOC athletes in this team, all the best and we will all look forward to watching them compete.
http ://www . woc2016 . se/en/
http ://livecenter . orienteering . o
Gene is documenting his (and his team-mates) WOC experience this year with a Vlog. Check it out on https://www . youtube . com/channel/
Club Member Profile - Nick Harris
We decided it was about time we profiled our Club President – Nick Harris. He dedicates a huge amount of time to our sport behind the scenes, currently as Club President and as our representative on the Oversight Committee for Oceania/World Master’s Games. We all really appreciate the considerable time and energy you put in for us, Nick!
And, see the next section for the fantastic write-up on his recent experiences at the World Rogaining Championships.
Number of years orienteering?
I'm surprised to say I'm into my 14th year.
How were you introduced to orienteering?
I phoned up because I wanted to learn to navigate for Adventure Racing, but got hooked on orienteering in that first event. It was a score event at Wilson Road (the farmland next to Rob & Marquita's). I was about 28 years old at the time - ever since I've wished I'd discovered the sport earlier!
Key orienteering achievements to date?
I was pretty enthusiastic about improving my orienteering. I'm pleased that I managed to progress fairly quickly to M21E. I was seldom competitive in that grade, but it seemed the best place to test myself. I relished the challenge of the courses, and of racing with the best orienteers. My best "official race" result in M21E is 5th at Nationals Sprint at Epsom Campus. I've never been fitter than I was that year... It definitely pays to be super-fit in M21E. Staying fit got harder once kids arrived, but I was too proud to run M35 (mainly because there was noone in it), so I've accepted many a thrashing from younger faster stronger more skilled orienteers... in the end it was quite a relief to "graduate" to M40!
Current orienteering project or goal?
My dearest goal is that my kids will learn to love the adventure that is orienteering. Tahi is 6 years old, Quinn 4 years, Lauren 1 year. I've had to be patient whilst they've been very young, but I think the boys are at a good age now.
As President of North West OC, I have a multitude of goals. It may be better to explain my goals for the club in another newsletter - but the big ones are (a) make the club easier to run through better use of IT; (b) ensure the stability of the Auckland Schools competitions; and, (c) plug the power of North West OC into the hosting of Oceania & Auckland World Masters Games, in April 2017.
Favourite map and why?
Probably Naseby, in Central Otago, because of the bizarrely complex terrain; but also because it was one of the first big O trips I went on as a new M21E. This sport takes you to amazing places, and the best trips are where most orienteers stay in the same place - the Naseby forest & campground was a superb intro to orienteering trips!
Map you have yet to experience but aspire to orienteer on?
I'm yet to experience orienteering in Scandinavia - I'll make the pilgrimage one day.
Orienteering hero?
There are many people I respect and admire in Orienteering - the calibre of people is one of the things I like about the sport! If I had to single someone out, it would be Rob Garden & Marquita Gelderman because they live and breathe orienteering as a lifestyle. Both are top navigators and active competitors of course, which is worthy of respect in itself. But, what sets them apart is the warmth, energy and expertise that they bring to our club and our community. I'll not forget their friendliness and genuine interest when I first started in the sport, and I've observed it extended to many others over the years since.
Day job?
Sport & Recreation Advisor at Auckland Council
World Rogaining Championships
Race Report: 2016 World Rogaining Championships
Ross River, NT, Australia 23-24 July 2016
By Nick Harris
Robb & I were as ready as we were ever going to be. That is to say, we weren't ready at all. We'd entered 2016 WRC near Alice Springs, and hadn't done any training. Our preparation extended to buying new shoes and gaiters to cope with the Spinefex the organisers had warned about. We both had been sick in the week prior to the race. I had resigned myself to twenty hours of suffering and a pathetic score. At least we were in the same boat, and I trusted Robb to laugh about it and keep going.
Good move #1: Pick a good teammate;
You need to be on the same page in your ambitions for the race, and roughly matched physically. And you need to trust your teammate to (a) get you out of the crap if things go bad, and (b) not put you in the crap in the first place.
