Entries for both Oceania and World Masters Games have closed and they're larger than our wildest dreams!!  Adjusting for errors and duplicate Oceania has 1812 individual competitors, and World Masters 1740.  Now we know what we're dealing with, lets go and knock it out of the park! 

A tonne of amazing work has been done already by a large group of people. With the close of entries it is timely to acknowledge NW member Owen Means for all his work to build enterO, our go-to online entry system. It has truly proved its value in these two events and I look forward to using it many many more times in future! Thanks Owen! 

There will be a frantic push across the next three weeks as we complete preparations for these events. Lets all come forward to help each other out during this time and through the event period itself. We are hosting the world in our home terrain and we owe it to our guests to make sure the events go smoothly, even if their orienteering doesn't! I expect NW to pull out all the stops! 

OOC will be providing a free post-event BBQ at the "Pre-Oceania" event at Riverhead on Sunday 2 April 2017. This is to give all Oceania & WMG volunteers a chance to get together, meet their teams, discuss their plans, hear from OOC about the plan of attack for the last two weeks etc... and just generally take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate all the work that has been done to get to this point. Please do come along. 

OOC is hoping that a junior might be interested to run the BBQ in return for a donation towards travel costs. We'll cover costs and donate $200. Please contact me asap if you're interested (northcotenick@gmail.com).  

Looking to some club successes recently, I'm proud to see a strong NW representation in the Australia-New Zealand Challenge at Oceania. Its a sign of a healthy and competitive club that we're represented in most age grades. Congrats to all those selected.  Finally, a hearty thanks to our Katoa Po relay teams for representing the club and bringing the 7-Person Trophy home again! Its great to be the champions! 

Nick
(President)

In this issue:

1. Katoa Po 2017
2. Upcoming Events
3. NWOC Coaching Corner 
4. A Request for Help - Oceania and WMG
5. Club Member Profile - Jenny Cade
6. NZ Team Announced for the ANZ Challenge during Oceania
7. Subscriptions Due - A Gentle Reminder 
8. Sharing the Workload
9. Fundraising at Events
10. Welcome to New Club Members
11. Thank You - Acknowledgement of Grants
12. NW Member Success at The Hillary
13. Australian Orienteer Magazine
14. Interesting Article
15. MTBO

Katoa Po 2017 

Two reports follow on the 2017 Katoa Po - one from organiser, Trevor Carswell and the second, filling in the Junior perspective, from Sofie Šafková and Jessica Sewell.

Katoa Po

By Trevor Carswell

Well done to the entire North West team that braved the elements to attend the 37th Katoa Po event.  With the country being attacked by a major weather bomb, we all thought it was going to be a race of survival.  With phone calls to Taupo to confirm it was still on, we took the plunge, bit the bullet, and headed south.  Somehow, Taupo managed to become the eye of the

great storm.  While the weather raged around us, competitors and spectators watched in T-shirts till midnight and beyond.  And a few of us indulged in the mulled wine on offer, even motivating some on the promise of a glass upon returning!  It only rained for 5 mins at 1am.  I admit, it bucketed down around 2.30am once we were all tucked up in our tents.  Morning delivered a fantastic sunrise, and many stayed on for the Rogaine that followed.

NWOC fielded half of the 7-Person teams.  Great effort there!  Our winning team finishing a comfortable 20min ahead of second place getters, Hawkes Bay.  Our only 5-Person team fought a fantastic fight, finishing a close second to BOP, ex NWOC Greg Flynn running for BOP surely making the difference there. :)

Thanks to Scott and Cameron D for team selection.  Grand effort there.  You have jobs for life!

Special Awards:

Trevor Carswell
Award was for attending 35 of 36 Katoa Po's.  (That long ago!) I missed the first as I had no idea what orienteering was at that time! The significance of hat?  As a fun event, I've always endeavoured to wear a different hat every year, which they added to the certificate.

Adrian Griffiths:
Last Person Home:  Someone has to.  Why not a NWOC member?

Jan Safka:
Best Story of the Night:  Jan's course crossed an impenetrable gully 200m wide.  Jan missed the tiny detail on the marked crossing on his map which Taupo members had cut that day.  After visiting his first control Jan entered the gully making his own track straight into the fight,  almost never to be seen again.   Well done for the huge effort getting out.  Those that saw it in day light have no idea how he did it!

