A silvery moon over Blackwattle Bay

Sounds like a pre war dance tune - and dance we did last night at Dan Redfern's moonlight giddy up at Glebe. In the last run of the 'moonlight madness' series, over 60 punters had their pencils handy for the first night run on this great area. Dan must have been listening to the old Tom Rush tune 'The Circle Game' in his setting, with a wide circular disposition of pots confronting the arriving addicts. The only concession to the head scratchers was control #27 in the middle of the Glebe streets. Hard to loop in, but worth 30 and hard to ignore. Many did however, replacing this tempter with a clean wide run around the edge. The only choice being, do I go east first or west (or up the middle for the slower runners). Most seemed to head east, or south - possibly drawn by the interesting smell at pot #17 (what was that?).

Lots of good flattish running was to be had with such good street and park lighting on offer, the LED's were hardly troubled. No reports of doggy problems, although more than one runner had a hand on the Glock as they ran past the dog obedience class south of the start. The 1:7500 map scale meant everything zoomed into view quicker than expected, although the Johnson Street stretch (29-15) was one of the few legs that got the 'legs' into top gear. The foreshore legs (28-20-5-2-25) were especially enjoyable at night with the city/Pyrmont lights as a backdrop. All in all, great fun in this bonzer spot.

Michael 'Tyson' Burton and Kar Soon 'As I can' looked to be our leaders last night with 570 points apiece. Michael ran all but three ten pointers (pots 2,3,4 in a strange sequence entirely unrelated to position), but back early. Where #2 was an easy add, #4 was a reasonable deletion, and might just qualify for last night's 'lonely pot' award. The high fencing around #3 also required a little too much time, sucking a number of runners in - myself included. There will need to be a bit of map updating here, as more paths are open in the area and the nice bush remnant gone.

Other scoring noted by correspondent 'Pork Pie' were, Peter Annetts 'Of Tax' with a strong 560, David 'On the way to Adelaide' Bray, Malcolm 'X' and Wendy with 540 and Gil 'Howzat' Fowler carding a respectable 510. Shane 'O' Henry posted 500 big ones, in front of a pack of mid to high 400 runners and the geriatric brigade following on the rails. Rosscoe managed to pip Waz by 10 although the doctor can be excused after posting a sensational marathon in Adelaide on the weekend - and no doubt still being a little 'stiff'! Carol Jacobson signaled a strong summer series to come with 360, well in front of rival Sue 'Model T' Thomson's 260.

Good Madness running all round, and a great programme over the winter months. Big thanks to David Stitt 'Field Thunderbolt' for coordinating this series and to the setters, especially Dan last night, his first outing in the setters chair.

This now leads us to the upcoming Sydney Summer Series - where the programme is now posted and the countdown has begun. Five weeks till #1 at Balls Head and the (hopefully) biggie at Kirribilli. Much excitement coming up; new maps, new area extensions, old areas revived, classic maps on show again - not to mention the apres O pub location guide (watch for this). So get your T shirts out of storage, orders in for the 'Pain Away' ointment and think seriously about a new pair of flashy running sox. Series number 19 is almost upon us!

Summer Series Looming

As you can now see, the programme has been published and we have reset the visit counter for the year. Yellow flyers are at the printer and will be in orienteering mail packs shortly. Spares will be bought to events, although you can download a pdf from the site. All looking good, but note especially, the earlier day and start times for event two at Kirribilli. Hopefully we can welcome many orienteering visitors to our great city and to this event, and the opener at Balls Head.

Also note the intention this season to introduce a walkers category. Same 45 minute time limit, same map and scoring system, but open to those who would prefer to walk rather than run. At this stage, we are just going to offer 'walkers women' and 'walkers men' and will run the progressive individual scoring as per the runners - just no age categories. Obviously this category will rely on personal competitor honesty and we hope not to be reporting the walkers breaking into an out of sight run! Note also that groups (either runners or walkers) are noted in the event scoring, but not on any progressive tallies.

The final moonlight madness run is on this Wednesday at Glebe, and will be lots of fun. Dan 'standard gauge' Redfern is in charge of the pots, and promises lots of quality harbourside running. I'll do the usual post-race wrap up, and then begin to sharpen the Pork Pie pencil for the summer series. Lots of good running (and walking) looming.

Ghosts by Moonlight!

