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All organised orienteering events have been suspended from July 8 until further notice, for any residing in metropolitan Melbourne. This means Park Street Winter Series events, MelBushO events, the RMIT Sprint Double, and all other orienteering activity, will not take place until restrictions allow organised sport to resume again.

However, individual outdoor exercise is allowed, as long as you manage hygiene and social distancing, and do not travel outside the restricted area of Melbourne. We have two great ways to keep you actively orienteering, and connected to your sport.

MAPLINK  https://www.vicorienteering.asn.au/maplink

MapLink is there for you –  the MapLink Library now has almost 100 Park Street courses, right across Melbourne, with new courses added every week.  You can complete as many courses as you like, where you like, in your own time frame. We have an online self scoring system and a Facebook page to keep you connected.  You can help by setting a course, sending it to voa@iinet.net.au, and letting us share it with everyone.  Find out more about Set-Send-Share.

DIY MAP LIBRARY https://www.vicorienteering.asn.au/resources/diy-library/

We have over 100 previous maps and courses already set up, ready for you to download, print, and use in your own time frame. You’ll find a great selection of park street, sprint, MTBO and bush maps – including DROC’s own Map Archive, Bayside Kangaroos Maprun library; most Park Street maps from 2019 and 2020 (and some golden oldies from way back); a great selection of sprint training maps from Fredo and Mikkel, and some Sprint Into Spring, Vic Autumn Series and MelbushO maps.

We also have a special offer for club members.  You can request a digital copy of our Permanent Course maps, which will be emailed to you.

Stay safe when exercising:

Fantastic news – orienteering is coming back soon!  From Saturday July 4, Park Street resumes competition, with a restart set for the Monday, Wednesday and Saturday Series. Meanwhile, Preseason sessions will continue right through until July 1st.  Find out more about the return of Park Street Orienteering, and sign up for a free Preseason session here. We offer three events every week, and 3 20-person sessions per event.

Bush orienteering will restart in late July, subject to landowner permission. We hope to kick things off on Sunday July 19 with 2020’s first MelbushO at Police Paddocks, however this is still subject to confirmation.  Find out about plans to restart MelbushO

If you would like to brush up on your bush orienteering skills before then, come along to one of our training sessions, at Cardinia Reservoir on Sunday June 21, or Brimbank Park on Sunday July 5.  Each training day has three separate 20-person sessions – 10am, 11am and 12pm.  You’ll receive a printed map, and you can choose to do a 5km or 3 km Line course, or a 60 min Score course. These sessions are free of charge, but you MUST pre-enter on Eventor.  Use the links below to sign up.

Cardinia 10am – full     Cardinia 11am – enter here     Cardinia 12pm – full

Brimbank 10am – enter here     Brimbank 11am – enter here     Brimbank 12pm – enter here

ORIENTEERING VICTORIA RETURN TO SPORT UPDATES

To help you keep active and stay local, DROC has created an archive of past maps.  These are available for individual exercise only, and are not to be used for organised activity of any kind.

Some of these maps date back many years. Maps were correct at the time, but may no longer be an accurate representation – use at own risk!

DROC Map Archive

Grab your mountain bike and get ready to explore the Dandenong Ranges with a map!  You’ll have 75 minutes to visit as many controls as you can on two wheels, using the tracks and trails in and around Silvan Reservoir and Dandenong Ranges National Park.  What an amazing way to spend the morning – navigating amongst the spectacular tall timbers!

There is no need to pre-enter – just come along ready to ride, with starts between 10.30 and 10.45am.

Important information for competitors – please read this article.

Start and Finish: Eagle Nest Picnic Ground, Eagle Nest Road (off Silvan Road), Dandenong Ranges National Park.

Riders have up to 75 minutes to visit controls on the supplied colour map. You choose which ones to visit and which way to get there and back. Each control is worth 20 points. 10 points penalty per minute for those longer than 75 minutes.

Entries: Enter on the day – register up until 15 minutes before the 10.30am start time. Fees: Adults $10, Juniors $5.

Map boards and Sportident e-sticks:  available for loan.

Find out more

COVID-19 IMPACT ON ORIENTEERING EVENTS – PARTICIPANT GUIDELINES FOR VICTORIAN PARK STREET EVENTS  March 15 2020                                                                                          

Orienteering Australia has shared guidance on conduct of orienteering events with States and clubs. Orienteering Victoria has adopted the competition guidelines below, and we have already posted them on our website and Facebook page.  These guidelines take effect at all Park Street events from Monday March 16 2020, until further notice.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and follow guidance provided by OA for safe and responsible conduct of events.  We expect conditions to change quickly, and will be ready to respond and communicate accordingly. We strongly encourage you to visit the OV website regularly (www.vicorienteering.asn.au) for updates.

Victorian Park Street events

Fixtured events will continue as normal unless/until we are advised otherwise, or unless landowners withdraw permission.

However, the Awards Night and BBQ on Wednesday April 1 will not go ahead; instead we will have a short informal prizegiving (series certificates and Championship medallions) immediately following the event.  The dinner planned for Tuesday March 24 will also not proceed.

Guidelines for competitors

You must not come to any Australian orienteering event or activity if you fall into one of the following categories:

• If you are unwell with a cough or fever or other respiratory symptoms. This is particularly so for people who have recently travelled from overseas.
• If you have been a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 until 14 days after having contact with a confirmed case even if they are completely symptom free.
• If you have returned from or transited through a listed higher risk country (currently mainland China, Iran, Italy, South Korea), until 14 days after leaving the country.
• If you are undergoing COVID-19 testing until you have received your results.
• If you have been advised to stay at home by a health professional.

