The Melbourne City Race Weekend on October 8 and 9 is the perfect add-on to your AUS Champs trip to Victoria!  Spend a few days relaxing in Melbourne, then gear up to be part of Australia’s only City Race, back for its third edition.  Online entries are open now, and close on Tuesday October 3.

The weekend features three amazing races:

Saturday 8 October am – WAVERLEY STADIUM, Mulgrave  Enter here

An exciting new urban map featuring the famous Waverley Park, home to AFL teams Hawthorn and St Kilda during the 1990s – a must for sports history fans!  Expect a compact but complex map, based around the heritage-listed stadium and oval.

Saturday 8 October pm – TATTERSON, Keysborough      Enter here

A short distance south lies a fascinating pocket of woodlands and wetlands, sports facilities, a unique playground, and safe, quiet streets. But the main attraction is the notorious “tree maze!”.  The race format will pit you against your rivals head to head!

Note: public transport is limited; transport by car is recommended for both Saturday events,

Sunday 9 October am – MCR at WILLIAMSTOWN     Enter here

Taking in the wonderful seaside sights, sounds (and smells) of the historic township of Williamstown, the 2022 Melbourne City Race will be an incredible mix of complex urban navigation, coastal scenery, maritime history, and the bustling village atmosphere that the area is famous for.  Williamstown is a short distance from the CBD by train, or an easy drive over the West Gate Bridge.   Afterwards, enjoy the local Sunday market, grab lunch in one of the numerous cafes or pubs, visit Scienceworks, cycle the Foreshore Trail, or soak up the spectacular views across Hobsons Bay.

More details at www.melbournecityrace.com.au

Our next MelbushO is on Sunday July 17, at Jells Park in Wheelers Hill. Enjoy the adventure of using a map to explore the park in a new way!

Courses range in length from 2.5 to 6 km, and offer plenty of variety and challenge for everyone. There will be many controls in a relatively small space, and numerous changes of direction, so you’ll need to keep in contact with the map at all times, and check the fine details.

Registration, parking, start, finish and toilets are all in close proximity, at the main car park off Waverley Road. For details, course lengths and notes, and terrain photos;  please read the Information Sheet before entering, to help decide on the right course for you.

Kids Run Free at DROC – Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club is offering free entry to this event for anyone under 21.

We strongly encourage everyone – including juniors – to pre-enter, to avoid long queues, and to ensure there are enough maps for all. Enter and pay online via this link, by Thursday 14 July.  Entries open Monday June 4.

Enquiries to Debbie Dodd, tel 0409 135 020 or droc@iinet.net.au

The fourth MSW was another fantastic feast of top quality sprint orienteering, featuring three new maps and a hectic program.  DROC was front and centre as the largest participating Club.  We were also the organizing club for Race 3 at Manor Lakes College; and we coordinated the critical tasks of Registration and Finish/Results.  Congratulations for some excellent individual performances, with particular mentions to:

• Denise Pike – overall winner, W70, and winner of Race 1
• Simon Rouse – overall runner-up, M40, and winner of Race 6
• Pamela King – overall runner-up, W70
• Sarah Love – overall third place, W50
• Rhys Eddy – overall third place, M Open

Asha Steer, James Love, Amber Louw and Sally Barlow all represented Victoria as part of the Vikings team.

Check our GALLERY for lots of action photos!

The 2022 Park Street Championship final was held at Jack’s Magazine, a map that certainly tested everyone!  Congratulations to all of the DROC Champions, Medallists, and Finalists.  Medals will be awarded on Wednesday March 30, at the last Summer Series event at Ringwood Wilds.

Gold Medallists – Tony Bird, Debbie Dodd, Ian Greenwood

Silver Medallists – Damian Spencer, Ian Dodd

Bronze Medallists – Christine Palmer

Koomba Kaos certainly lived up to its name!  Our first event since mid 2021 kept us busy, and everyone had a great day unscrambling Ian’s courses.

