The new Light’s Vision map used for the Twilight Series event on Friday 21^st January, is the final map sector that completes the Adelaide Park Lands Project. This project has upgrade previous disconnected parklands maps to the Sprint Mapping Specification. The project started back in 2016 when our first Coach in Residence, Stefano Raus, mapped Veale Gardens in the South Parklands. Since then a number of mappers have contributed to the project – Manu Jurado, Oliver Williams, Max Grivell, Angus Haines, Dante Afnan and Adrian Uppill (who also coordinated the project).

The Light’s Vision map uses some new sprint mapping symbols (will be published soon in a new Sprint Mapping Specification) used to better define two level areas.  Initially two level areas were largely shown in paved areas with a brown stripe for the upper level.  Now additional stripes are used depending on the nature of the levels. In this map the main roads are shown with cross hatch to indicate they were “Forbidden to Cross” for the extent of the cross hatch. A purple diagonal stripe is used where the underpasses are permitted to be used, but the upper level is not.

Another new symbol is the line of small triangles – to show where you can access the lower level, but you cannot leave the upper level.  The line of small black squares is an existing Sprint map symbol which shows access under a top level which may be a road or building for example.

The example belwow shows the line of small triangle symbols as an entrance to a two level area.

Friday night orienteering commences in 2022 on Friday 14^th in the Burnside area including Hazelwood Park.  This is the first of the 3 remaining Twilight Series events, with the shorter format Sprint Series commencing on Feb 4^th. Some additional short format sprint events are planned over the weekend of Feb 5^th and 6^th.

The season of Sprint events concludes with the first OSA Championship event – the Sprint Championships on March 6^th at Keithcot Farm including the Primary School and adjacent Kings Baptist Grammar School.

The Sunday program begins on March 20^th with a park event in the West Parklands, and the first forest event in Belair NP on March 27th.

Orienteering SA Presentations for 2020

The Presentations for 2020 were eventually held on the 17th of January at “The Hub” at Glenunga. We had a double room to allow for enough space for social distancing.

About 50 attended, with lots of happy snacking and chatter while the early orienteering activities were completed by some (a scavenger hunt and a matching of photos of control sites to a map of Stirling).

These presentations are a chance to celebrate the achievements of the best in SA and this year we started with the presentations of the glasses for Orienteer of the Year.

Orienteer of the Year 
Complete results can be seen by going to Results -> Results Archives

Night Championships

The Trophy for winning the Night Champs was awarded to Tintookies and was accepted by Bob on their behalf..

Course Setter of the Year

Bridget Uppill won the Course Setters Trophy for her wonderful middle distance courses at Prelinna in the Flinders Ranges which so many of us enjoyed on the October long weekend.

Sue Millard Awards

The Sue Millard awards for the most improved juniors were won by Zoe Carter and Mitchell Stephens who have both trained very regularly and shown excellent improvement over the year as well as achieving great local results. Sadly the COVID year in 2020 gave them no opportunity to shine on the national stage.

John Hall Award

The John Hall Award for services to Orienteering in SA was presented to Erica Diment

More photographs can be seen on the OSA Facebook Page

Adapted by Ken Thompson based on article by Erica Diment

Photo Credits to Evalin Brautigam who kindly took on the photography for the event at short notice.

Two new MapRunF courses are available on the Belair Golf Course – a short course on the new Birdie Loop and a longer cross country course.  These are for MTBO as well as Foot Orienteers.

And a FREE COFFEE  sponsored by Orienteering SA from “EscapeGoat” ( located just off the Golf Course car park – see the sign) for the first 25 riders, joggers or walkers to complete the 'Birdie 2' course of 4.5km cross country, 16 controls.

Mobile DIY Orienteering is a smartphone application using MapRunF. It is available for free download for both Android and iPhones

MapRunF allows the orienteer to load a map and course to navigate around a course. The GPS device in the smatphone will 'beep' to verify which control sites have been visited, and in what order. At the end of the course MapRunF will display results including splits, total time, and a GPS route over the course map. 

For other courses including the shorter “Birdie Loop” – an updated trail on the Belair Golf Course – see the instructions below load this course into MapRunF.  To do Birdie2 – choose Birdie 2 from the list of courses in the instructions.

For all other MapRunf courses and a video on using the app, see Mobile DIY page. Here PDF maps of the Birdie (under the Belair and Blackwood course set) and other courses can be downloaded.

The Snap Sprint Series starts on Friday 31 Jan at Flinders University, with events on the following 3 Friday evenings.  The last Friday event on 21 Feb is on a new map at Stirling. All events are listed in the event calendar.

On the weekend of 21 – 23 Feb, additional sprint opportunities are offered. These are a Saturday evening race at Semaphore Park, and with a “Knockout” Sprint at Trinity College on the Sunday morning.  . Plus some morning training activities on the Friday and Saturday.

So what is “Sprint” orienteering – it is a shorter form of orienteering with traditional line courses, generally held on small urban map areas such as campuses and parks, and with a lot of detail. A smll snippet from Adelaide University si shown below.

For the serious orienteer, sprint orienteering is about thinking and racing hard simultaneously, focusing on quick decision making.  The courses are fairly simple to navigate at a walk or a slow jog for the less serious orienteer, but the task is more demanding at higher speed, especially when faced with constant changes of direction and route choice. If you run fast then make sure it’s in the right direction!

