Stirrup Glen, first O colour-coded event of '09

Today I ran my first colour-coded orienteering event since... Maybe August/September last year - before World Rogaining Champs and before Abu Dhabi...? What a superb event today - very technically challenging too. I didn't have an outstanding run, but chose to take it slower, get into the groove again and limit errors. I ran tha brown course (longest) and only had two nasties (Control 3 and 18; 18 should have been easy! Doh!), hitting the other 17 controls without hunting. I'm especially pleased that I had a really good section through the quarry.

The Gauteng orienteering calendar changed last year to host the short sprint/park events over Jan - April and then the colour-coded events for the rest of the year; this year was the same. In the past the sprint and colour-coded events used to alternate every second weekend or so. Now that the sprint season is over, my favourite longer distance events are on. These events make for great trail running and navigation training. Most maps at 1:10 000, which are super for just enough zoom-out with sufficient detail.

I've posted my map below, with the route I ran in pink. Click on the image to get a bigger picture. If the page gives an error, just click your refresh button and the image should load.



Next event is in two weeks, Sunday 3 May at Hennops Valley. Adventure Racing Club orienteerers, Cindy and Kobus van Zyl, are the course planners. There will be 5 courses, ranging from short & sweet to technically challenging.The event sheet will be online on www.racorienteers.co.za/events.html or www.ar.co.za/arclub during this week (not yet available).