The action got underway at Cataract Gorge, with the World Cup sprint qualifier. The fastest 40 men and women would go through to the A final, leaving a handful to the ignominy of the B final. Sixteen countries were represented included a full Aussie contingent; the top half dozen men and women orienteers in the world were competing. The arena was at the swimming pool and being a warm day, was full of locals swimming and sunbaking, as well us hundreds of orienteers spectating. The runners went head to head using two different courses, so they raced down into the arena to a common first control, then split up. Before long there were runners everywhere and we couldn’t make sense of the courses. Not that it mattered, it was just great seeing them at full speed. Some went flat out and others were conserving their energy for the Final.

Afterwards we were able to do self timed runs on the courses (or strolls if you preferred), and it all became clear. Most of the action was on the far side of the river, on a network of tracks that criss crossed the manicured hillside gardens. Pete and I had a race – my first run in several weeks, so it was a good psychological boost to get myself moving. I was fine until no 3, which I missed the correct approach to, ending up picking my way through small boulders at very slow speed. Then fine till no 7 which I completely messed up. After that my foot started to hurt (after feeling good all day) so I slowed right down and finished off the rest of the course much slower than Pete. It was great fun.

Next day was OUR first official day of competition. The World Cup runners had their Final in the morning, then we raced in the afternoon. We went out early to watch; the venue was the University at Newnham. The setup was elaborate, TV monitors with live feed and instant results everywhere. It made me nervous about being organiser for the Aus Champs sprint in October!

The day grew hotter and hotter, and we didn’t run till mid afternoon – by then it was mid 30s. My foot had felt great all day so I was optimistic as I ran out of the start box. That soon crumbled as I failed to read the control description that would have told me my first control was INSIDE the building corner, not outside. That resulted in pointless running in circles till I stopped and read the clue properly. Idiot! I was ok till midway through the course, when my heel started tightening and my brain started fading at the same time. I made a hash of no 8, then having lost heaps of time, I slowed down and took the rest very easy, it was so hot I was feeling a bit wobbly. I was surprised to see I wasn’t last – 4 or 5 others were slower than me.

Ian on the other hand had a blinder – no errors, and he finished 4^th in a very strong field, beaten only by the 3 men that were picked to represent Australia in the Oceania competition! He was only a minute or so behind them, then there was quite a gap to 5^th, so he did amazingly well.

Afterwards we all went home in search of air conditioning and liquid replenishment.

This morning was our first foray into the forest, at the Relays. Only Pete, Vic, Lanita and me had entered, so we left the rest of the house to their own devices, and piled into the van heading for Diddleum (if you cant find it on a map, its about halfway between Launceston and Scottsdale). I was third leg runner, with two friends from another club, and I knew we were all about the same speed – though I expected to be slowest. By the time I started it was midday, and warming up. I was hungry as well. A lot of the course was in a eucalypt plantation which was very uneven and overgrown with grasses and bracken, so it was slow going. The controls were easy enough to find, it was just negotiating the marshes, creeks, bogs, fences, and undergrowth. The foot was sore from the start, but didn’t get any worse so I made as much use of the tracks as I could to keep out of the tangly stuff. I kept my feet dry until the bitter end, when the boggy stuff around the final control was unavoidable. We didn’t think it was great terrain for a relay, not runnable enough. I was pleased to get round, albeit slowly, and get one bush event under my belt. From now on they get much shorter thank goodness!

Free day tomorrow then on to the east coast for the second part of the carnival.