Eureka Orienteers

Hi Everyone

Just a few bits of EU news to keep you in the picture as the days get shorter – before they get longer after the Winter Solstice on about the 23 June (a full moon).

1      Ian Lawford leaves for JWOC  Ian is off to Czech Republic tomorrow night to get ready for JWOC (29 June to July 6). He will be joined by Coach Roch on the 20^th June. The club granted Ian some $$ toward his return airfares (and he thanked me at Captain’s Gully event). We hope to follow his journey at his 3^rd (and final) JWOC on the team website (on the OA front page) and by blogs, emails and twitter. He seems to be in good condition – so much so that he has been selected (by JiM Russell) to run the first leg (11pm start with 1000’s of teams light the forest with headlamps) of Jukola (the biggest relay in the world). JWOC’13 is Ian’s best chance for placing in the top 20 in the world – so we wish him well and hope “Eureka” rings thru the forests at the finish of his individual and relay races. Aislinn is also not far away from departing Australia for Finland’s WOC. We can count on Aislinn to keep us up to date!

2      Captain’s Gully – a resounding success for Eureka  Seventeen of our Eureka faithfuls tackled a new map only 30 minutes from Ballarat on Sunday – and came up with a near-record performance of ~115 points. As usual there were highs and lows but winners are grinners so Aislinn, Judy, Jenny, Dale Ann, Seth and Chris wearing the big grins. And a blast from the past – Terry Haebich (now in the 60’s) walked his way to a 6^th place (if only he hadn’t stuffed up one control!). Great to see you and Helen back. We look forward to seeing more of you at the local and state foot-o events as the winter progresses. Aislinn again organised the junior and senior elite in a training exercise after they had run their courses – putting back her valuable experience into their preparation for state, national and international events in 2013. Well done Aislinn – we wish you well in the grey areas (flat rock faces) and Finnish swamps from 7-14 July.

3      Eureka Meeting #4 at ELC on Monday 17^th June  Put this one in your calendar while we discuss the mapping plans for the club over the next 3-5 years and set some time-lines for map production leading up to the 2015 Australian Championships in Ballarat. So join us at the ELC at 7.30pm (or on Skype), bring your ideas and prepare to set the wheels rolling for what promises to be a great showcase event for Ballarat and Eureka.

4      Little Bendigo School – Venue for next Eureka Local event  Jenny and Geoff are setting 2 Hard, 1 Medium and 1 Easy course – starting and finishing at the Little Bendigo PS in Nerrina on Sunday 23^rd June from 10.00 to 11.30am.  Blake will be bringing out the club’s new running shirts for sale at the reduced price of $40 (a real $30 discount from the list price). They look terrific – so bring your cheques or $$ and give yourself a new lift to your orienteering! Then the local series continues in July with Warwick setting the courses, followed by Chris doing the planning for August. We’ll sort out the dates and venues at Nerrina. Still looking for planners for September and October at one of our in-town forests – contact Jenny (the Lawfords leave for Czech Rep on 27^th June – so be quick)

5      Bi-Cyclic Navigator a Winner   Thanks to a great day in Daylesford, an accurate map and a challenging pattern of controls set by Ken and Anitra, over 40 keen cyclists – with a half dozen of Monica’s Ballarat’s Dirt Girls doing their first mtbo – enjoyed one of Eureka’s icon events again receiving rave reviews. Declan Dickson (M-16) had a particularly good ride (less than 200 points behind winner Carolyn Jackson) while the Keeble family and the Dirt Girls enthusiastic about their experience. We hope to have them all at the next mtbo Vic Series event (planned by Tony K and Michael M) on the Sunday 30^th June at Maryborough. One of few problems on the day saw Joyce Rowlands lose her car keys while out on the course – but in a miraculous highlight Peter C and Carolyn J went out and FOUND JOYCE’S KEYS. But then EU temporarily ‘misplaced’ one key during the pick-up of  controls – extending that task. Seems like low technology foiled us temporarily this time.

6      TV’s a Hit at the Ballarat Basketball  Mark hired the club TV’s to post instant results for the big junior basketball tournament at the Minerdome on the long weekend. So now we have just about ½ paid off one of the screens since February AGM’s decision to buy them – not a bad start on paying off the new technology.

Cheers

Blake

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

Hi all

The busy month of April is rapidly coming to a close for Eureka – and what a finish it promises to be !

1 Macedon Pines (State Series #2) The club was pretty well represented by 14 runners at Macedon and despite shorter than normal courses most found the change to pine forest orienteering interesting – if a bit easy compared with the first two round in the granite of Mt Baw Baw and our own Mt Beckworth. Eureka scored 88 points (only two off our Mt Beckworth total). Our new member Dale Marsh ran two courses and really seems to have the navigation skills on maps that will assure good results in the coming months. A blast from the past – Hayden Lebbink – now living in Macedon was not sure he’d remember how to navigate but (you never forget how to orienteer) ran well to take third in M21A. The Gordons sporting new SI10 cards were second fastest on their courses – was it the new sticks?
Eureka did purchase 10 new SI10 cards for the Ultra Long to assist the elite who needed sticks that would hold 65 controls (the SI10’s hold 131 punches), but due to a sudden rush of interest – the new sticks are selling like hotcakes. Harrison (M-12) and Tony (M40-) Keeble bought 2, Tom Maher (M-14) 1, Declan Dickson (M-16) 1, Gordons 2, Haarsma 1, and Bice 1 – that leaves 2 left for sale @ $60 they are a bargain. First in get the last two – let Blake know by email.

2 2013 Victorian MTBO Championships this weekend in Castlemaine and Nagambie Eureka will be well represented at the Vic MTBO titles this
weekend with 7 riders in each of the three events. Watch for good junior results from Declan (M-16), Harrison (M-12) and Tom (M-14) while
the parents – Monica W40-), Tony (M40- and Michael (M40-) are definite place-getting possibilities. Veterans Anitra and Ken Dowling and Dale
and Blake Gordon should take their share of the podium positions. Attendances are up by over 20% for the Castlemaine events, but the Whroo
Long Distance is about 10% down on last years’ Joyce’s Creek event. With several late entries from Braemar College expected these races
could see increased participation from juniors. How can we encourage this junior participation – and develop strategies to maintain it? Any
ideas – send them along to the next Eureka meeting – Monday May 13th at the ELC at 7.30pm.

3 Result Boards take up “Permanent Residence” in Melbourne Our heavy Velcro attachment result boards that have become a Eureka focus point
for fast results since 2004 have moved south to Melbourne on “permanent loan” to Bayside Kangaroos. They have been replaced by the two TV
screens that Ian has engineered to produce electronic on-the-spot results. A light-weight velcro and corflute board system may replace the old
velcro system – but must be small enough to NOT require a trailer to carry it.

4 Watch this space for some local training events – discussed at the April Eureka meeting – as we enjoy the crisp mornings of autumn and trust that the winter showers are not too much disincentive to get out in the forest.

Cheers
Blake