The World Masters Orienteering Champs as part of the World Masters Games commenced with Sprint Racing at Macquarie University on Saturday 10 October. A mixture of park and urban orienteering, the Macquarie Uni courses were testing but very enjoyable. The weather also obliged with pleasant temperatures and no rain. We hoped we'd left the rain in Victoria!
With just one qualifying race nerves were tested but good navigation and quick running saw Graham Fowler (M65), Glenn Burgess (M45) and Jenny Enderby (W40) placed in their respective A Finals. Former NOC club members Simon George (M45) and Alan Garde (M40) were also A finalists.
The Sprint Finals were held at Olympic Park today, Sunday October 11. A fantastic atmosphere was promised; friendly rivalry and challenging courses produced the best from Australian and overseas orienteers. Running in such a public place with so many people certainly raised orienteering's profile, but it also tested the runners' concentration in the complex building arrangements. A short shower around 10 made the running surfaces slippery in places, but the sun shone soon enough.
Newcastle's Jenny Enderby had qualified 14th fastest in W40, with just 15 to make the A Final. But Jenny pulled out a startling run and following on her great results at the recent Australian Champs took out the Silver medal just 36 seconds behind Kiwi Marquita Gelderman. With starts in reverse order Jenny saw her name at the top of the results until the final runner came in. Well done Jenny!
Congratulations to all our Masters runners and officials and good luck in the challenging bush events around Lithgow over the next 6 days.
Full details about the World Masters Orienteering Championships can be found here.