A good roll up of 'Wednesday 45 minute addicts' last night at Manly enjoyed John Havranek's new map and Moonlight Madness course. A few runners also experienced a damp chill at the cemetery checkpoints and found new speed amongst the 'presences', Sue T amongst them! This was event two in Dave Stitt's three pack for those desparate souls (Porkie amongst them) who are hardly able to wait for the next summer series to begin. Dave has one more headlamp outing planned - the Dan Redfern special over at Glebe. Keep the lamp wick trimmed and watch for the moon. It will be a ripper.

And so, back to last night. This new area at Manly/North Steyne is a contrast of the absolutely flat and a couple of cracker hills. The southern controls needed a bit of puff and required constant map checking to avoid the 'wrong street' syndrome. The grouping looked tight, but many different loops were executed before the fast boys caught the Queenscliff tram and gathered in the northern flatties. Luckily John hadn't applied the usual summer series dose of cruelty in locating #27, #16 and #25 on top of the Queesncliff hill, ensuring a speedy collection around the lagoon (don't be on Ian Jessop being so friendly with his summer series event on this one in early December - he's been known to bring on the dark side).

Many began around the infernal fences to #18 and 8, running past puzzled arriving runners looking for the start. Waz Selby opened his account this way before looping in 10 and 24 and heading north and his encounter with the rock - or was that #28 the 'sculpture'? Given the map title 'Another Old Cemetery', many other runners headed off south west and the fun amongst the headstones. This proved a worthwhile start also and gave a good leg up to the heights further east. One area that deflated a few tyres, was the Manly rugby ground, where #4, 7 and 22 did their best to remain undisturbed. Again fences added running time to those that missed the right path (Warwick sensibly avoided all these controls).

Control #23 was the nights highlight, when you finally found it. A fantastic statue on top of the cliff. Classic, and remembered by many from a recent Metrogaine in the area. Hard to pick a lonely pot, although #30 on the beach was getting a bit off line for many. All in all, a very nice new area with loads of potential. It will be great to run it in the daylight.

I didn't take any scores, although Richard 'The Wheelbarrow' Green was reported posting 570, missing a 20 and a 10 (not sure which ones though). The southern hill offered 350 odd, and there seemed plenty of scoring around that number on the results board. Several groups of younger runners were noted on the nibble, with much urging and anxious commentary noted ("hurry up, we are going to be late"). Beautiful!

As I mentioned, the next Madness is on in a month at Glebe, so watch for that. Regarding the Summer Series, all is now finalised and should be on site in a week or two. Our final venue has been moved to the Kissing Point map, after Ian 'The Stethoscope' Cameron helped secure a building amongst the Rehab Centre grounds for our use. Should be a goodie. Other areas back for action, with additions and augmentations being a feature. Hopefully, our opening 'double' will hook in a few World Masters Games competitors, giving them the ultimate Sydney cunning running challenge.

More SSS news soon.

STEAMING TOWARDS THE SUMMER SERIES

To keep faith with the many millions of summer series fans - desperate for the '09/10 programme to commence - I thought a sneak preview might help.

Firstly, many will understand that the World Masters Games are on in Sydney just after our opener on October 7. This has led the Summer Series commissars to bring event two forward (to Monday 12/10, to avoid the WMG orienteering event at Lithgow on Wednesday 14) and offer a double whammy of Sydney Harbour delights to open the programme. With over 1,000 orienteers from overseas in town, we hope these two showcase events (at Balls Head/McMahons Point, and Luna Park Kirribill)i will not only get us underway in spectacular style, but offer our guests a fantastic introduction to Sydney and its sensational harbour. Cunning running in sight of the Opera House! Sounds good to me.

Top quality setters are on board - and already planning their courses. Should be a top start to our season.

Secondly, the restive SSS throng is always on the sniff for a touch of the old and the new.

In the 'bringing out of retirement stakes', runners will enjoy a revival of Pembroke Park at Eastwood (event 3), with Michael Halmy 'NRMA' preparing suprises for the unwary in Terrys Creek. Pulling on the scout uniform at Beecroft also is something to look forward to (event 15), and Larry 'The Possum' Weiss promises February fun in the mangroves at Boronia.

In the 'new' department, we have several augmentations (Georges Heights gun emplacements, Manly Dam bush and sandstone cliffs) as well as new map of Drummoyne and Manly. We are also hopeful of a return to Macquarie and better digs for the finals. Many other old favourites are back for more action, with start point and setter variation adding to the fun. For instance, Ian and Ted's North Parramatta is kicking off up at the lake - giving a completely different 'take' on the area.

