Queens Birthday Weekend

Most of the team are heading to Queens Birthday 3 Day this weekend. This years event is being hosted by Hamilton Orienteering Club and will be using Wharepapa (near Castlerock) and Aramiro (near Raglan).

The racing this weekend includes a night sprint on the Wharepapa map which will be an interesting challenge. The last night race we had was last year at QB 3day last year. The setting was a bit different however, taking place in the well lit confines of Massey University Palmerston North. This years race will be very much in the dark on the farm maps around Wharepapa.

For more information check out http://www.madeventz.co.nz/qbday09/


The terrain at Wharepapa

Grand Prix Race 2 - MacRennie Construction Cross Country

Toby in the top image and Kate in the bottom image-Pakuranga x-country race.


Last Saturday (23rd May), Toby and I competed in a cross-country event covering a series of races over this years season, the Grand Prix series, this weekend been was held in Pakuranga. Toby and I recently joined the Auckland City Athletics Club(ACA) and we are hoping to do a number of this years coming cross country events in Auckland in order to help us with our speed and strength building for running fast in Orienteering races, especially in Italy. I will only manage to do three actual races before I go to JWOC, but I hope it will boost my confidence in racing with lots of top speedy athletes and gaining that extra bit of speed work whilst running in these races.

I have not done a cross country event in a very long time, and this was sure to be a tough one. I arrived at the event feeling rather nervous, there were many serious looking athletes and was rather suprised by how many people turned up (well compared to races back in Hastings). I bought a club singlet and chucked it on ready to warm up. It felt quite cool warming up around the course with lots of other top runners. My legs felt very dead and cold, and i found it rather hard to get properly warmed up. Earlier that week I had a bit of a cold, so the remains of it were still lingering on. I did a few stretches and then put on my spikes that had new 12mm spikes in them which felt amazingly grippy and ready for those muddy corners! I then realised the start line was all lined up and ready to go, I jogged over and got ready to start this running race. My heart was beating quite fast, but i managed to just keep my nerves under control. Then as we started I got a feel of how it is to run a running race again. The pace at the start was rather fast and i was able to keep up with the main pack for the first lap. The last two laps felt a bit harder as i could feel that cold coming back to haunt me and my quads were becoming very heavy and sore, but i managed to keep pushing and tried to stick with two other girls from ACA. We were cheered on by other club members and told to "stick together!", it felt really motivating as they were cheering for ACA, which I then realised was me! Near the end, the two ACA girls managed to get away from me as i tried hard to keep up, but it was not enough to beat them. Up the small hills i managed to get a bit of an advantage on them, must have been all the orienteering hill training and forcing myself to push up them. Anyway, I sprinted into the finish with a reasonable feeling of a good first race especially being the longest one I have ever done, 6.5km.

When I was warming down, I thought to myself, this was my first race and I have achieved a pretty big challenge of 6.5km running race. So i planned out that for the next race, where it will be around 4km, which i am more used to for x-country, I will definitely try to stick with those girls and push myself so I can beat them. I thought this could be a very reasonable goal for my next race as I hopefully wont be sick and I will be used to the distance.

Over this years season, I am looking forward to improving my km rate as I become stronger from my new strength programme and as my amount of speed training becomes more consistent.

Overall was a good race and am already looking forward to the next one(last one before I go to Italy) on the 13th June which will be held in Manakau City for the Grand Prix series number 3.
There is a club event on the 6th of June that Toby and I hope to do, this is called the "King of the Mountain" which is a race up One Tree Hill and down. This could be quite a challenge and good to see how our hill training is going.

Cross country running is a good source of training for Orienteering as it is very similar without the map reading. We can study maps and endure long hours of orienteering training, but the main thing for orienteering fast is to have speed and strength in order to control your rate in which you run through the forest so you can have more energy for reading the map and orienteering perfectly. I hope as this speed training gives me that little bit extra, I will have more concentration for when it comes to orienteering as I will not have to worry about the speed I am running at all the time, as I know it will come naturally from the amount of hardwork being put in.

It is now the 27th of May, that means only 26 days left till I go. It is becoming very close now and i am looking forward to it! Especially with all the training and hard work being put in and I know it will pay off, but these next few weeks are a very vital in order to get some well based training in. My peak is definitely JWOC, so I will not be holding off or tapering before this weekends Orienteering events in Hamilton as I am using this as more training and practice before we leave for Italia!

