Hi all
If April was a busy month – then late April and early May are notable for major National events involving Eureka riders and runners.
1 Victorian MTBO Champs Eureka sent a small but talented group of juniors and veterans to Castlemaine and Rushworth for three mtbo races in two days. Castlemaine High School was the start/finish for the sprint – combining some suburban streets and parks with a complex area of bush tracks south of the school. Declan D stepped up to M-20 to race against the best juniors in the country and despite a costly error when crossing a water channel he ended up 6th – and learned some valuable lessons. Tom Maher (M-14) riding in his first Champs rode well to take 1st, while Dale Ann Gordon topped the W70’s Blake 2nd in M70 – his first race in the new age class – smiling all the way to the finish! Monica (W40) took 3rd, Michael M (M40) 8th and Tony K (M40) blasted around the dusty tracks to take 4th, just a minute behind Kiwi Rob Garden. The afternoon Middle Courses across town looked short – but clever course planning by Peter Hill made for challenging route choices on a map dominated by single track options. Results: Declan 1st, Dale Ann 1st, Blake 1st (and bigger smiles), Monica 3rd, Michael M 8th, Tony K 7th , and Harrison K – 2nd (also his first big event). Sunday’s venue at Rushworth’s Balaclava Hill was even dryer – but so much faster. It was boom – Declan 1st, Dale Ann 1st, Blake 2nd , Tony 4th (again just behind World Champ Rob Garden), Ken D 10th – or bust – Anitra broke a hanger early in the course and Monica became quite lost early and wisely cut her course short. Thanks to Ken and Anitra for helping NE collect controls and returning the SI gear to Woodend – while the rest of us drove home with visions of ‘Black Caviar’ (home is in Nagambie) and wishing we had all been a bit faster on the day. Beaut gifts for 1st places of Gerber multi-tools will keep us trying to improve to that top place on the podium!
2 National Orienteering League returns to Canberra This weekend the travelling continues for the ‘Lawford 4’ and ‘Prendergast 3’ as they tackle three foot-o events in two days in the ACT. Ian will be trying to hold on to his lead in the M-20 division over Matt Doyle (CH) and Ollie Polland (ACT). Belinda and Aislinn will be racing for potential spots in the AUS teams – either to NZL in June or the World Champs in Finland in early July. Keen parents – Geoff and Jenny Lawford + Roch and Judy Prendergast – will be supporting their children and running for national prestige in this mid-season test in the granite terrain of the ACT. Best of luck to all of the “magic Eureka 7” in Canberra.
3 EU Club Meeting at ELC Remember the club’s next meeting at ELC where the topic of discussion will be “Winter Local Training Events” and “How Does Eureka Reward Volunteers”. Be there if you have a plan for a local event or have a say on Skype.
Cheers
Blake