Full list of NW competitors:
Scott Carswell, Cameron Tier, Cameron de L'Isle, Liam Stolberger, Thomas Stolberger, Gene Beveridge, Jessica Sewell, Rosie Monckton, Daniel Monckton, Nick Monckton, Adrian Griffiths, Kaye Griffiths, Penelope Salmon, Petra Safkova, Jan Safka, Sebastian Safka, Sofia Safkova, Cameron Bonar, Manon Bonar, Jula McMillan, Suzanne Stolberger, Liam Stolberger, Thomas Stolberger, Heidi Stolberger, Alison Carswell.

Katoa Po 

By Sofie Šafková and Jessica Sewell

As most of you know, many Northwest orienteers travelled down to Taupo for a crazy night of orienteering at the 37^th annual all night relays called Katoa Po. It was a perfect ending to the very wet and rainy week for everyone.

On Saturday evening, our younger members set the Northwest teams off to a great start at the event by zooming through their courses in amazing times, making a good effort in the tricky terrain with having to dodge many holes and tomos which were very tricky to see in the dark.

Waiting for the runners at Katoa Po to come back is never boring, because there is such a good atmosphere and excitement in the air among everyone.
Well done to everybody who competed in the night relays and the mini 1hr Rogaine which was held on the Sunday.

Northwest did really well in the ‘team of seven’ relay, coming first in front of both Hawkes Bay teams and the Auckland team, and in the ‘team of five’ relay coming second just behind Bay of Plenty.

Teams of seven relay:
Winner: Northwest 7.3
3:43:17 - Rosie Monckton (23:09); Sofie Safkova (19:18); Sebastian Safka (23:47); Daniel Monckton (27:38); Cameron de Lisle (39:51); Cameron Tier (45:20); Gene Beveridge (44:14).

Teams of five relay:
Winner: Bay of Plenty;
Northwest 5.1 coming 2nd
2:37:01 - Manon Bonar (17:44); Jessica Sewell (19:32); Liam Stolberger( 28:59 ); Heidi Stolberger( 38:56); Thomas Stolberger( 51:50).

Again huge congratulations to not only these two teams but to all the Northwest members who participated and made this event as awesome and enjoyable as it was. Another huge thanks to Trevor Carswell (a valuable Northwest club member) who always ensures a great Northwest presence at this great event and who never forgets to bring the craziness with his funky hats. 

We hope to see more people in Northwest tops next year at this spectacular event, as it is truly an event that shouldn’t be missed. 

Upcoming Events

• Saturday 1 April Sprint Event - AUT Akoranga Campus - Public Event following AKSS Sprint Final. Starts from 2:30pm $6
• Sunday 2 April Pre Oceania Event - Riverhead 
• 14-30 April - Oceania/World Masters Games
• May/June Rogaine Series http://rogaineseries.co.nz/
• 7 May - NW Club shared picnic lunch following AOS 3 at Woodhill
• And looking a little further ahead, but flagging the date now as it is earlier in the season than usual! 30 July - NW Club Champs at AOS 5 Woodhill

A Request for Help - Oceania and WMG

Maggi Salmon, who is leading the Registration Team is looking for volunteers to help collate the race packs for Oceania and WMG. There will be a working bee on Sunday 9 April at St Cuthberts’ College, 122 Market Rd, Epsom. It will start at 9.30 am, but if you can only start later, any offers of help are welcome.

If you are able to assist, please email Maggi Salmon at maggi@stcuthberts.school.nz

NWOC Coaching Corner  

By Matt Ogden

Last weekend was the first AOS of the year and we were fortunate enough that it was held on arguably Auckland’s best map and on an immaculate autumn’s day. Waioneke has definitely been a crowd favourite in the past and, on many occasions, undone even the most conditioned technicians. With Oceania and World Masters fast approaching, I wanted to bring to attention a key skill required in orienteering which was very pertinent to the challenges you faced last weekend and will be essential in the forthcoming competitions – adjusting your technique depending on the course and terrain.

Consider three parts of the course from Red 3 on the weekend – three very different areas, which required runners to change aspects of their orienteering; including running speed, map reading frequency and focus. What different styles of orienteering would best suit each section? Do you feel you adjusted appropriately and what are some good ways to ensure you are always under control?

