4 seasons in one sport!

stu barr Posted: 27 May 2001, 8:33 AM   I have just returned from a local club event, and I have returned a changed man! I can't imagine how for so many years I believed our sport of orienteering should be a Summer Sport. Todays thrill of arriving at an event to a wind chill that took the temperature below zero, howling gales and pelting rain could not be surpassed. Having to sit in my car before the race, because of the conditions outside, proved a blessing. It meant I didn't have to socialise at all with the other competitors, especially the new comers who had come along to there first event and were lucky enough to strike these fantastic conditions! Probably the highlight of my day, was the extreme numbness in my fingers, while trying to copy my course from the master map. That amazing sensation, when the deep purple colour within your hand turns to a complete blur, due to the constant shaking, is uncomparable. The best part of all though, is the fact that it forces parents to follow any younger children around their courses. It is crazy to think you could have these children running alone in the summertime, where if they got lost a little, there would be no threat from the conditions. To make them run in the icy winter conditions, so there is a necessity for a guardian, is surely the only way to keep them safe! It is wonderful to know that our sport is thriving currently and now I know why. It has been a long, sunny, beautifully warm summer. But I am so glad the real orienteering was saved until now so we could truly appreciate it. By the way, has everyone heard the Otago Champs was cancelled due to snow?   Jamie Posted: 29 May 2001, 2:46 PM   As someone who is pretty apathetic about orienteering at present I am glad that it is a winter sport. I am able to enter events, travelling hundreds of kilometres upon this justification. Then instead of having to orienteer, I can sit inside talking to my friends and watch the raindrops run down the window. A spectacle, incidentally, much more interesting than watching orienteers run down a finish chute...at least sometimes there is a good race.   DaveGlover Posted: 29 May 2001, 11:15 PM   So let's get this right Stu, you are prepared to run around/over 3000m mountains at night in winter for a training run, but you can't get out of your car to socialise with the organisers of an event on a mildly chilly Wellington day?   fraser Posted: 30 May 2001, 6:19 AM   Maybe you guys down in Wellington just need a score event series like we have been having up in Auckland. Because they are mass start events everybody is getting ready together and everybody finishes within about 5 minutes of each other. Everybody can socialise at the end without having to hang around for ages to see other people finish and therefore minimising the time spent in the cold weather. (Luckily Auckland has nice weather so we can socialise for a lot longer than you probably could in Wellington.) The only draw back is having to start at a fixed time (11am) which can sometimes be a challenge depending on the extent of Saturday night's festivities.   Dave Barr Posted: 30 May 2001, 2:06 PM   I agree with Stuart completely. The recent otago champs show just how great it is to have such a sport in winter. I certainly will be remembering just how effortless this event was, and how little time it took to compete in. Very handy while I am studying for exams. P.S. For those who don't get the joke, the Otago champs had to be postponed due to the road being closed for snow, and the second day has been cancelled- reminiscent of the NZSSC in the same area two years ago which had to be delayed for the same reasons.   mikea Posted: 23 September 2001, 6:59 AM   Stay with it guys, I hope you dont have to wait till all us oldies depart the O scene before sense prevails ! Spring, Summer, Autumn 'O' yeh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!   3 monkeys on fire Posted: 11 June 2003, 1:17 PM   mmmm, interesting   ecurb Posted: 12 June 2003, 1:56 AM   Was that an elite wuss complaining about the weather?!!!!!!!! By the way the last Otago Champs were held on beautiful fine, cloudless, windless days. The Otago Champs before that were cancelled because of snow which was only because one of the roads was closed to the event. Another road was open and competitors from the north travelled there with no problem and actually had a run. If you want to live in Wellington you need to harden up Stu :-)   Malcolm Posted: 12 June 2003, 7:11 AM   Pure luxury. You don't know the meaning of cold. I'll give you cold. Back in my day ....   Alistair Posted: 12 June 2003, 1:02 PM   You wusses know nothing about orienteering in the cold and snow.