Park Final
Setters Report:
When Carolyn & I first visited Booragul Public School to look at mapping it for the Active After School Communities program in late 2011 the possibilities of the area for a Park Tour map were obvious. Thanks to the cooperation of the staff at Booragul PS and Lake Macquarie HS this became a reality.
As mapper and setter this felt almost like a perfect event for me - happy with map, lots of support from landowners & no access issues (and the school P&C put on a sausage sizzle), an area that was scenic and appropriate for the standard of course, near perfect weather, event ran smoothly with involvement of many club members, LOTS OF HAPPY COMPETITORS, and a few helpful suggestions - & enough volunteers for control pick-up so that I didn't have to get any. Thanks to everybody for your assistance - hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
With the absence of some of "gun" runners, either because of non-qualification or Formula 1 commitments, the A Grade final opened up. Early starter Shane Trotter took the lead with 26:22, but then Martin Quirke improved on that by half a minute. Andrew Morris took out the top position with a late run, even allowing for some creative navigation around control 11 on the marsh. Jenny Enderby won the Women's A Grade, and will get the Women's Park Trophy when we track it down.
Geoff Todkill thought he was going well until he arrived at Control 16 for the first time (unfortunately after he had completed the loop around 17, 18,19 & 20), so resigned himself to a MP result.
Angus Roberts won B grade with a time that would have placed him mid-field in A Grade, while first starter David Messenger never really settled after a 90 degree mistake out of the start box for his worst run of the Tour ("WHY is he going that way???)
Michael Goode won C Grade with a 4 minute lead over Sonia Brown, and Graham Fowler had a 53 second lead on (a hopeful) Jon Sayers in D grade.
On the Short Course Graeme Taplin won E Grade convincingly from Kate Alborough and Peter Newton.
Fastest time for the day was by Steve Todkill, who did not have enough events to qualify for A Grade, and visited some haunts familiar from his school days on the run around the high school.
As part of the arrangements with the school Carolyn ran a Young Orienteers course around the school buildings and playground, with miniature control flags and animal pictures instead of control codes. This did not stop at least one senior orienteer from trying to find the SI punch (is that you Craig?). Eleven groups of kids ran the course, 7 from the school and 4 from the club. This course used the original school maps (1:1000 scale) compiled for the AASC program that first raised our interest in the area, completing the cycle.
The P&C was very happy with the results from their sausage sizzle, selling out of cakes and drinks and almost all of the sausages. If the club uses the area for a larger event in the future (State League sprint?) they certainly would like to be involved.
Thanks once again to everyone involved in making the event run so smoothly - Malcolm (SI), Cheryle, Joy and Maria (admin), David, Peter O, Peter N (set-up), Andrew, Kate, Greig, Sonia, Schyler, Imogen, Axel, Ingrid, Alan, David (control pick-up) - so many, sorry if we've missed anyone.
Russell & Carolyn
Results: 65 Entrants | Results | Splits | Photos | Routegadget | Routegadget Split Analysis | Attackpoint Spilts analysis Long | Attackpoint Spilts analysis Short
The event will be run on a new map Booragul Campus (1:4000) with a mixture of park, some bush and some school building features to negotiate. SportIdent will be used.
Location: Booragul Primary School, Aspinall Street, Booragul
Parking: Please park in surrounding streets, taking care not to block residential driveways. Enter Booragul Public School at the flagged entrance off Aspinall Street.
Start Times: Starts between 5pm and 6:30pm (Course Closure 7:10pm)
Setter: Carolyn and Russell Rigby
Course: Long (~5km) and Short (~2km)
Directions: From Five Islands Rd turn into First St at the roundabout then right into Marmong St. Finally left into Aspinall Street.
Note: There will be an additional course for younger competitors entirely within the schools grounds
Facilities: toilets, children's playground, shelter
Important Notice: This is an SI event. Please bring your SI stick if you own one otherwise you will need to rent one of the clubs.
Really Important Notice: Please check your grading for the final here: 2013 Park Grades.
Really Really Important Notice: As a special feature Booragul P&C are putting on a BBQ starting at 6pm. Please support their fundraising efforts. BBQ, including vegetarian options, cakes, soft drinks and coffee and tea will be available at very reasonable prices. This will keep you entertained until the Park Series Presentation beginning at 7:10. Lucky Draw prizes plus prizes for winners in each division.
Starts will be from 5:00pm. Grading based on the results from Best 2 of 3 races are on the website., You can run in the event and compare you time, even if you have not qualified for a graded start.
Please consider coming early as course closure at 7:10 (maybe earlier if overcast), and sunset very soon after – and you'll want to have a sausage sandwich afterwards too.
A special course is also planned for very young orienteers wholly within Booragul PS grounds. This will be free of charge and will not use SportIdent punching.
As a special service we have a flyer for you to put on your fridge or noticeboard at home as a reminder.
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