So, as you can see, things are coming together nicely, and we should have a programme up on the site by mid August. It's going to be another cracker with top quality course setters sharpening their pencils in a drool of planning excitement. Emails from 'first timers' have already been hitting Pork Pie's inbox. Whoo Hoo.

Meanwhile, 45 minute addicts will have enjoyed the Moonlight Madness event at Epping, and be looking forward to next weeks newie at Manly. Don't miss the chance to go potty by torchlight at this one , and at Dan 'Platform Three' Redfern's outing at Glebe in September. And of course, the bush O. Plenty going on, so check out the OANSW site for event details.

Two months to go. And it's getting lighter.

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.

Dampness fails to deter summer series fans

Despite a damp and wet evening last night at North Sydney, 46 runners (a record) fronted for the 2009 Winter Solstice event. Bryony and Tim Cox had the lights and tea pot on and had engineered a brilliant reworking of the Lavender Bay and Cremorne maps to deliver 'Ridge to Rangers' - a landscape map with checkpoints across the higher parts of this fantastic area.

A first glance it looked an easy bag, although the keener runners would need to stretch it to grab #29 - and everyone needed to factor in the leg burn if pressed for time returning uphill from 20, 19, 7 and 24 over the freeway. As it turned out, it was almost a perfect deployment - with our two stars on the night (Michael 'Fats Domino' Free and Richard 'Pea' Green) posting 570's after doing three minutes over on their 600 point runs. Of interest is the daylight difference. Michael ran before sunset, and Richard made his mark after dark - a fantastic performance.

There were some other great scores. Matthew Hill was on fire for 560, Barbara 'Mum' Hill poured on the Cessnock coal for 520, David Bray nibbled 550 and the top woman was Lisa 'Wish' Grant 'Ed' with a sterling 540. Somehow 'Pork Pie' pulled out 480 to shade Amigo Ron (360) and coffee correspondent James 'Church of England' Lithgow (400). James might be pleading late arrival from interstate, but we know he was really saving himself for Sunday!

Looking at the course, runners took off in three distinct directions. Some began with a quick bag of #16 (Ted 'The Rooster' Mulherin was one), others started with the northern park quartet including the splendid 'gun' control (my option), but the majority surrendered to the downhill start to #24. Bryony and Tim gave runners a high or low option, with lots of in/out work needed to grab the middle if doing both. Probably #10 was the least attractive for the circle line group - although it was easy to flick #5 and 29 if you were a super veteran taking heart pills.

As everyone that ran found out, the many alleyways and small parky bits make this map a most attractive summer series style area. Lots of control site options, and I'm sure B&T could have put out 30 more without any problems. Finding the way back via #7 was a beauty - especially trying to understand the roads, paths and cliffs here. All in all a great evening, and a firm fixture for those poor souls that can't wait till the 7th of October (for the '09/'10 SSS season to begin).

But wait, there's more! Dave 'Madness' Stitt has got three more Wednesday evening runs up before the SSS. Pencil 8 July, 5 August and 2 September for more of this fun with the headlight. Details from the Garingal website - www.garingal.com.au

As to the 09/10 summer series, planning is well underway with another 26 event programme on offer. I'll post early glimpses here as we get closer to locking in the events.

Quiet isn't it!

Well, not for the bush orienteering crowd - where the winter programme is in full swing, and attendances so far this season have been above expectations. An excellent trend, with many following on from Summer Series running and trying the real thing. Good stuff and addictive once you get into it. See the link to the Orienteering Association of NSW for full event details over the winter months, including the winter solstice event on Wednesday June 17 at North Sydney and Dave Stitt's moonlight madness night events over the next few months.

As to the Summer Series, all is in hibernation (well brief hibernation) for a couple of months before we commence preparation of the 2009/10 programme in ernest. We are looking again at a 26 event schedule, commencing in spectacular fashion at Luna Park on October 7. As this is the week before the world masters games orienteering events in Sydney/Lithgow, we hope to attract a fair few of the international O runners arriving in town and will give this one a publicity bang. It will be a great way to start the season, in an area that is fast becoming traditional.

We intend to continue with the holiday event (this time on Wednesday 30/12), and will bring you a tantalising range of events and venues. Bushy ones, harbour side stuff, great runnable parks and historic urban areas, and........ wait for it! New maps!!! Oh, I almost forgot - something with steep hills! Yep, bound to be a few of these little critters to get the puff happening.

Anyway gang (if your out there), keep the running up and dream on about the next series. Only five months away!