Cape Brett

The Wangamumu Wonder is the short course of the Cape Brett Challenge, a coastal run held in April each year. The Wangamumu Wonder starts at Rawhiti and runs out to Wangamumu Harbour then loops back to Oke Bay, with 1000m climb. The Cape Brett Challenge is the same as the short course but runs out to Cape Brett and back aswell as the Wangamumu loop. The first 6km are on gravel road with the rest of each course on the Cape Brett Walkways Tracks.

This year I ran the Wangamumu Wonder for the fourth time. In previous years I had won the Junior Mens category and this year was my first competing in Open Men, and I hoped to take it out.

In previous years I had gone fast out of the start only to be caught up when I got to the big hills so my strategy this time was to race the other competitors. I didn't push it as my goal was to beat all the others not to get the record. This year the pace was slow out of the start. I sat about 50m behind the leader and averaged 130 heart rate for the first 6km. I found it very relaxing and a great chance to check out your competitors. By the time we got to the entrance to the track a group of me and 2 other lead by approximately 70m. As the hills started I sat behind the other two and tried to get a measure of what their strengths were. I knew there was a large downhill approaching (down into Wangamumu Bay) and I decided to make my move here and drop them quite early in the race. I came to the last slight uphill and went for it, I never run up a hill so fast! I then increased my stride on the long downhill. By the time I got to the beach I looked back up the slope and I had a reasonable lead, to me it looked like 200m but I might've over estimated. From then I just relaxed into the race, using my energy on the uphills and making sure I caught my breath on the downhills before extending my stride. It was a great feeling leading the race for the majority of the way, something I've never done before. I also couldn't think of a better place to do it as the views as you run around the bays are amazing.

The last section of the course is along a short piece of gravel road from Oke Bay to Rawhiti. I found some more energy as the local kids cheered for me and pulled off a bit of a sprint finish, achieving my goal.

All in all it was a great event. Held at a great place, with great people and great prizes.

I'll be back next year to chase down the open mens record!

JWOC Team selections overseas

Browsing through some websites I am finding that more and more JWOC teams are being named. Our good friends and rivals from Australia have just finished a re-selection for their boys team after a protest. No changes were made so they still have their original 12.

Denmark and Great Britain have named teams in the last week, some familar faces in both teams, both countries are sending 12.

The Swiss have also just had selection races. With the Italian terrain so similar to Switzerland they are sure to be one of the top contenders for titles this year.

Our neighbours from the accommodation last year in Sweden, the Germans, have also announced their team. Smaller than our team again with 3 girls and 5 boys.

Seeing the other teams is making the event seem so much closer and providing some powerful additional motivation on the cold wet NZ days. It's now only 3 weeks until the first two of us (Greta and I) head over to Italy.



Opening Ceremony, Sweden 2008

Desperate for some O

As some of you might already know I'm working back from a couple of weeks off running due to my temperamental shins. I've started getting the o back in but it just hasn't been enough. 30 minutes a couple of times a week just isn't cutting it, so I've been trying to get the map into my other training.

Cycling on my road bike with a map is in the not safe basket, but aquajogging is perfect for it. The last few sessions in the pool have seen me taking some Italian maps with courses drawn on to the pool for some cross training. Trying to keep the mapbag out of the water sort of simulates the rough ground and means its not as easy to see the map if i was just sitting looking at it. Using it in the rest periods of intervals gives time pressure and adds the fatigue that goes with orienteering.

It is filling the gaps in my desire for some o as I taper real O back into the training.

Asiago maps

Was browsing through World of O and found this story on the blog of Alessio Tenani, an Italian elite. It is written in Italian but the maps are from Asiago, which is the location of our pre-JWOC training camp training over in Italy.

Looks very un-NZ which is perfect, can't wait to run there.

Here's the link:

http://alessiotenani.blogspot.com/2009/05/o-heaven-in-asiago-with-trainings-and.html

Southern Adventures

I thought I would give Tom a break from writing posts all the time and fill everyone in with what I've been up to in the deep south. I have just finished my base phase of training and my next few weeks involve hill work and leg speed. Training has been going well and I have been making full use of the surrounding hills of Dunedin. With much encouragement from my coach Robbie I have been judging my training well and listening to my body and am in a far better place than I was this time last year.


