Event: Park/Street
Location: Silver Ridge (Wallsend)
Map: Brickworks Park/Brickworks Street
Planner/Organiser: Carolyn & Russell Rigby
Weather: Intially very hot then unsettled with thunder, lightening, and heavy rain.
Entrants: 50
Rego: Diana Charlton
Start: Ian Rigby
Finish: Denis Lyons, Kerry Bacon
Technical/Results: David Messenger.
Control Collection: Russell Rigby, Damian Enderby, Steven Todkill, Others??
A new map....a Club get together...a spectacular sound, light and water show.... what more could you ask for?
Our traditional Draw for Partners event leading to Club Presentations came to the suburbs this year with a different format. A Friday twilight event meant the usual relay format would make way for a Park event and a Street Scatter-Score course.
Brickworks Park at Wallsend is a great little park, with many saying “Didn't know this was here!” The surrounding streets provided a challenging Scatter-Score area. Winning times of 15 and 25 minutes respectively were anticipated – after all it was a social event. The Draw would take place post-race and for those who ran both courses just one of their times would count – and that to be randomly allocated.
Friday was hot – 41C at Wallsend at 3pm and the storm clouds threatened. Early arrivals planned their runs, selecting starts to allow for recovery between. But which course to run first? Strategy came to nought when the rain arrived. The “light and sound show” deterred a few from a second run, understandably. The Young Orienteers on their Blue course posted great times, encountering some large puddles on the way, but visibility was a greater hurdle for some who ran the Park during the downpour.
Josh B showed he is returning to speed with the fastest times on each course. Bolter for the night was Angus R placing 5th in the Street and 11th in the Park. Back in the comfort of the Community Hall eyes previously glued to the photos of the year turned to the Draw. The usual audience oohs and aahs were heard as names were drawn. However the luck of the draw was with Alex M and Rob V who took home the chocolate ahead of Damien W and Glen C (hoping for a 3rd consecutive win) and Josh B and Kendall O'C.
A lot of time and planning went into the evening – but it was a great night. A big thank you to Diana C for Rego duties, Ian R for bravely defending the maps at the Start, Denis and Kerry for deciphering and interrogating at the Finish, Margaret for Admin, David M for technical input and Russell R for yet another good map and Park course.
Thanks also to Energy Australia for allowing us to use the park area at the back of their offices.
See Carolyn or Russell at the next street event if you want your map back, or a fresh copy that hasn't been turned to papier mache.
Results - Individual
Results - Draw for Partner
Results - Statistics
RouteGadget - Park
RouteGadget - Street