News

October 2023 News

Published Thu 26 Oct 2023

Message from President Gene Beveridge

Kia ora all. Congrats to everyone who raced the Forest Cup Final. I hope everyone enjoyed some local events with a racier feel to them, especially as a build into NZ Champs. Thanks to Liam Stolberger and Dave Middleton for preparing the courses for the Final. Also, congrats to everyone at NZ Champs in Hawkes Bay, the racing there looks like a great way to end the season.

The club committee will have some changes as we move into the new year, and we are looking for a new secretary to monitor the club email, record minutes of meetings and help me maintain some key documents. I'd love to support someone from outside of the current committee into this role as it would help add some fresh energy into the governance of our club. So please reach out if either being our secretary or a normal committee member is interesting to you.

Newsletter Contents

2023 Event Calendar
Next NWOC Events
JWOC Trials 2024
OTrax app
Riverhead Training Map - updated
Coaching Resources from ONZ
Member News
- Australian Schools Champs Results
- New Club Shirts
- NZ National Club Champs 2023, Results
- A Family Sport
- New Members

2023/2024 Event Calendar

All upcoming events in the wider Auckland area are listed on our NWOC website here
New Zealand wide events are on Orienteering New Zealand’s website here
Check the links above for details of events coming soon.

Next Event - Auckand Interclub Relays

Coming up on Sunday 5 November, Counties Manukau Club will host this year's Auckland interclub orienteering relays. All the details, including how to enter a North West team are here

This fun event is suitable and open to ALL club members of all abilities.
And FREE for NWOC members.

NWOC Christmas Rogaine, Picnic & Prizegiving - Sunday 3 December

Mark the date on your calendar and join us for a great afternoon at Slater Road for a rogaine style event followed by a picnic and prizegiving.
Last year one control involved a swim - what will Marquita conjure up this year?

This event will be free for club members and more details will follow.

NWOC AGM

Our AGM for 2023 will be held prior to the afternoon's activities. More details to follow.

JWOC Trials are Coming to Auckland in 2024

Saturday 16 March - trial middle race at Riverhead, hosted by Auckland Club
Sunday 17 March - trial long race at South Head/Woodhill, hosted by North West Club

Public races will be held on both days following the JWOC race starts. More details to come.

Embargo Notice here NB This embargo applies only to orienteers who will compete in the JWOC trials

JWOC Selection Notice here

O-Trax

OTrax is a new orienteering route analysis tool developed recently by Greg Bacchus, a software architect with a passion for exploring new technologies in his leisure time. ONZ recently published an article about this new development. Read it here.

North West has recently started adding our events to Otrax enabling competitors to compare route choice for NWOC run events. See here for examples from recent events.

We asked Greg for advice on how you can upload your run to OTrax. Here's his reply:

The easiest way of getting your runs into OTrax is through Strava. Many apps/watches are able to sync the activities to Strava, or the Strava app itself (Android or Apple) can record your run. Personally, my Garmin watch automatically uploads all my runs to Strava. Once the run is in Strava, it can be easily imported by clicking on "Import From Strava" button - no need to deal with any files at all!
Many other sports/running apps will have a "Download GPX" option. e.g. Komoot. I would recommend Strava though as it's simplest.

Riverhead training map - updated!

Keen to do some independent orienteering training or to add focus to a forest walk? Several club members have recently updated the Riverhead training map placing 35 marked control sites on the Robinson Road* map. This includes some of the previous control sites plus a dozen new control sites.

*Robinson Road is just a couple of kilometers from Coatesville. We plan to leave the flags in the forest over the summer.

Each control site is marked by an orange and white orienteering flag suspended from a tree - but no numbered standards. Make up your own training course from a selection of controls on the map.

Left; a group of North West members helping with the update of the training map.

Please note that all areas to the west / north west of Robinson and Sergeant Roads on this map are out of bounds.

Embargo Notice here Link to the training map here

The Map can also be found on the NWOC website:

- NWOC>Resources/Coaching>Permanent Courses> Training Maps

Coaching Resources from ONZ

Orienteering New Zealand has updated it's Coaching Resources page. Check out the new simplified legends and other resouces here.

There is a wealth of information available within the ONZ Coaching & Training Hub, for example, workbooks for orienteers from white to red levels. Check these out and sharpen your skills here

Member News

Australian Schools Champs Results

North West Junior, Tahi Harris, was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team that competed in the Southern Cross Challenge, held as part of the Australian Schools Champs and the Australian Club Champs in Western Australia in late September.

Tahi had some fabulous results as below. Congratulations Tahi.

Australian Middle Distance Champs M14    2nd
Australian Schools Sprint Champs    M15    6th
Australian Long Distance Champs     M14    2nd
Australian Relay Champs                   M14    1st (with Harry Borton & Nicholas Freeman)

New North West Club Shirts

We have new stock of short sleeved Bryzos brand club shirts.

The shirts have short sleeves, mesh side panels and a short neck zip in the club's distinctive colours. Cost $65 per shirt - details under Shop on our website.

Get in now and purchase yours while stocks last.

To order, contact Lisa Mead mead10b@gmail.com.

New Zealand National Club Champs 2023
Over Labour Weekend, a contingent of North West Members traveled to Hawkes Bay to compete in the 2023 New Zealand Champs with many bringing home a medal or two.

Sprint at Splash Planet
M14A - Tahi Harris 1st
M45A - Nick Harris 1st
W55A - Marquita Gelderman 1st
W55A - Suzanne Stolberger 2nd
M55A - Andrew de L'Isle 2nd
W65A - Phillippa Poole 3rd
M65A - Geoff Mead 3rd
M70A - Rob Garden 1st
M75A - Dave Middleton 2nd

Middle Event @ Mangatarata
MW10 - Lauren Harris 2nd
M12A - Aidan Barrett-Hamilton 3rd
M16A - Tahi Harris 2nd
M45A - Nick Harris 1st
W50A - Marquita Gelderman 2nd
W55A - Suzanne Stolberger 1st
W55AS - Fiona de L'Isle 2nd
W65A - Lisa Mead 2nd
M65A - Geoff Mead 1st
M70A - Rob Garden 1st
M75A - Dave Middleton 2nd

Long Event at Tuna Nui
MW10 - Lauren Harris 2nd
M45A - Nick Harris 1st
W50A - Marquita Gelderman 1st
W55A - Suzanne Stolberger 2nd
M55A - Andrew de L'Isle 2nd
W55AS - Fiona de L'Isle 1st
W65A - Lisa Mead 3rd
M65A - Geoff Mead 2nd
M70A - Rob Garden 3rd
M75A - Dave Middleton 2nd

Shout out to Cameron Bonar who in a strong M21E field placed 5th in the Sprint and 4th in the Long.

Some of our North West Juniors on the Podium

Left Photo: Lauren Harris, centre; Middle Photo: Aidan Barrett-Hamilton, right; Right Photo: Tahi Harris, left.

Below - a photo from some of our Club members who ran the relays today.

Truly a Family Sport for the Moens

Orienteering spans three generations of the Moen family, evidence that it's very much a family sport. Mary Moen, and her husband Terje, began orienteering in the USA in 1972. Mary is now one of the oldest, long-standing active members of Orienteering New Zealand. Now her daughters, Lise (Turner) and Marit Moen and their children enjoy the sport too.

Photo Left taken at the recent Forest Cup Final shows the Moen 'girls' with their 2022 North West Champs trophies.