Check out the event wrap, maps and results here.

Head to our GALLERY for more photos from the event.

Come along to Lillydale Lake on Wednesday January 12, and christen our brand new colour map!  Choose one of the four scatter courses for runners, or a 65 minute score course for power walkers. Start any time between 6.30pm and 7.00pm; bring your smartphone for checking in and MapRun use.  Most of the controls are in parkland, and you can enjoy a lakeside picnic afterwards – a perfect family event.

Start from: Bellbird Park, Akarana Road (off Swansea Road), Lilydale.  Register and pay on the day.  Enquiries: 0409 135 020 or voa@iinet.net.au

ENTRIES NOW OPEN – PRE-ENTER ONLINE BY THURSDAY JANUARY 13.
Entry fee: $10 adults. Kids Run Free at DROC events!  Juniors must pre-enter, but no fee will be charged.  ENTER HERE!

This could be the Kraziest event of 2022!  With terrain varying from fast open sports fields and parkland, to winding trails, pockets of bush, and rough, vegetated wetland, this map will have you constantly changing direction, pace, and technique.  Featuring sprint style course setting by former Aus Sprint Champs and NOL Sprint Relay planner Ian Dodd – but over longer distances – this event will Konfuse and Konfound.  There are many controls in full view of the arena, so no pressure …

Start location: Wantirna Reserve, Mountain Highway, Wantirna

Map: Koomba Park, full colour, 1:4000 scale
Sportident timing will be used, in Air mode. Please enter with your SIAC if you have one; non-SIAC SI sticks are also fine, and can be borrowed from Registration if you don’t own one.

Start times: arrive and start any time between 10am and 11.00pm. Courses close at 12.30pm.

Choose any of the four courses:

• Course 1 Kaotic – 5-5.5 km, Long Hard (28 controls)
• Course 2 Konvoluted – 4-4.5 km, Shorter Hard (27 controls)
• Course 3 Komplex – 3 to 3.5 km, Moderate (24 controls)
• Course 4 Kruisy – 2.5-3 km, Easy (16 controls)

Covid rules: bring smartphone for QR code checkin at Registration. Follow rules for physical distancing, hygiene, and face coverings. Check the Orienteering Victoria Participant Guidelines at https://www.vicorienteering.asn.au/return-to-orienteering/

The 2021-22 Summer Series features events all over Melbourne (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays), as well as Geelong (Thursdays), the Surf Coast (Saturdays in January), and the Mornington Peninsula (one Sunday per month),  Events start from November 8 for the four Melbourne Series, and the Geelong Series.

HOW TO FIND AN EVENT

• Pick up a printed fixture at an event
• Download and print your own fixture
• Find Park Street event details via our online Coming Events pages
• Check Eventor – events are currently being uploaded up to 4 weeks in advance
• Download calendar files (csv) from here – you can edit the file to include the Park Street series you plan to attend, then import it to your device’s calendar.

The 2021 Summer Series (SAS) commences from Monday October 4, with a 5-week “Anytime” format, using MapRun.  Each week, four brand new maps will be published online on Monday mornings.  Simply download them, and complete a course any time before the following Sunday at 9pm.  You can use as many maps as you can reach under travel limits, and you can compete on the same map multiple times.  Your best result for the week will appear in the results.

Taking part is easy – no online signup, nothing to pay. Simply use MapRun to record your result, and you will automatically be part of the Series.  Easy as!

Find out more here 

Download the maps here

Here are the maps:

In a first in the history of the MEFTY (Most Events for the Year) award, Stuart McWilliam has tied with Bayside’s Steven O’Connell.  Both attended 129 events in a truncated season which ran from November 2020 until July 2021.  Peter Yeates was third, on 95 events.

Stuart’s name has appeared on the MEFTY trophy three times previously – in 2020, 2018, and 2017.  Congratulations once again!