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.

Sprint Into Spring is over for another year, and once again, DROC members featured in the winners lists! Jerseys will be presented on Saturday November 30 at Ruffey Lake.

Our 2019 Jersey winners are Sarah Love (Mo Women Green), Damian Spencer (Sally Men Green), Wayne Love (Sally Men Polkadot) and Sammy Love (Sally Women Polkadot).  Asha Steer was 3rd overall on Mo Women, and James Love was third overall on Sally Men.  Congratulations!  Check out our Gallery for more photos.

Wayne and Sammy will swap last year’s Green jerseys for Polkadot

We had a great day out at Kardinia International College at Geelong, venue for the 2019 Victorian Sprint Champs.  Last used in 2016 for the Melbourne Sprint Weekend, everyone was looking forward to testing their sprint skills at this complex campus.  Reading fine detail and keeping map contact were more important than speed, as tiny cut throughs offered the shortest route choices.

Congratulations to our many members who took a place on the podium:

Winners and Victorian Champions: Sarah Davies, Janine Steer, Peter Dalwood

2nd Placegetters: Sammy Love, Helen Walpole, James Love, Martin Steer

3rd Placegetters: Sally Barlow, Asha Steer, Sarah Love, Pamela King, Stuart McWilliam

Check out some great action shots in our Gallery.

Don’t miss the next Sprint Into Spring race at Oxley College in Chirnside Park on Saturday November 16!  Sarah and James have planned the courses, and this small but deceptive campus is sure to challenge you.  The series is getting to the pointy end and those all-important jersey points are up for grabs.  Head to the Sprint Into Spring website for all the details!

Sprint Into Spring 2019

Check out this incredible footage from the 2019 Melbourne City Race, highlighting all the action and featuring many club members in starring roles! Share the link with everyone you know: Melbourne City Race Highlights

The Melbourne City Race Weekend will be back in 2020 – stand by for an announcement of dates and venues!

www.melbournecityrace.com.au

Joel Crothers had a convincing win at the Southern Zone Primary Schools Orienteering Championships, held at Police Paddocks in Rowville. He blitzed around his course in 15 minutes, well ahead of all other competitors.  This comes on top of receiving the Best New Junior award at the recent Melbourne City Race at Docklands, where Joel took second place in just his third Sprint competition.   When he’s not competing, Joel is busy planning courses and updating maps, with his second undertaking coming up early next year at Dingley.

Wow – what an amazing weekend of urban racing we’ve just had!  The Melbourne City Race Weekend kicked off with our first Friday “Sunset Sprint”, at Edgewater.  Locals lined up with interstaters and internationals; world champions raced against newcomers.  A fantastic terrain mix of campus, park and street, kept everyone well and truly on their toes.  In City Race style, courses were longer than usual, with winning times at 20-25 minutes.

Asha Steer was an outstanding 2nd place in a red hot field of top female sprinters, on Mo Women; while Peter Hobbs also had a fantastic result with 9th on Mo Men, in another very strong lineup.  Ian Dodd, Damian Spencer and James Love were all in the top 10 on Sally Men, while Helen Walpole was 7th on Sally Women.

We’ve been itching to sprint at Kensington for ages, and now was finally our chance; not surprisingly there was a record turnout. This urban maze lived up to its reputation, with many coming unstuck in the cluster of controls in the stockyards. The hill climb leg was not just a test of leg strength; route choice was also important.  And the final legs kept us thinking as hard as we were running. Simon Rouse was 15th on Mo men, while DROC filled four of the top 10 spots on Sally Men with Ian Davies, Ian Dodd, Damian Spencer and James Love. Hel;en Walpole and Amber Louw were 7th and 8th on Sally Women. Joel Crothers was 10th on the Usain course.

Then it was finally time to race at Docklands, on Peter Dalwood’s brand new map.  The course, planned by Jayne Sales, featured multiple levels as we took in the sights of Victoria Harbour, Waterfront, and Southbank.  It was a true City Race with a European flavour as we mingled with the crowds around Polly Woodside.  Podium placegetters were James Love, Joel Crothers and Sarah Davies (all 2nd), with top 10 results from Peter Hobbs, Simon Rouse, Ian Dodd, Sarah Love, Sally Barlow and Asha Steer.

Click here for results, splits and maps.