The map came rolled into a tube. As it unrolled it seemed to go on forever and I felt my first & only flash of fear - I thought "This map is HUGE, what have we got ourselves into?". But we got to work with our highlighters and string and had soon assessed that the highest concentration of points was in the NE quarter, and the southern half of map. Thats where we decided to spend most of our time. We wanted to save the NW quarter for our run home because it offered plenty of options for short-cutting or extending, according to time. We also decided to minimise our time in the areas of heavy Spinefex. The points-value of those areas weren't enough to entice us, and we figured it would be slow going through the ruthless spiky grass. Distance-wise we thought 80km was ambitious for us, but we felt that our route plan gave us options to adjust to circumstances.
Good move #2: Make an ambitious plan, but build in options to adjust on the move
Ambitious is one thing; unrealistic is another. Get real! Also, be organised in your planning so that you maximise use of the time.
The start triangle was a reunion. We chatted with Jamie Stewart and Penny Kane, Tim Cochrane, Sakky Meyer and teammate Rob, Chris Forne & Greig Hamilton, Jim Russell... there was a great positive atmosphere and lots of chatter, then BANG - we were off! Chris & Greig disappeared in the first kilometer on their way to a commanding win. Robb and I jogged the first control to enjoy the atmosphere, then settled into a steady walk. Revelling in the scenery, we went up, along and down from the big hill system at the bottom of the map. Overshot one control losing 10 minutes, but otherwise clean tidy navigation at a steady pace. We'd had a very good day, but we were low on water and starting to worry about the distance to the waterstop. Heading into the last control of this section the sun set and it became very dark.
The sun set around 6:30pm, and the moon didn't appear until around 9:30pm - three hours of serious pitch black. We nailed the first leg in the dark (1200m bearing across nothing to hit a small hill, then attack the control in a shallow gully) but the next control had us completely bamboozled. We arrived at what we thought was the centre of the circle to find two other teams searching around, but no control and no reentrant. We explored a couple of theories then quickly decided to relocate... when boom, we stumbled across the control in a reentrant pointing in the opposite direction! I think we lost about 10 minutes. I still have no idea what happened there, but we wasted no mental energy on it - just punched it and left. Although I'm confused about how we went wrong I'm happy with how we managed the error.
Good move #3: When things don't match, be decisive
Its easy to fritter away time in a 24hr rogaine... it doesn't seem like much at the time, but cumulative time-loss to uncertainty and indecision can really add up! If you don't find a control first time, make a decisive attempt at correcting. Set a time limit. If you haven't worked it out when time is up, bail out.
All day I had been loving the race and feeling really positive, with the only nagging doubt being the water - were we going to pay for the lack of hydration? Thus, I was elated to reach the the waterstop, and force down a bottle or two of water before refilling and kicking on. Consistent with our policy of just going steady and enjoying ourselves, we didn't rush through the water stop. We took the time to drink, eat, refill, tweak shoes etc...
Heading out again we crossed paths with Georgia Whitla and Lara Prince (eventual winners of Womens Open) - our bubbly greeting "Hows your race?" was met with bitter reply from Georgia "A bit bloody grim". It was a sobering thought, as we headed into the area at night where they'd just spent the day. The moon was not yet up, and it was dark. But at least the stars were out in force by now. A few times we had to switch off our headlamps and just admire the swathe of stars. There can't be many skies with less light pollution than the Northern Territory! As foreshadowed by Georgia, I made an error on the next control - looking up the wrong reentrant within a larger stream gully. It was scrubby, steep and scrabbly underfoot, so really slow going. I knew in my heart it was wrong and should've pulled out earlier (see #3!). By persevering I just lost more time - maybe as much as 15 minutes. I was annoyed with myself but I managed to let it go pretty quickly. The rest of the night went smoothly, except for walking right past a control because I was looking at another team's lights coming down the gully (don't look at the lights!). Cost three or four minutes. When I'm planning I usually try to save an easy section for night-time - on this course the best features were the big stream beds which were easy to find and follow. They were the theme for the night and we used them for travel and launching into controls. It worked very well, and resulted in a productive night.
