Wow, how fast the world has changed. Was it just 2 weeks ago that we were packing up after the Melbourne Sprint Weekend, a frantic, exciting 3 days where orienteers from all over Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, travelled freely to Victoria, gathered in groups of more than 10, were not required to stay 1.5 metres apart, and did not need to cover themselves in hand sanitizer?  People hugged, hi-fived, swapped SI sticks and studied each others maps in a manner that is unthinkable these days.

Now, the world has shut down, and orienteering along with it.  No more tell-tale beeps from that control hiding behind the boulder. The start clocks are silent.  There’s no-one selling toasties and chocolate cake.  The portaloos are deserted.  All the big events have been rolled over into 2021, and the local events are just a fading memory, with fixtures left to gather dust in people’s glove boxes. Our last organised event was a mountain bike course, in drizzling rain that reminded us winter is on its way.

But we weren’t prepared to let orienteering die completely.  Ideas started forming, and were tossed around in an appropriately hygienic manner.  We set up a library of hundreds of digital maps and courses, freely available so that people can find one near their home, print it off, and go for a self training session whenever they like.  Then we decided to take it a step further.  Let’s not waste the upcoming courses that have already been set but not run; and let’s provide something to do while we’re in semi lockdown.  The name – MapLink – came to me at about 4am.  The concept quickly came together.  All we needed was the powers that be to say people could exercise outdoors; those words came on Monday morning.  A small group of people swung rapidly into action, and by lunchtime, MapLink was launched!

So each week we release 3 or 4 new maps and courses, on the day that they were originally fixtured.  Get the link, print the map, and head off to run or walk by yourself.  Orienteering continues!  There’s a self scoring system and a facebook page.

This afternoon we did our first Maplink run, at Bennettswood.  I completed D course in 31 self timed minutes, just after Ian returned from C course in 29 minutes.

It’s different, but not all bad.  I don’t have to run in the dark, freezing cold or bucketing rain. I don’t have to take a carload full of equipment. I don’t have to listen to Ian waffle on at the briefing. I don’t have to wait around for the stragglers to finish. I don’t have to pester people to pick up controls. I don’t have to bend down to the ground to punch the plate.  BUT I miss my friends. It’s not the same.

After the hoarding frenzy has died down, and people come to terms with the new normal, we’ll all get busy cleaning cupboards, weeding gardens, painting bathrooms, sorting photo albums – all those jobs you put off for years and years.  People won’t have to jam onto trains or spend hours in traffic.  The pace of life will slow.  Yes, our borders are closed and our dream holidays are on hold for a while, and things are strange and distressing. But hey – maybe we’ll all draw a breath and be nicer to each other for a while. Even the hoarders.