Turkey Trot 2009

Turkey Trot Exceeds Expectations

Record Entry for 2009 OANSW Turkey Trot

After 2008's sensational tie. Glen Horrocks was leaving nothing to chance on the long course of the 2009 OANSW Turkey Trot held in the Parramatta area on August 23rd.

Glen powered ahead at the start, led comfortably through the manned control at the 5km mark and continued to extend his lead through Lake Parramatta and the tracks in Vineyard Creek to finish the demanding course in 105:30.

The big battle this year was for second with Tom Landon-Smith, Paul Heiskanen, David Bray and David Freyne regularly swapping places before finishing in that order only 36 seconds apart after nearly 20kms of bush tracks and parks.

This year the long course started in Winston Hills and used 5 maps, finishing in Vineyard Creek.

Lisa Grant was the first female home in sixth place in 123.59 shading Russell Blanchford and Warwick Selby. Warwick who has completed all five Turkey Trots declared this the "best one yet".

The medium length course of around 12kms saw Barbara Hill blitz the field to beat husband Tony by nearly 9 minutes in 65:20. Wayne Pepper completed the medium course placings a further 7 minutes back. This course started with a loop into Lake Parramatta and then traversed the James Ruse Drive area and the Vineyard Creek tracks.

The short course of 7kms took the competitors directly through the James Ruse Drive area using parts of the this map for the first time.

Matthew Hill made it a great day for the Hill family by holding off Matt Hackett to win by 31 seconds in 36;51. Third was Larry Weiss in 43:18 with defending champion Dave Lotty fourth in 46:04.

The Turkey Trot is all about route choice decisions which become more important as fatigue sets in. A small navigation error may result in competitors dropping places quickly,

Thank you for a record entry. The feedback from runners was very positive and suggestions for improvements and variations for future events are welcome.

The Turkey Trot is Sydney's premier point-to-point orienteering event. The Turkey Trot is designed for new and experienced orienteers and uses multiple A4-sized maps to guide competitors along the route.

This year's event had a new date and a record entry. It utilised the bush tracks along Toongabbie Creek and John Curtin Reserve in Winston Hills, Lake Parramatta and Vineyard Creek. The orienteering is not difficult with route choices making a key difference in times. Each year the route is varied to keep the competitors thinking in the tradition of the "Thinking Sport".

Thank you to the Western and Hills Orienteering Club members for organising the event and providing officials.

Planning is underway for the next OANSW Turkey Trot in August 2010. Details will be announced 4 months before the event.

The Turkey Trot does not happen without a lot of help. A big thank you to Ted Mulherin for vetting the courses, suggesting improvements and for the extensive map making required to run the event. The quality of the maps is outstanding and the mapping and course printing requires considerable OCAD skill. Ted spent numerable hours wandering the tracks checking control sites and matching features to the maps. All 5 maps were updated for this event.

Thank you to Chris Crane for organising the event despite getting seriously sick. All entries and monies were received and he handled all the dynamic requests including those received one or two days prior to the event.

Thanks also to Janet Morris for mapping another new area in Northmead allowing the Turkey Trot to transition from the Winston Hills map to Lake Parramatta.

Robert Bradley and Maureen Fitzpatrick again operated the road crossing with great efficiency and this year also took on the extra work involved in the Long Start.

Kevin Williams and Lynn Dabbs had the most hectic roles with both the Medium and Short courses starting at their location and the Long and Medium course competitors greeting them at the entrance to Lake Parramatta before heading off for Vineyard Creek. Thank you.

Thank you to Bennelong who kindly allowed us to use their Lake Parramatta map.

Lastly thank you to all the competitors, as this is why the event exists.

There are improvements we can make for next year and we did over-look a few items. Overall the quality of the event was obvious and appreciated by the competitors. Planning has commenced for the 2010 Turkey Trot at a date to be determined.

lan Miller