Courses are line format, where you must find all the controls in a set order, in the fastest possible time. Course lengths vary from 2 km to 3.5 km, if you choose the best route!  These events use the Sportident electronic timing system which enables you to compare the time it took to get to each control with others on your course.

Entry is by three age groups, and you can choose the short or long course for all age groups.

• Junior – 16 and under
• Open – 17 - 44
• Veteran – 45 and over

However for the less serious you can enter either course, plus a shorter easier course.

To help you get started – here is a full legend for sprint orienteering maps. An small example is hown below. In sprint orienteering some features are forbiddent o be crossed to make the event fairier - these inlcude high fences and walls, and areas that may be temporarily out of bounds due to construction work.  See the legend for all the forbidden symbols.

A new symbol to show two level situations where you can run underneath or on top is shown below.  As well as the traditional canopy/pass through symbol where you run under the "canopy" but not on the top of it.

The series of 5 sprint events was run in Adelaide over the long weekend, forming a training event for the elite orienteers from SA and interstate as well as lots of fun for other local orienteers. We even had 2 overseas entrants – orienteers from Macau – Jenny Kam (currently studying at Uni SA) and Kong Chak Lon.

The event was conceived by Bridget Anderson and Jim Russell, the OA Head Coach, who also ran all the SI each day,

The events were

Friday 25^th – night event on the Belair Golf Course part of Belair NP. This proved challenging for many, being certain which fairway or which group of trees you were in at night. Course planner – Adrian Uppill

Saturday 26^th – AM – elites ran a time trial on the North Adelaide University loop, fastest was Martin Dent, who has previously represent Australia in athletics and cross country, and more recently focussed on orienteering

Saturday 26^th – PM – Heathfield – the sprint map of the high school has been extended into Woorabinda by Olly Williams, who also planned the courses. The combination of bush and urban proved challenging

Sunday 27^th – AM – Flinders University South – here the elites ran heats, followed by a semi-final mass start knockout on courses with looping. This decided the final for the evening’s event. Others ran a normal course (Medium and Short). Locals Simon Uppill, Dante Afnan and Bridget Anderson made the A final. Courses by Patrick Jaffe and Jim Russell

Sunday 27^th – PM – Flinders University North – the elite A finals were mass starts on a course with no looping. A bunch of 6 men with Martin Dent leading ran past the finish, however a decisive route choice by Simon Uppill on the 2^nd last control gave him the overall win. Courses by Jenny Casanova

Monday 28^th – AM – the final event was at Mt Barker – with courses by Jim Russell. Presentations to the overall winners (best 4 of 5 races) were given with successful SA Orienteers being

Open Men – Simon Uppill
Medium Men – Max Grivell, just ahead of Steve Cooper
Medium Women – Zara Soden
Short- Jan Hillyard

All results are here – day by day and overall results (only show those who ran all 5 races).

Max Grivell at the start - Flinders Uni AM

Simon Uppill looks for following runners in the knockout final

Last part of the course knockout sprint - Simon took the left route to control 14.
Many others went right - giving stairs and a long In-Out to the control

Jan Hillyard, Bridget Anderson and Jim Russell at the presentation at Mt Barker

Late News: A reminder that pre entry closes at midnight on Tues 22nd January. Enter on the day is possible for the medium and short courses but pre entry is preferred.

Over the Australia Day long weekend in late January, Adelaide is the focus for sprint orienteering – Sprint Adelaide.

Four days and five sprint races in detailed urban and forest terrain open to all competitors. The event is being organized by the national orienteering squads as part of a training camp in Adelaide.
Come and compete against Australia’s best or simply enjoy some fun summer holiday orienteering.

• Course 1, Long, Hard Nav, aimed at the Elite Orienteer
  • 2 Individual Sprint races
  • 1 Night race
  • 1 Knock out sprint race
  • 1 3k track time trial
• Course 2, Medium, Hard Nav, nearly as long as long, for all other who want a challenge
  • 4 Individual Sprint races
  • 1 Night race
• Course 3, Short, Moderate Nav, for all other competitors
  • 4 Individual Sprint races
  • 1 Night race

Events are

Friday 25 Jan – Night Race – Belair Golf Course and NP
Saturday26 Jan AM- 3 km Time trial for those entering Course 1 only
Saturday 26 Jan PM – Sprint Event, Heathfield – sprint map has been extended
Sunday 27 Jan AM – Knockout Sprint preliminaries for those entering Course 1, Sprint race for others, Flinders University

Sunday 27 Jan – PM - Knockout Sprint Finals for those entering Course 1, Sprint race for others, Flinders University 
Monday 28 Jan – Sprint Race, Mt Barker

Best 4 of 5 events to count

If you want to enter ALL 5 races https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/7566 or enter each individually at the links for each event

The Friday evening orienteering events shift in February to the shorter format of “Sprint Orienteering”. The events have shorter courses on more complex map areas, however an Easy course is available for newcomers. Each event has two technical courses, usually around 2 km and 3 km in length, although you will generally travel longer than this due to the many obstacles on the map.

The series begins at Adelaide University, followed by events at the Uni SA Campus at Mawson Lakes, Torrens Linear Park at Lochiel north east of the city, and the final event on the Torrens Linear Park at Underdale, west of the city.

Pre-entry is available from the event link at left or from the Event Calendar page. Enter either male or female junior, open or veteran, for either the short or long course. Enter on the day is available at all events as well.

The series is sponsored by Snap Printing and Wildfire Sports, and hosted as a fundraiser by the Southern Arrows, South Australia’s elite orienteering squad.