Geoff Mead

Profiled November 2017

Number of years orienteering?
I think my first event was in 1979 at One Tree Hill, so 38 years of orienteering.

How were you introduced to orienteering?
A friend who was into running and orienteering invited me along to the One Tree Hill event event. I got my clip card, clue descriptions and was just about to start - thinking that this was going to really difficult to run round randomly to find the "controls" in the park. I did not realise that there was a map as well!

Key orienteering achievements to date?
World Rogaine mixed veteran championship title with Lisa in 2000.  Winner of two NZ Mountain Marathon (2 day navigation events carrying all your over night gear) with Tom Barnfield. Also several mixed category mountain marathon tiles with Lisa. Scattering of NZ age group orienteering and rogaine titles. Setting / controlling a number of major orienteering events.

Current orienteering project or goal?
Following a knee replacement operation in 2016 I am really enjoying competing in events again. Goal is to keep finding those controls and striving for that "error free" orienteering run. Orienteering provides a great excuse to travel and visit interesting places, so plenty of plans for future holidays in NZ and overseas.

Favourite map and why?
Complex Woodhill sand dunes with low visibility forest. I love detailed and challenging maps; Woodhill is my orienteering home. 

Map you have yet to experience but aspire to orienteer on?
Swiss Alpine 5 day event. Looks like a brilliant combination of my orienteering and tramping/mountain hobbies.

Orienteering hero?
NZ - Ross Brighouse - He was a leading NZ orienteer when I first started getting serious about orienteering and is still at the top of his game - with several World Master Titles.  Rest of the world - the Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou - error free runs to numerous world titles.

Day job?
Used to be a statistician. Now a mix of all my outdoor hobbies, voluntary work and travel. When I am at home and Lisa is working I have become a competent house husband (my view, not so sure what Lisa thinks), my cooking skills are improving. 

Other interests?
I think of tramping as my main sport / interest and have visited ("bagged") to date 674 DOC huts - kind of like a NZ wide rogaine. Hut bagging is an excuse to visit new and sometimes obscure parts of the NZ outdoors. Taking up orienteering and building up my map reading skills has had a big cross over to more ambitious and challenging tramping trips. Navigating above the bushline in bad weather / low visibility. I also enjoy cycling / mountain biking.  Over recent years Lisa and I have had many fabulous long hiking and cycle touring holidays in a range of countries. In my "younger" days I used to mountaineer, was a handy road runner and managed to survive the swim legs of triathlons. 

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