Good move #4: Spend the night in areas where its hard to lose map contact;
If you lose map contact in the dark it can be bloody hard to correct, and it costs a lot of time. So it's good to spend the night close to strong features to have confidence of where you are. Every terrain is different and lays its traps in different ways, so you have to respond accordingly, but its good to aim for a safe, error free night.
Good move #5: Light equals confidence confidence equals speed
Thats a quote from Neil Kerrison, but its still true. Take the strongest lights you can get your hands on. There are hundreds of headlamps on the market, but for rogaining you're looking for output, weight, & battery life. In addition to your walking light, its good to have a "search light" that you can use in bursts for searching for features & controls. Robb & I both used a double Ay-Ups arrangement (wide beam for walking, narrow beam for searching) which works well. I was also impressed with the Spike Lights product (made for rogaining by a young guy in W.A.) which a few people seemed to be using.
It was also a social night. We didn't go more than 30minutes without seeing another team, which is unusual, and quite fun. One team in particular we kept crossing paths with: Katie Bolt & Emily Wall (eventually 2nd Womens Open). Our route plan must have been similar because we kept coming across each other. And because we were travelling about the same speed we wound up doing a few legs together, then separating again. By the end of the race we'd done half a dozen legs together all up. They were really chatty and it was always fun to see them. They beat us by 20 points - fair play to them, they were efficient and accurate - really impressive to watch.
Night went quickly, and we were a bit worried that the "All Night Cafe" (a remote "hash house" in the centre of the map, since the main hash house/event centre was near the western side of the map) would be closed before we got there. The All Night Cafe was said to have a BBQ, campfire, water... but it would shut-up shop just after sunrise, so we had to hurry. The sky was just beginning to lighten when we heard the generators, and we walked into the ANC and headed straight for the BBQ. Bacon! The cheery team served me up a massive bacon & egg & sausage & onion roll - honestly, it was amazing. It took me about 15 minutes to eat it, but I got some water down and a sweet strong instant coffee, whilst sitting by the campfire. The fire was big and hot, and in the safety of its warmth it seemed to have collected the broken spirited, like some kind of magnet. Rogainers slumped in chairs, wrapped in all their clothes, or rustling in their space blankets, staring with dejected gazes into the fire, talking quietly to their teammates. By chance I sat next next to the only talkative group by the fire - a team of womens vet's, one of whom was having a rough time. We had a good chat about I don't know what, then I finally got through that bacon & egg roll and it was time to get busy with refilling water, rearranging food and clothes etc... We wound up spending about 40 minutes at the ANC, which certainly cost us points in the end, but it was a neat little interlude and great memory of the race.
Sunrise always lifts the spirits in an all-night race. Our feet were cutting up by now, but with full bellies, and the rising sun we hobbled along with renewed energy. The rest of our route was predominantly flat, with short climbs in the circles - another benefit of our planning. We felt really positive about our race so far, and were stoked to still be moving well in the morning. But with the sun comes the realisation that there are less than 6 hours to go! Only 6 hours left to use; we have to hurry!! Its bizarre how your perception of time shifts! The thought of getting up and going for a 6 hour walk right now... it seems like a big mission. But when the clock is ticking down from 24 hours it feels like you're running out of time!!
Emily & Katie caught us again and we both hit #41 with two hours to go. The debate was whether there time to extend our route to reach #110. Katy & Emily decided to give it try, and took off. Robb & I chose to play it safe. We were honest about feeling pretty jaded and our feet were not in good shape, and the exit from 110 looked sketchy. We felt we'd be pleased with having completed (most of) our plan and figured we were comfortably on track to do that. And, it turned out that Emily & Katy changed their minds halfway to 110 anyway, so they couldn't even hassle us for being soft. We managed to collect #30 as a bonus on our way home instead, and finished with 20 minutes to spare.