Precautions at Victorian Park Street events

• Follow good hygiene practices, and provide your own hand sanitiser*
• No catering provided or food for sharing with others to be brought. BYO drinks, snacks, cups etc
• No presentations, or results displays at events
• Maps will be placed on a table for competitors to pick up individually, rather than being handed out
• Volunteers on the finish table, and scorers, will wear gloves when handling control cards
• Briefings will be kept to a minimum.  Participants should register quickly and move away from the table while they wait for the start

** It is currently not practicable for event organisers to provide hand sanitiser or other protective measures for individual participants. Volunteers handling multiple control cards will be provided with gloves.

Debbie Dodd; Margi Freemantle

Orienteering Victoria Park Street Committee Co-Chairs

Phew – just finished another fantastic Melbourne Sprint Weekend!  Six races in six days, including a World Ranking Event, the Australian University Sprint Champs, a bush sprint, a sprint relay, and a 4 stage knockout sprint. Hectic is an understatement!  DROC took on the job of Race 4 at La Trobe University, with Ian Dodd as course planner, Debbie Dodd as event director, and a huge crew of enthusiastic club members who ensured everything ran to plan.  The Relay was first, followed by the individual race, and pressure was on to place the controls, build the arena, run the two events, and pack up and hand over to the next team.

Check out Ian’s Race 4 Feature Leg Analysis where he shows the route choice options on his pick for best leg of each course.

Ian and Debbie were also responsible overall for Finish and Results, while Pam King, Ilze Yeates and Peter Dalwood looked after Registration and Information for the three days.  Asha Steer was kept busy handling the Under 25’s competition. Peter Dalwood also made a huge contribution by updating the map for Deakin University.

DROC had a massive contingent of competitors at each race. We had five club members representing Victoria in the Relay – Asha and Lanita Steer, Peter Hobbs, Sarah Davies and Sally Barlow.  We also had good results in the overall standings, with a win to Sally Barlow in Senior Girls, third place to Damian Spencer (M40), 5th place to Helen Walpole (W40), 4th place to Janine Steer (W50),and 4th place to Ilze Yeates (W70).

Overall Results

Head to our Gallery for a bunch of fantastic photos!

The 2020 Park Street Championship were held on Monday 24 February at Mulgrave, with suitably challenging courses set by Judi Herkes.  The flat course made for speed, but also required plenty of thinking and planning. It was great to see so many competitors really lift their game and race hard.

RESULTS

PRIZES – personalized medals will be presented to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd placegetters in each category, on the Awards Night on Wednesday April 1st.

DROC Results:

GOLD – Sarah Love, Ian Greenwood

SILVER – Michael Dardis, Ian Dodd, Denise Pike, James Love, Ros King, Muriel Neilson, Helen Kerley

BRONZE – Peter Hobbs, Damian Spencer, Peter Dalwood, Debbie Dodd, Christine Palmer

Finalists – Andrew Hester, Matthew Grover, Pam King

Melbourne’s crazy summer weather of extreme heat, sudden deluges, and bushfire smoke, has wreaked havoc on the Monday Summer Series.  The event at Dingley Village was cancelled when the air quality hit the Very Poor mark, and our fantastic new map at Tatterson was swamped by a heavy downpour which saw most people choose to stay home.

Not wanting our course setters’ efforts to go to waste, we’ve fixtured re-runs of both events as part of the 2020 Saturday Series.  Dingley Village will be on April 18; the map was given a complete revamp by Pam, and the course planned meticulously by Joel.  Tatterson is a map thats simply too good to miss, with its huge parkland, tricky streets, chain of lakes and wetlands, and the incredible Tree Maze.  You’ll have another chance to enjoy Peter G’s map and courses, on May 2.

The Monash Mega Sprint was held in heated conditions (fortunately before the storms that hit later!)  An excited crowd queued eagerly for their chance to race indoors and outdoors, on courses planned by Coach In Residence, Fredo.  Confusion reigned right from the start as we plunged inside, to be faced with immediate decisions on classrooms, corridors, stairs, doors, and mezzanines.

After exiting what felt like a washing machine, we were thrown straight into a tumble dryer! Route choices on every leg, and tiny details vital, spread over an extra long distance to keep legs and brain working overtime.  Keeping concentration was key, but very tough in the conditions.  This event was perfect training for the full-on summer of Sprinting that lies ahead, especially for anyone heading to the Melbourne Sprint Weekend in March.

Results

Splits

Tour De France Course Indoor

Tour De France Course Outdoor

Paris-Roubaix Course Indoor

Paris-Roubaix Course Outdoor

Velodrome Course Indoor

Velodrome Course Outdoor

Our thanks to Monash Clayton for their permission, assistance, support and enthusiasm!

Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club is proud to support the OV Coach In Residence program; all entry fees will be used to support this valuable activity.  Look out for Fredo’s training sessions!

Our club is looking forward to another great year in 2020! We’re putting on plenty of amazing orienteering events right through the year. These include:

• Melbourne Sprint Weekend Race 4 – Sprint Relays and Public Race, La Trobe Bundoora, Sunday March 8
• BikeO 75, Silvan Rode, Sunday March 22
• Saturday Park Series, Abbey Walk (new colour map), May 16
• Eppalock 3 Day Weekend, June 6-8
• MelBushO, Police Paddocks (new map), Sunday July 12
• Saturday Park Series, Jells Park, August 1
• Not Notting Hill EndurO, Saturday August 15
• Sprint Double, RMIT Bundoora, Sunday August 22
• Melbourne City Race, Port Melbourne, Sunday November 29

in addition to our regular program of mid week and Saturday park street events.