As exams are looming and it was the end of my base phase during the weekend I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out of Dunedin for a bit of a break before the real studying begins. A few friends, my brother and I had been meaning to go tramping for quite some time so thought this was the perfect opportunity. We set out towards Tuatapere and the Hump Ridge Track at 6am on Friday, arriving at the DOC centre we got a very stern look from the lady at the desk, we were late. We reassured her that we all had lots of clothes and headlamps and despite the extreme weather warnings we would be fine. Setting out for a 7-9hour walk at 11.30am is probably not ideal in summer let alone winter and looking back now was probably not out smartest moment. We all found it rather amusing when we stopped for lunch and one of our party commented that "it's not a small walk is it?" having seen we still had 5-7hours to go. However as usually happens with the DOC timing we managed to shorten 9 hours down to 6 and a half and made it up to the hut just before 6pm. Tramping through the snow was quite a new experience for me and was definitely the first time I've worn so many clothes while walking. The forecast extreme weather held off for the day so we were able to see the views and enjoy the walk alot more. When we arrived at the hut it was quite a relief and within 20minutes it was pitch black outside, we realised if we had got there any later we would have been far more miserable pushing through the snow in the dark. We were all tucked up in bed by 8pm.

Waking up the next morning to an amazing sunrise over the ocean with Keas sitting on the hut railing was quite an experience. The weather still seemed to be holding off and we were all looking forward to a day of downhill and flat, having climbed to 800m in the last 2hours of walking the day before the legs were starting to feel a little weary. The track followed the ridge line all the way down and we could see the snow-capped Fiords behind us and endless ocean in front. We could also see a huge black cloud rolling towards us which motivated us to pick-up the pace and get below the tree-line. The track passes over a few very large wooden viaducts, one of which is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, very impressive. The last part of the 2nd day followed the tram line to Port Craig village where there used to be a sawmill and the old school has been converted into the DOC hut. The rain set in for the last hour and the idea of the warm fire and marshmallows we were going to have on arrival kept us going.

The last day it rained. All day. I thought a goretex raincoat would be enough but apparently not, I was soaked after 5hours of rain and very grateful to get to the car. The last day wound around the coastline and some very pretty beaches. Probably very nice in summer but in winter with the rain and wind we just wanted to get home. Three days of wet feet was enough.

Looking back now we were incredibly lucky with the weather, it was a really good tramp but I'm unsure if I would be willing to pay the $90 each they charge in the summer season. But well worth it for the winter rates. It was a lovely escape weekend and nice to get away from reality for a little while. The next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy with uni work and training but I'm looking forward to it as it means we're that much closer to JWOC.

What is the squad doing in preparation for JWOC?

A few of you less experienced orienteers may wonder what the squad is doing in preparation for JWOC. Obviously we are training but how does one train for orienteering?

Orienteering has two key components

The physical side

This is our fitness and strength. Through this training we aim to increase our aerobic capacity and increase our strength, we will need plenty of it to power up those Italian hills!!

The mental side

The mental side of our training aims to improve and practice our navigational skills.

Each member of the squad will have a training program. This may be written by an orienteering coach, an employed coach, a friend or even by the squad member themselves. In general a training program aims to increase speed and aerobic capacity, but are often tailored to the target event. For example many squad members will have training programs that include as much hill running as possible in preparation for the mountainous terrain we will encounter. The squad members may also tailor their training program toward the event they wish to perform best at e.g. some one looking to do really well in the sprint will have extra speed training sessions, where as someone looking to do especially well in the long will have more longer runs.

A Basic training program may be as follows

Monday

Easy run 60mins.

Tuesday

Intervals. Intervals consist of fast running and rest periods. These are run at 80-100% of race pace and aim to increase speed. Intervals can range from 100m or 30s through to 2km or 6mins and beyond.

Wednesday

Easy run 60mins.

Thursday

Long run. The long run aims to increase aerobic capacity and may range from 90 to 120mins. For the JWOC team this will take place in a hilly area, for example the Waitakare Ranges(Akl), or the Port Hills (ChCh)

Friday

Rest Day. The rest day helps the body to recover.

Saturday

Easy Run or Intervals.

Sunday

Orienteering Race/Training.

In general this is what a training program will look like.

Other things seen in a training program may include:

Heart Rate Guides; Heart rate limits will be set for each session and heart rate is measured with a heart rate monitor. This is to ensure training is completed at the appropriate level.

Core/Strength; aims to increase the strength of the core musles. Strength training may be under taken by some members to increase leg strength or just to impress the ladies.