Could we have made it to 110? To be honest, we didn't care. We were just elated with the whole experience. We'd walked for 24 hours through amazing terrain, implementing 95% of our planned route with no significant navigation errors, had a fantastic time, our desk-driving bodies had held together. We managed our water, our food, our gear, our pace, our navigation, our planning... there are so many ways to go wrong in a 24 hour rogaine, and we'd managed to avoid them all. We scored 2670 - twice as many points as I'd imagined we'd get - and came 24th overrall, out of 306 team who started.
The Aussies did a fantastic job organising this event. Every aspect of the 2016 World Rogaining Champs was well implemented. The terrain was beautiful, physically challenging and required attention to navigate well. The map was superb, the controls were in the right place, and the course was well set. The volunteers were plentiful, friendly and competent. They sold beer at the finish... really, I couldn't have asked for more. Thanks to the organisers, to my old mate Robb who thirsts for these adventures just like I do, and to my family, Sheridan, Tahi, Quinn and Lauren, for giving me the freedom to go. I'm still buzzing.
Good move #6: Enter World Rogaining Champs
24hr rogaining is a complex and engaging race format which can be quite addictive... you really get to experience a place intimately and the memories are amazing.
JWOC Experiences
Thanks to the North West JWOCers who, amidst their busy schedules - catching up on uni work after being away in Switzerland, took the time to send through a brief reflection on an aspect of their experience.
Cameron de L’Isle
JWOC 2016 for me was an incredible experience. Racing in Europe is completely different to racing orienteering in New Zealand. My middle qualification race was probably the one I can take the most positive and negative lessons from:
The terrain was alpine forest on a big slope at 1600-1800m above sea level. There are 3 heats, each on a different course variation at the middle qualification and this results in a hectic start as 3 of you start at once. My first 5 controls were almost perfect, I had excellent flow and was reading the detail very strongly. I was in the zone and my thought pattern for this section was simply; ‘Compass, attack point, aggression’ and it paid off, placing me in 3rd at the 5th control.
The next few legs, I had time losses however. 6 and 7, the orienteering became easier and I found myself struggling to keep my aggression up, especially on the climb up to 7. 8 and 9 were crucial legs and had many factors to consider which unfortunately I didn’t nail. On 8, I had planned to follow the road along to the bend where the hillside became less steep and then drop down below the messy area of cliffs just above 8. However, this was not the fastest route choice and I also ended up staying too high in the messy area of rocks losing more time. The two best route choices were to go high above the control further along the road (the way the winner choose) or to exit 7 very low along the stream and then contour round the hill.
9 was a control that exemplified the difference between NZ and Swiss terrains and how this effects route choice. 1/3 of the way to 9 there is a boulder field/stony ground shown on the map. Normally in NZ this would be only be a few small pebbles on the ground, however in Switzerland, these sort of areas often have lots of huge boulder and are incredibly slow – as I found out. By control 11 I was sitting back in 13th spot – still well in qualification for the A final however.
Control 12 was ultimately where my race unravelled. I knew I was having a good enough run still at this point and my concentration faltered a bit at the wrong moment. This resulting in me losing map contact just before the circle and then just missing the control, losing 60-90seconds. In the JWOC middle qual, one mistake can be enough to make you lose out on the A final. This was my 3rd mistake of the race which meant there were no more chances and I dropped back to 25th at this point. While I executed 13 and 14 really well, small mistakes on 15,16 meant that I finished 25th in my heat – and potentially one mistake away from making the A final.
In the end, there were both positives and negatives to take from this race. Most importantly I learnt plenty from having been so close to qualifying – lessons I will be applying in my training and ultimately at JWOC 2017.