First and foremost is to recognise where the course/terrain is changing and therefore when you must appropriately change something. I like to employ a risk based approach – for example, on legs 4-5-6 the young pines reduce visibility and the numerous contour features mean that this area is more risky, increasing the likelihood for making mistakes. After identifying this, it would be prudent to slow down, concentrate on accurate bearings and read the map as much as possible. In contrast, 16-17 offered fast open running in the nicest part of Waioneke. Here the risk is less due to the increased visibility and larger, more obvious hills. Here the focus should shift to looking as far ahead as possible, finding an obvious high point and then running full speed!  

Orienteering is rarely homogenous, you must constantly react to a changing environment – sometimes you need to focus heavily on the compass, other times on the features in the terrain, but in all cases it is about knowing when to change and where the greatest risks are!

See all courses and draw your route on route-gadget from the weekend.

http://rg.orienteering.org.nz/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=499

If you aren’t already a member of the Auckland Orienteering Training Collective (AOTC) Facebook page then follow the link below and request to be one! This is a fantastic means to find out about orienteering competitions and trainings, as well as a general orienteering forum for discussions on all things orienteering related. We typically run regular interval sessions on Tuesday nights, starting at 6pm from the grandstand and we are hoping to add a Thursday Mt Eden hill rep session too. We always attract a great variety of abilities and ages, and kindly welcome any newcomers who want a solid session with their orienteering peers!

AOTC Facebook Page

Club Member Profile - Jenny Cade

As are so many NW members at present, Jenny is currently living and breathing Oceania, as Arena Manager for Long and Relay Events. She also contributes a huge amount behind the scenes as the Club Secretary and for that we thank her!

How were you introduced to orienteering?
I first got involved about 10 years ago when our daughter Lauren Holmes went with a friend to a night sprint. I remember running around the streets with her in the dark. Lauren went on to get involved in School events and was eventually enticed to the forest.  After a couple of years being a patient parent waiting for her to reappear, and being regularly harassed (nicely) by Mike Beveridge and Rob Garden to give it a go, I eventually succumbed.  It’s a great sport we now enjoy as a family.

Key orienteering achievements to date?
I think my achievements as an orienteering administrator far outweigh any of my achievements 'on the map' to date. Highlights would be all the fun times I had as Manager of the Dio School Team and especially the trips away to NISS & NZSS events and accompanying 5 girls to the World Schools Champs in Portugal in 2013.  Organising the JAFA Queens Birthday 3-day event in 2015 for North West also provided a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction.

Current orienteering project or goal?
Like many other Club members, I'm involved with organising Oceania - I'm Arena Manager for the Oceania Long and Relay events so ensuring these events run to plan is my current goal.  The venues are stunning and I’m dreaming of sunny skies ...
For World Masters Games I'm part of the registration team and then I’m competing too – in that regard finishing is my goal!

Favourite map and why?                                                           
A sprint map ... I like the detail on sprint maps, to me there’s less interpretation required than on a forest map.  I like the density of information and the need to make decisions quickly. To me forest maps are much more vague (and bewildering!)

Orienteering hero?
My daughter Lauren - I'm in awe of her ability to interpret the subtleties of complex maps at great speed.

Day job?
Pharmacist, Health Education Resource Writer, Project Manager plus family secretary!

Other interests?
Hiking – I love getting ‘off the grid’ and escaping to a simple life.  Hikes this year have included Lake Waikaremoana and Banks Track, near Akaroa. Last year I was lucky enough to do some hiking in the Swiss Alps and I’d love to return there one day.

NZ Team Announced for the ANZ Challenge during Oceania

Congratulations to Olivia Collins, Jessica Sewell, Liam Stolberger, Kayla Fairbairn, Alice Tilley, Renee Beveridge, Gene Beverage, Matt Ogden, Jula McMillan, Nick Harris, Mark Lawson, Suzanne Stolberger, Lisa Mead, Mary Moen, Rob Garden, Dave Middleton, Lori O’Brien, Yett Gelderman and Chris Gelderman.

Good representation by Northwest with about 25 % of the team coming from our club!

Subscriptions Due - A Gentle Reminder 

Please ensure you have paid your 2017 Subs - you need to be a paid up member to compete at Oceania or World Masters Games or to be selected for JWOC or NZSS.

As a returning member, there is not need to log in and re-register -  you simply need to pay online.

Sharing the Workload

Event coordinators have the job of contacting members and asking for help at events. We have decided to try and keep a running record this year, in an attempt to not rely on the same helpers for each event. Looking ahead, if you think you can help out at a particular event, please contact any of the following people who will be delighted to hear from  you.