Stretching/Condition; should be done anyway but may be specified in the program. Aims

prevent injury

Cross Training; Swimming, Cycling, Rowing, Kayaking, this can be anything that isn't running. Aims to give the mind a break from running or to reduce impact (many runners suffer from shin splints, small fractures in the shins brought on by the impact of running)

Well thats enough for the physical side, now for the mental side.

There are several ways to train for orienteering;

Catching Features

An orienteering computer game. Simulates orienteering in a realistic 3D environment.

Looking at Maps

Fairly self explanatory. Involves looking at old maps or maps of where the event will be. This can aim to become familiar with the map or to practice finding different routes and comparing their merits.

However nothing beats going out to the forest and doing some real Orienteering. This may be going to a weekly event or going out to the forest and running on an old map. Some team members may go out to an old maps by themselves or in small groups. In this case there will be no controls making the task of finding the exact spot where the control should be that extra bit harder. If there is a larger group going out to do some training controls can be represented by mini controls or something simple like ribbon or toilet paper.

An old course may be run or a course made up by a team member.

A course set by a team member may aim to improve specific parts of an orienteering race for example:

Control Picking;

Many controls with short distances in between. This aims to improve flow in between controls

Route Choice;

Controls will be placed in a way that there are many route choices between each control. Each member at the session can take a different route choice and meet at the next control to compare the merits of their respective routes.

Height Control;

Controls will be set at different heights along a slope. The aim is to practice awareness of how much height you are gaining or losing.

There are many more exercises to help practice your orienteering skill but I don't want this to go on for ever!

I hope this has been interesting and or beneficial to you all,

Hope to see you in the forest!

Calendar Supporters

In a previous post I mentioned the calendars that we have produced for fundraising this year. We have almost sold all of them, so a big thank you if you have picked one up. A key element of the calendars that made them a good way of fundraising was the sponsorship we got for each month. These are businesses that have supported us all through the calendars and we want to acknowledge their support. Alot of them are not directly related to orienteering but I'm sure orienteers will be able to support them for supporting us. Here they are in no particular order:

Shoe Clinic - The best place for orienteers to kit up. They sell Inov8 shoes as well as a wide range of other running shoes and gear. Will help ensure that you get the right shoe for you.


DirtyD design - The only people to get cool shirts from. They have made NZ team shirts for the last few years and have a top design. Also responsible for most of the club shirts in NZ. Clem and Tania have some cool new designs avaliable too.


Edsoft E-learning -


Mortimer Hirst Optometrists - Optometrists in Auckland Central


McKay Knarston Ltd - Land surveyors and development consultants


Eiji Japanese Cuisine - Japanese Cuisine in St Heliers, Auckland


Marcus Diprose Barrister - Tax and Trust Law specialist, and all round endurance sport good guy from Rotorua.

Progressive Meats Limited - New Zealand Meats in the Hawkes Bay.

realmap.co.nz - innovative online real estate

Pernel Fruitworld Hastings

St Cuthbert's College

Footworks - Sports Podiatry in Auckland

A big thank you to all of these businesses, each has helped us get another step closer to JWOC.

Keeping the motivation...

2 hours of mindless lectures to finish the day, spent wishing I had just gone early. Finish uni just after 4. Straight to the bike to get changed and head out training. Forgot my drink bottle, guess I'm going to be thirsty, but at least I've got my arm warmers, it's chilly. Check the program for what I'm doing and out into the traffic. I'm riding in my bubble trying to focus on cadence, on heart rate and not get killed. The traffic is doing all it can to distract me; it ebbs and flows around me, sweeping past in vigourous pulses. Waves of colour blur past, the wind buffets me. No worries, I can balance and I use assertiveness to make it through safe. I hit Scenic Drive, it's my place now, the traffic subsides and i can focus on my legs, on my lungs and my training.

But this is too easy, or so The Man thinks, the rain starts to bucket down. It doesn't bother me, I'm in my element. The squalls follow me like a shadow as i tap out a high tempo effort up to Shaw Road. It helps me forget I'm thirsty and washes away the stresses of today. For now it's me and the tarmac.

Hissss..... In desperation The Man has hit me where I'm weakest, and punctured me as I'm on the verge of training zen. No worries. I'm prepared. 10 minutes to reflect and steel my determination for the rest of the session. The last minutes of sun keep me warm as I slot the wheel back in, switch on the lights and pedal off again, focussed on my cadence, my heart rate and the road ahead. Tom 3, The Man 0.