Alice Tilley
JWOC 2016 in Switzerland was a well-organised event. The event was organised by world champion Simone Niggli. It was an exciting prospect to know that each course would be planned in depth and the map quality would be at Swiss precision. Racing in Switzerland brought it’s own terrain challenges such as altitude, steep contours and rocky hillsides adding to both the physical and mental challenge. Not to mention the stunning scenery where it was difficult at times to keep your eyes on the map and not the view. I enjoyed all my races but if I had to chose my favourite map, it would be the Long distance at Val Müstair. With 6.5km, 16 controls and 310m climb at an altitude of 2,000m I found this race very mentally and physically challenging. The start was where we predicted, taking us straight into one of the most technical parts of the map with many rocks and steep features on rough open land. This meant you had to be in control from the beginning. I enjoyed how there was a balance between long and short legs especially towards the end. Given the chance, I would run this course again in an instant! I wasn’t totally satisfied with my performance at the sprint but shook off the nerves and settled in to qualify for the Middle A Final and 38th in the Long distance. I have come home with additional of skills and plenty more experiences to build upon.
I would like to thank the North-West Orienteering club for their continued support of their club members, coaches and specifically their juniors for making NWOC such a supportive and encouraging environment.
Kayla Fairbairn
The Junior World Championships in Switzerland this year were an incredible experience. The terrain was so beautiful with huge snowy mountains and valleys everywhere you went! It was hard not to stop and admire the view during the races, especially on the long distance race. My approach to racing in Switzerland was slightly less conventional than it has been in previous years, after fracturing my foot only two months before the competition. However, after a lot of aquajogging and 15 rolls of strapping tape, I made it through! My favourite race of the competition would have to have been the middle distance- it was incredibly technical and completely different to anything I had run on before. The forest was relatively open, but lots of rocks and difficult contour features made it a very difficult course. My favourite control would have to be the huge blowup capricorn that was featured as the last control just before the finish chute!
I am so happy and grateful to have raced at JWOC this year, and I would never have got there without the continued support and encouragement from everyone in North West Club, so thank you so much to everyone!
Colin Martin
Long time members of NWOC will remember Colin Martin, a keen club orienteer in the 1980's, who passed away recently aged 83.
Our thoughts are with Colin's family who are also orienteers - Neil Martin and his son Matt ( North West) , Carey Nazzer ( ex NW and now Orienteering Taranaki), Jeni Pelvin ( Dunedin Orienteering), and their mother Judy,
Coaching Corner
Thanks to Geoff Mead for this piece. As we all know, Geoff has been waiting for some time to have his knee operation (and word is, he has just had it and it went well!), so this is his area of expertise at present:
Improve your orienteering without leaving the couch!
World Of O website
The World of O website ( http ://worldofo . com/ ) is a great source of international orienteering news, maps, competitors blogs, and results. Often the material can help with orienteering skill and technique development. Or perhaps you are addicted to looking at orienteering maps?
Recent articles on the Junior World Championships (we had club members Cameron, Alice and Kayla competing) provide detailed analysis for each race. Route choice options, times for each option, why a certain option was faster, mistakes made by competitors, videos from the terrain, and GPS routes of competitors.
I have invested (wasted?) hours using the information in these articles, looking at a leg of the race on the map and working out which way I would attack the leg. Which route choice and why. Then I go to the World Of O analysis and see how the best junior orienteers in the world ran the leg and which (and why) was the fastest route choice. How did my route selection hold up? Virtual orienteering that will help with the thinking part of our challenging sport, then you just need to transfer your improved skills to the real world of an orienteering event.
JWOC mens sprint http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
JWOC mens middle http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
JWOC mens long http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
JWOC womens sprint http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
JWOC womens middle http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
JWOC womens long http ://news . worldofo . com/2016/07
Good luck, don't forget to get off the couch sometimes and train those legs and lungs.
Secondary School Orienteering
NZSS Team announced.
Fantastic that seven of the sixteen who have been named in this team are NWOC juniors. This says a lot for our depth of ability within the junior ranks and the way the club is working to foster these young orienteers.
