Orienteering NSW team meet the folk who put Fitness First
- Last Updated: Friday, 06 July 2012 15:44
Randwick's Fitness First gym was packed with healthy looking, hard working fitness fanatics on Tuesday when ONSW presented at the Membership Appreciation Night. Introduced to Fitness First by Jai Di Tommaso, head personal trainer at the Randwick gym and Garingal regular, Maggie Jones, Lisa Grant and Darren Slattery invited members to expand their exercise repertoire with some orienteering.
Darren manned an orienteering maze complete with SI controls to provide a tantalising taste of the sport. Some of the Fitness First crew who gave it a try were so determined to get it right they completed it three or four times! The DuO Adventure Race prize draw was won by Rob McDonald so we look forward to seeing him in Belanglo Forest for his first experience of orienteering at one of ONSW's favorite venues.
Goldseekers cancel Bloomfield event Friday 2 March
- Last Updated: Friday, 06 July 2012 15:44
The Orange Twilight orienteering event scheduled for Friday 2 March 2012 at Bloomfield - Gosling Creek has been cancelled due to predicted bad weather and flooding.
Weather permitting Goldseekers next event is Sunday 11th March at 10am at Lake Canobolas.
If you go down in the woods today
- Last Updated: Friday, 06 July 2012 15:44
Women's training weekend in Belanglo Forest was no teddy bear's picnic, with nearly thirty female orienteers from around the State coming to learn from NSW Head Coach Nick Dent. The weather was unkind for most of the time, making running conditions wet and slippery and soaking the participants as they tackled the challenging exercises.
Theory sessions followed by practical sessions delivered a tight training package, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. 'You don't often get the opportunity to spend real time working on techniques, like really reading contour,' said Jane McKenna from Uringa Orienteers. 
The experience level of the group ranged from urban orienteering savvy orienteers who had little or no bush experience - one described herself as 'consciously incompetent', to those who had been orienteering for some years picking up skills along the way and often coached by husbands, to a couple who have represented Australia. There was something to learn for everyone, and the final relay race, where teams were mixed up by ability produced some fierce racing. Read the full report here.
A course for the eagle-eyed thinking orienteer
- Last Updated: Friday, 06 July 2012 15:44
The last of the Sydney Sprint Series was run by Uringa at Mort Bay Dock on a map newly refreshed by Dave Lotty, who also set the course. Dave had taken the best of the area to produce an unusual sprint course that combined street areas and the best of the local parks.
Route choice was important especially on the longer legs where choices made measureable differences to results. Tricky short dashes through the parkland at Ballast Point, where spotting detail on the map was critical, had runners leaping up and down staircases and hunting in amongst the park features which included old oil drums and loading bays.
Michael Burton was the swiftest, canniest runner on the day with a time of 21:47 followed by Big Foot runner Patrik Gunnarsson in 22:21. First woman home was Tracy Marsh in 24.24. Special mention must go to Duncan Currie, Garingal junior, who with his 26:18 romped home ahead of some serious competition.