Gracious in defeat the rain is stopped and the traffic has been placated. I've passed his challenges and I'm free to finish off my session. The burning in my legs as I finish the last effort is the immediate reward for my resilience. The satisfaction as I roll into the garage; wet, cold and tired will let me sleep well tonight.

Keep it up guys, it is all worth it.

Giro d italia passes through Primiero

As i mentioned a few days ago the Giro d Italia is spending a couple of days in the Trento region and passes though the sprint and long areas. Stage 4 took riders up to San Martino di Castozza, a site within the embargoed area. From the coverage i saw the terrain looks amazing. Steeper than i anticipated with huge vistas out across the valley to the sheer cliffs all around. If you would live to watch some coverage check out the Giro page on www.steephill.tv (takes a bit of trial and error to get a good feed but the highlights on Rai TV were the best i saw).

Stage 5 started from San Martino di Castrozza. It took riders down to Bolzano, which is the city Greta and I are staying in for our initial training then back out into the Dolomites. I have some photos below of the stage. Looks like there is still a substantial amount of snow around up the top of the passes. The forests are also looking quite brown up high, no doubt as it rapidly warms up this will disappear and leave the beautiful green environment we have been hoping for.

For those of you that are interested Danilo di Luca of Team Lpr won stage 4 in a large sprint. While stage 5 proved decisive, with Denis Menchov from Rabobank taking the win ahead of a select group of favourites. Lance Armstrong, Damiano Cuenego and Gilberto Simoni all missed the elite group on stage 5 so have an uphill battle to make it to the podium. Di Luca is currently in pink with Thomas Lovkivist in 2nd on general classification. (www.cyclingnews.com for more if you are interested).






I think that the top two photos are from within the embargoed area for the long distance. I could be wrong, but looks very similar to what i saw on the live coverage as they were going through.

Also who recognises the guy in the Viking Horns with no shirt on at 1.12 in this video on you tube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Vte4Gu_Q8

Bulletin 3

The 3rd Bulletin with some more JWOC information is out. Check out the JWOC website (link in the sidebar).

Includes some information about course lengths, the long races look quite short, with solid amounts of climb though.

Greymouth Petroleum - JWOC Supporters

Greymouth Petroleum have generously contributed toward the cost of the team shirts. The team is very grateful for their contribution.

Visit their website at http://www.greymouthpetroleum.co.nz/

Giro d Italia

Columbia Highroad won the first stage of this years Giro. The stage one team time trial was raced on the archipelago itself. Columbia edged out Garmin and Astana. Mark Cavendish is in the Maglia Rosa and could potentially hold onto it until stage 4, when the race visits the jwoc areas. Go Columbia, hopefully Cav can get a couple of stage wins in the Maglia Rosa.

Couldn't resist, and it is related to jwoc because its in Italy too! I will try and get some photos from stage 4 that are 'relevant to jwoc' after theyve done it. And don't worry i wont do daily updates.

Some thoughts about Dolomites Terrain

So i'm sitting here having a look at one of the maps from Italy and thought i would share what I'm thinking. Will be very stream of consciousness and feedback would be great if you think there are things I'm missing from the terrain, or ways i could improve my theoretical orienteering. For those of you that are non-orienteers can act as a guide through what we do.

San Martino - Sud
Supposedly similar to the long terrain. Straight away hit by the steepness of the area. Some sections would be unrunable. Vegetation, lots of changes, will be important to get a mental picture of green vs white vs yellow in the training weeks. Tracks everywhere, look fast and good for contouring as they hold height pretty well. Rock detail seems to have lots of cliffs with lots of individual boulders. 1:10,000.

The course, which is from the website so i guess could potentially represent the style they are going for at JWOC. Has a basic format of tight loops of controls linked by longer transit legs. The transit legs have most of the route choice and some tricky control approaches too. Im thinking key techniques; contouring, compass, height control. A bit of bravery could come in handy with a couple of the route choices having long wide routes to avoid substantial climb. I think that this will be pivotal in the races, getting the choice right and not haemorhaging minutes on a long leg. 1,3, 10, 16 all have nice attackpoints off tracks. 5 through 8 could be from an hb map and if the open really is fast and open could be very fast (and steep!). Slumpy area around 12, 13 has caught my eye, a break from the slope that would need a switch from contouring into a detail and compass focussed technique. Lots of form line detail, so subtle. Lots of small clearings too, wonder how well these are mapped...