Congratulations to Max Griffiths, Callum Hill, Georgina Dibble, Sebastian Safka, Olivia Collins, Jessica Sewell, Sofie Safkova who will travel to compete in rural Queensland and the Gold Coast in late September to take on the Australian State representative teams.
NZSS Championship Results – Waikato, July 2016.
Congratulations to the following NWOC juniors who made the podium at this recent event:
Senior Boys
Sprint 1st Max Griffiths
Senior Girls
Sprint 3rd Heidi Stolberger
Long (Championship Grade) 1st Heidi Stolberger
Long (Standard Grade) 1st Catherine Murphy
Intermediate Boys
Sprint 1st Daniel Monckton
Intermediate Girls
Sprint 3rd Sofie Safkova
Long (Championship) 3rd Georgina Dibble
Junior Boys
Sprint 2nd Cameron Bonar
Junior Girls
Long (Championship) 3rd Jessica Sewell
Y7/8 Boys
Sprint 1st Ryan Moore
Long (Championship) 2nd Ryan Moore
Y7/8 Girls
Sprint 1st Allegra Wilson
Long (Championship) 1st Katie Ryan
Australian Championships, 2016
If you are planning on travelling to compete in the Australian Champs this year, don’t forget that, if you have yet to enter, entries close 28 August.
MTBO
North Island MTBO Champs, Helensville, 11th/12th November
Two days of MTBO on the challenging "Marquita's Garden" map. An intricate network of trails on sand-based terrain, guaranteed to test the most seasoned navigators. A sprint race on Saturday morning, followed by a middle distance in the afternoon. On Sunday there will be a 90 minute rogaine. A great lead up for the following weekend's NZ Champs. See http ://nimtbo . aoa . org . nz/ for details and on-line entry. The first 25 entrants to the NI MTBO champs weekend will go into the draw to win 2 new mapboards.
NZ MTB Orienteering Champs - Rotorua - 18-20 November 2016
The NZ Mountain Bike Orienteering Champs are on in Rotorua on 19-20 November 2016. Grades for all ages and abilities, including recreational categories you can do in teams; exciting newly mapped areas; and the use of SPORTident Air + for contactless punching. Also lots of other great riding locally to explore should you desire. Check out www . obop . org . nz for all the info.
Recent Shared Lunch after AOS event at Muriwai
A number of club members enjoyed a shared picnic lunch after their run in the AOS event in Muriwai. If any club members have any suggestions for other informal get-togethers, please contact any committee member.
Congratulations to Claire and Greg Flynn
Congratulations to Claire and Greg on the birth of their daughter, Evelina Linda Helen Flynn (Evie) born 6 August.
ONZ Health and Safety Working Group
Russell Higham(ONZ Event Liaison) has invited people to volunteer for the ONZ Working Group on Health and Safety. Please consider volunteering to ljoin this group if this is an area of interest or expertise of yours. Contact Jenny on northwestorienteering@gmail.com
Orienteering Board Games
We have received the following information regarding these products and felt there may be some club members who may be interested.
We produce games for Sport Orienteering in Russia.
We have 4 games translated to English: Quartet, Memory, Double, Cardboard game "Orienteering".
If you want to receive games, please, inform me about quantity and your postal address.
If you have any questions contact: maksimmishutin@gmail.com http ://www . orient-games . ru/#!eng
Operation Ruru - Adventure Race 29 October 2016
We have recieved this information on an upcoming event and were asked to pass it on to our members:
Saturday 29th October 2016
Operation Ruru - The Adventure Race
Following on from last year’s successful Moa Hunt Adventure Race, Barry and Graeme are putting together this year’s event.
A slightly different format to last year caters for all abilities. We have a fantastic location lined up with farmland, bush and mystery activities.
3 or 6 hour event options.
Involves trekking, mystery activities, mountain biking (optional) and navigation
The location of the event will remain secret until the week before it is run, but we can confirm it is within 30km of Whangarei CBD
See: kauriadventure . co . nz for details
Supporters
