Previous news and announcements

A windy but fine morning saw 65 people competing at the first NavDash of the year, starting in the pleasant grounds of the Gosnells Civic Centre and moving out to the riverside bushland of Centennial Pioneer Park and briefly into the Gosnells shopping area.

The nature of the area and the short time-frame available for planning meant there was limited scope for map updates and subtlety in course planning. In any case, the map offers few opportunities for detailed navigation challenges and...

tRicky had been preparing for the Claisebrook event for quite some time, being a new and very complex map (for a Metro event) there were a lot of decisions to make about CP locations, probable pedestrian traffic and a number of busy roads through the map causing OOB headaches.  As it turned out there were more important issues to deal with such as a possible cricket final on the same night (avoided), then the lockdown (ended the day prior) and finally the remnants of a tropical cyclone passing...

Saturday 23rd January

The MetrO event at Mullaloo was the last of 4 in the Joondalup area.  Weather was certainly different being on the coast in the afternoon - at best described as "a pleasant cool change with a sea breeze" - when sitting/standing around for a while, it was decidedly chilly.  The cricket match that had been set up next to the assembly area caused fewer problems than first anticipated.

Controls had been set out along the beach, and also throughout the parks and housing.  There...

Saturday 30th January

At first sight Bibra Lake is an unlikely prospect for a MetrO event, with the land being strung out around the extensive swampland. However, it provides a variety of terrain and consequently some substantial route choice options. The Short course could be completed entirely in parkland but a well-chosen loop through the bush track network was about 500 m shorter. The shortest option for the Medium course required choosing an efficient route to visit all the controls in the...

Saturday 16th January

A fun but challenging time was had by all in the heat of North Freo on Saturday. The course setter (Noel Schoknecht) sat out this event at home – in isolation, after returning from Christmas and New Year with his Mum in Melbourne, so it was left to Simmo and others to do the hard yards!

Saturday 9th January

After a scorching week the weather cooled down somewhat to allow the Shelley event to go ahead with 72 competitors / groups participating.  The course was set by junior Kate Braid with good feedback from the short course competitors who noted that all first four finishes took different routes for their 7 controls. Duncan Sullivan was first finisher on the short course with Ken Brownlie second who was closely followed by his grandson Archie Brownlie in 3rd. First female...

Saturday 12th December

A fine afternoon with a cooling sea breeze saw 81 starters, including about 15 novices and a pleasing number of recent first-timers, gathered to explore the remnant bush of Shepherds Bush and the surrounding back-streets of Kingsley.

The map is the central east-west portion of the Kingsley map, centred on the major bicycle/pedestrian path known as Cattle Trail. Several roads that run across the map were made out-of-bounds for safety reasons and to constrain route choices for...

Saturday 5th December

Cottesloe proved to be a superb setting for this week’s Metro event with controls within the main suburb and in various nooks and crannies as well as along the beach front. One control on the groyne ended up being wave drenched due to the brisk wind giving runners a complimentary shower to avoid overheating!

The event commenced at the Civic Centre where an additional mini-sprint map added to the complexity of route planning.

The two controls at the end of sand paths onto...

Saturday 28th November

Intrepid orienteers enjoyed a beautiful, if not brisk, day out in the inviting Warwick Bushland last Saturday. Very fast runners managed to win the three courses with less than perfect routes. Isaac Madden took out the Short course by 3 minutes from Ruben Claessens, who is improving every week. Amy Dufty just pipped Jessica Madden by 4 seconds to be the fastest woman.

Liam Dufty had an even bigger margin on the Medium course, leading in Cedric Gros by over 5 minutes....

Saturday 21st November

The third MetrO series event for this season was held in excellent weather conditions in Samson. It was great to see a large number of newcomers trying out orienteering for the first time!

The bush tracks in Sir Frederick Samson Memorial Reserve and the intricate street pattern in the surrounding suburb made for interesting route choice decisions that kept many participants second guessing themselves until the end. On the short course, Duncan Sullivan came through for his...

Saturday 14th November

The unseasonal weather forecast for the second MetrO event didn’t stop 69 people, including about a dozen novices, arriving at Joondalup to take part. There was an ominous, short heavy shower just before the event briefings but then almost no rain until after controls were collected.

Advertising for the event promised something a bit different, and it was. The event was entirely within the strip of Yellagonga Regional Park between suburban Joondalup and Lake Joondalup,...

Saturday 7th November

The first event of the MetrO season in Thornlie provided participants with a good mix of urban and semi-urban areas with the river to cross via one of the two bridges or the log crossing for an adventurous challenge (as far as this setter's aware no-one fell in).  Controls were nicely situated on features to maximise route choice and included a gully, an earth wall and a rocky ford to add a bit of interest!  Sadly the grass seeds I promised wouldn't be there grew in the...

Sunday 2nd August 2020

It was a chilly start to the day on Sunday but at least not far to go for most for the first NavDash event on the restarted Sprint Series at Scotch College in Swanbourne. 

Our COVID protocols seem to be working well with a fine example of social distancing at the start.

More than 80 people were challenged by the twists and turns of the school campus, a two-sided map and then ending with an open run across the Scotch playing field to reach the finish. 

Hard courses were...

Sunday 30th August 2020

Whilst most runners had a weekend off, 30 mountain bikers (plus a runner too) met in Roleystone for the WA State MTBO Long Distance Championships.

Whilst not all participants were competing in the State Champs, there were a good number of entrants taking part, including Andrew Martin on his recumbant bike and Robert Pullella on his e-bike.
With a number of people not finishing, the loose and rocky gravel tracks possilby provided more than "challenges" for some...

Sunday 26th July 2020 

Clouds and rain cleared to reveal blue skies and expansive hilltop views for the Umuna event.  Open paddocks and dispersed woodland made for mostly unutilised fast conditions. Plodding orienteers and scattering roos shared the landscape.

Air gasping displays of poor post covid fitness levels were evident at the finish by those conscious they were being watched on the home straight. Much satisfaction was the sounding at the post race picnics.

As this was a State...