Event coordinators for upcoming events are:

1 April AUT Kaye Griffiths kaye.griffiths@orcon.net.nz
2 April Riverhead Tim Longson tlongson@orcon.net.nz
28 May Rogaine  (Stonybrook) Kay and Michael Knightbridge knightbridge@xtra.co.nz

If you would like to have a go at coordinating an event (not as hard as it may sound) please contact Rob rgmg@xtra.co.nz

Fundraising at Events

We have agreed with Auckland Orienteering Club that any fundraising efforts need to be arranged in advance with the club organising the event. This is to ensure we do not have any double-ups and so each fundraiser is able to maximise their profits.

We welcome fundraising endeavours and encourage any individuals or groups who are wishing to fundraise for various Orienteering related trips to contact Jenny Cade on northwestorienteering@gmail.com 

Welcome to New Club Members

Welcome to the following who have recently joined Northwest:

Cara Bradding
The Tappenden family- Vanessa,Ed, Charlotte, Josephine and Mark
Peter Ambler - a returning former member
Stephen Prendergast
Sue Toppin
Rachel Smith 
Chilberto Family - Jeff, Lucy, Isobel and Spike

We look forward to seeing you at events.

Thank You - Acknowledgement of Grants

Financial grants enable us to undertake large projects that enhance our orienteering, leaving club funds available for day to day costs of running events, supporting junior orienteering and training.

We would like to acknowledge the support from Foundation North via a grant of $5000 which  has enabled Paul Ireland to produce  the  new Riverhead map.

We would also like to acknowledge the support from Auckland Council who granted $20,000 for the mapping of Lake Kereta (Oceania Relay map) and Lake Ototoa (Oceania Long race).

NW Member success at The Hillary

Congratulations Gene Beveridge for his win on the 34km Hillary recently, and in another record-breaking time.

Australian Orienteer Magazine

Please note that this magazine which is published four times a year is now available online.

https://issuu.com/orienteeringaustralia/docs/auso-2017-1

The recent edition had an interesting article on Multi Level Orienteering pp16-21

Interesting Article 

The New York Times published an article recently entitled “The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles” - outlining the benefits of Interval training and not just for the young!

Article

MTBO Trip to Australia

Message from Rob Garden:

We have great news for those who wish to do some travelling to get some quality MTBO races. 

First up is the Australian MTBO Champs in the Penrose/Wingello regions of New South Wales, with 5 events in 5 days from the 4-8th October 2017. These events will incorporate the Australia/NZ Challenge, contested over several classes that the travelling country chooses. Even those with little experience can take part, and there will be plenty of us willing to assist. The programme requires only 3 days off work as flights to Sydney on Wednesday and returning late Sunday will be quite practical, especially as the first event is an evening/night event, and travel from Sydney Airport is less than 2 hours. I have booked accommodation in a massive house, which is self contained, and is flexible on numbers, although bedding is for 24. The cost is $50 per night, but the dorm room that sleeps 10 will be discounted, and the 30 sq metre rooms will have a higher charge, and the 100 sq metre room (yes, truly...) even more.  We can have an extra 4-6 people on the floor if demand is too high, as there is so much room, but that would be the limit. See www.bellmorehomestead.com for details. There are also cheaper accommodation available. 

Could you please let me know if you wish to join us? rgmg@xtra.co.nz I have quite a number of people already that I have booked in, so don’t be slow on this one!

I can coordinate transport sharing for those going for the 5 days, and if you want a longer trip the Australian Orienteering Champs Carnival is on the previous 2 weekends, plus midweek events. Let me know if you are keen on this option as well, we can potentially share transport and I may have some accommodation available. See http://onsw.asn.au/ozchamps2017/index.php

The second carnival is to be another Challenge with Australia in April 2018 in the Otago region. Here is a provisional programme, thanks to Joe Sheriff, who will be the main organiser.

April 21, 22. South Island Foot O champs Dunedin.
Mon April 23^rd }
Tue April 24^th  }South Island Schools Foot O Champs. (probably Queenstown or Wanaka)
Wed 25^th (ANZAC day)   MTBO Sprint.
Thur 26^th MTBO Middle Distance
Fri 27^th MTBO Long Distance
Sat 28^th Rogaine.  3, 6 or 12 hour classes with MTBO option, probably on the 6 hour. (organised by “Highland Events”)