Route choice, looking 8 to 9. My initial call on the route choice is leftish of straight. Down the open, down steep gully with creek, up to opposite track then up the ascending track to the road and along that to attack up off the boulder cluster in the clearing by the road corner. Safe route choice with track running. Looking more closely and centre right looks on too; bomb down the big slope on the red line then around the base to the pond on the road then ascending up ticking off boulders from near the intersection south of the control. I think trying to hold height on this leg involves too much deviation to the left. Any one got any other routes?

Also 15 to 16. Im for dropping straight into main gully then up track leftish of center, over the rough open and down the gully left of the red line taking care to turn early and not overshoot the control. attacking the control is the risky part of the leg, especially with the green.

Thats what i think. Have a look below and see what you think.

Scott goes for a TWALK

Scott is one of our Christchurch based team members. On the weekend he took part in the annual TWALK, a 24 hour loops orienteering event organised by the Canturbury University Tramping Club, it is in its 43rd year and Scott's thoughts about the event are below,

I did TWALK on the weekend. It's a 24 hour rogaine held by the uni tramping club except the controls are little bits of plastic (the size of your palm) often hidden and with cryptic clues to make things pretty tricky. I was in a team with Tim Farrant and an ex New Plymouth Boys High adventure racer. They bused all 200-300 people out to the mountains where the event was being held.

Pretty much everyone dresses up in costumes, the best were probably some guys dressed up as giant tin foil and cardboard kegs who would sneak around and then crouch down and disappear into the "keg".

The race was made up 5 legs of 15-20km each based around the "hash house" (a wool shed) which had heaps of food and provided a little relief from the sub-zero temperatures outside when the sun was down. Our team did 4 of the legs and won the student section (about 4-5th overall). Jamie and Matt Scott were in the winning team who we were with for lots of the race and kept catching up to when it came to hunting for controls for like 20mins, which happened quite a few times!

I ended up only doing 14 hours on my feet all up and I was smashed. The worst part was probably spending ages searching for hidden checkpoints in the early hours of Sunday morning when everything around was frozen from the -9 degree temp (so we were told) and I didn't have many layers on (just holey puma tights on my legs) and I was freezing cold! Best parts would have been the mint view of snowy mountains in all directions, running along having sweet yarns with guys like Jamie and Matt all dressed up in their 'Planet of the Apes' costumes and having chocolate pudding for breaky.

Check out Jamie's blog for his take and some photos (pennyandjamie.blogspot.com)
Here is a link to the website if you want to check it out, http://www.cutc.org.nz/twalk/index.php

Auckland University - Orienteering Supporters

The team to this years Junior World Championship includes 8 students from the University of Auckland. Andrew, Simon, Toby, Jourdan, Kate, Rachel, Nicola and I all study at the University. As part of their support of students and sport in general on campus the University is helping out the Auckland based team memebers with funding for the trip.

We are really pleased with the support that the University of Auckland is providing, another reason why the U of A is a great place for young orienteers to come and study.

San Martino di Castrozza

I mentioned the other day that stage four of the Giro finishes in San Martino di Castrozza, the location of the JWOC long. Stage 5 also starts here, so will see quite alot of action. I was reading the stage descriptions and found some quite interesting pictures of the area. Below are a couple of the pictures from cyclingnews.com

Thinking about Italy

Some of you will no doubt be interested in what the terrain is going to be like in Italy. The JWOC website has a collection of sample maps on their website http://www.jwoc2009.it/index.php?lang=en&page=208.

Basically all look steep with lots of repetitive hillsides, not quite Woodhill!!! Going to be physical with a lot of emphasis on height control and contouring. Best of all the terrain looks magic in all of the photos, bring it on!

Calendars

We have repeated accosted many of you in our attempts to sell JWOC 2009 calendars. Many of you have already purchased one, which we really appreciate, but we still have a few left if anyone has missed out.

The calendars have been put together by Claire Patterson and are based around each month representing a team member. Awesome action photos, orienteering dates and all for a good cause. We also have an awesome set of sponsors who have each sponsored a month, businesses like Dirty D design, Shoe Clinic, Edsoft, Mortimer Hirst Optometrist and others (will include a separate post for these guys)

So if you are interested in a calendar, get in touch with one of the team members (my email is thomasreynolds123@gmail.com) and we can hook you up with an awesome, unique calendar in support of our JWOC campaign. They are $20 and run from May 08 to April 09