Previous news and announcements

This Long Distance State Orienteering League event took us back to the scene of last year’s National event, but with very different weather conditions. Instead of very hot and sunny, the forecast was for up to 25mm of rain, but fortunately that rain stayed mainly around Perth and the South-West with just a few showers reaching Avon Valley.

The final MTBO event of the winter is the State Long Distance Championships, with the Arena in Dwellingup, Australia’s Top Tiny Tourism Town 2023. The courses head out to the ‘ghost town’ Marrinup, the former Prisoner of War camp and the old golf course, now the Murray and Districts Carriage Driving Club grounds. There is a mixture of gravel tracks, mostly easy MTB single track, and just a few less obvious tracks, in relatively flat terrain, especially for the shorter courses.

Our next NavDash event will be the WA State Sprint Championships! Check the Course Specifications for more information about Sprint Championships, and which course to enter for your age class. Pre-entry for the Championships is required via Eventor before Sunday, August 4^th. Alternatively, if you don't wish to compete in the Championships, you can enter on the day and race at your own pace.

We had 21 entrants for the WA Middle distance championships at Langford Park, including 7 entries in the M21A and 3 in the W21A.

The WA Middle Distance Championships will be held at Hill Park Dale. Check here for more information about Middle Distance Championships and which course to enter for your age class. Pre-entry for the Championships is required via Eventor before Monday 5^th August.

Congratulations to WA’s Henry McNulty, who was the best performing Australian athlete at the World Orienteering Championships (Sprint) held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 12 – 16 July.

WOC is an annual competition and since 2022 has alternated between Sprint and Forest formats. This year there were 333 athletes from 45 countries. For those who don't know Henry, he is Anthea Feaver's son and a former member of LOST, and has won many state titles.

This was the most sociable competition of our season to date, judging by the shouts of encouragement. It attracted 52 runners forming 23 teams at John XXIII College in Mount Claremont, mostly competing in unanticipated light rain.

Each class, Open, Masters and Mixed, had four different courses allowing eight variations of running order for teams, with legs repeatedly criss-crossing the compact complex campus so that map flips were needed for most. The 1:3000 scale meant narrow gaps between...

Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) WA Middle Distance Championships will be held at Langford Park; a former bauxite mine rehabilitated with a walk and MTB trail network. The courses make use of both purpose built trails and gravel roads, some quite overgrown. As this is a middle distance events courses are shorter than usual with an emphasis on route choice and navigation.

Championship entries close on Thursday 18^th July.

The Orienteer of the Year competition continues with the third and final State Orienteering League (SOL) event, revisiting the 2023 Australian Championships map at Avon Valley National Park for Long distance courses. We will be using mostly faster running than last year, in very pretty Wandoo spur/gully country with granite outcrops, and we guarantee that it won’t be 35 degrees! Look out for emu eggs and early wildflowers!

A total of 21 participants had entered across the 3 courses, with some probably regretting it when they pitched up, just to find a decent drizzle/rain on that day (8mm the records say). Not quite a 100 year flood, but certainly for the duration of the event it rained, with participants coming back covered in mud to varying degrees and a few with forced smiles/grimaces on their faces.

Come and join in the most sociable and fun event of the year, with courses for people of all abilities who like the achievement of handing over to a team member. Compete for the infamous Rutty Rock, and towards the annual  Bengtsson-Offrell interclub trophy.

Sat 29^th June - Mon 1^st July 2024

This year’s camp was held at Swan Valley Adventure Centre, hosted by new Camp Coordinator, Riley McFarlane, and De Facto Coordinator, Rob West.

The event ran smoothly both at the assembly area and at the starts. Having the Junior Camp participants present certainly enlivened the day! The only difference to a normal event was extending the start time to 12pm to allow those assisting on the Camp to run an additional course.

The 2024 WA State Orienteering League (SOL) started with two events on the same weekend: a sprint on the Saturday, followed by a middle distance bush event on the Sunday. Both events, held under blue skies and timed perfectly between wintry showers, provided challenge and excitement for both seasoned orienteers and newcomers alike.

Our next mountain bike orienteering event is at Karragullen.

Pre-entry is available via Eventor. You will also be able to enter at the event from 9am.