Sydney Summer Series

Moonlight at Whale Rock

A good showing of Sydney Summer Series competitors fronted for the first 'Moonlight Madness' run last night at North Epping. Early runners got to actually see the moon, something of a rarity for the headlamp crowd recently. Late starters missed the silver orb and copped a bucketing for their troubles. Fun, fun.

Dave Stitt was in charge of proceedings and had deployed his pots in two distinctive areas - the bush and the streets. The bush track loop had 200 points on offer with the downhill/uphill penalty and the thrill of lonely track running in the dark. Many opted for the plunge. Others, with white legs trembling, opted for the street and bush edge groupings that promised a good 300 plus points and no spiders or Loch Ness monsters. All controls were well located and easily picked up in the lamp beams, with not too many puzzles in joining up a loop. There was plenty of takers for the #23,9,22,17 start, and a perfect maths lesson for the bush brigade who began their night with 1,2,3 (I always thought there was something of the teacher in Dave).

No real 'lonely pots', with most runners getting further than they initially thought. Might have been to do with Dave's cunning 1:8,000 map scale. #21 required concentration, but all else pretty smooth going. Funny to feel the temperature drop when going from bush tracks or roads to running across open grass parks- a feature of the moonlight runs.

I didn't take any race times, although a few should have scooped the pool, or been only a little over.

The next 'moonlight' event is on Wednesday 5th August at Fairlight and should be a bit of fun. This is a new area that we will again feature in the 09/10 summer series programme. Treat this as a preview outing, although you don't have to pack your cossie and block out. Don't miss it (details from OANSW and the Garingal web site (www.garingal.com.au).

Bush orienteering continues apace with the new Sydney Series attracting plenty of attention. The 09/10 Sydney Summer Series programme is nearly complete and will feature a couple of new areas, revived areas and old favourites with different starts to add interest. If your after harbourside, look no further than our opening double whammy at Kirribilli/McMahons. If your after bush, Terry Bluett promises more of the Manly Dam map bush to play in. If its apres O pubs, watch this space, and the temptation to label the upcoming series "The Pub Tour" (Pork Pie off on a tangent again!).

More soon.