In spite of overnight rain which firmed the sandy tracks of Woodhill Forest near Auckland,
the third national championship in MTB-orienteering was a gruelling test of muscle, map
and machine. Courses that looked comparable on paper with Hanmer and Wairarapa turned out
to be 40-60% longer, and competitors were out in the forest for up to 4 hours.
However the new map made by the Waikato and Auckland Campus Orienteers revealed a detailed
network for riding, much of it made by trailbikers, and almost all returned the next
day for the score event.
The outstanding ride of the championship came from 17-year-old Kelly Fogden, who won the Open Womens category by 20 minutes. Fogden burst onto the MTBO scene last year when, after disposing of the NZ Junior Womens title on the lowly course 4, she finished 7th outright on the score event. This year she rode the 17km course 2 where her time was beaten by only one other - the winning veteran man. The seventh-former from Whangarei who studies in Fairlie holds the National Junior and Senior School MTB Cross Country titles, and has a long-term plan to ride in Olympic MTB cross country; she must be NZ's hottest prospect for the 2004 World MTB-Orienteering Champs in Australia.
Fogden's win eclipsed a sound ride from Frances Rutledge (Rotorua) who was a promising junior orienteer on foot until ankle problems forced a change of sport. And close behind were Aucklander Jill Mains and English orienteer Claire Hepenstall, just arrived in the country.
The Open Mens category was expected to be a tussle between Auckland orienteer Darren Ashmore, multisporter Phil Wood (also Auckland) and Wellington mountain-biker Craig Starnes, who was second in both the last two NZ championships. But Ashmore's time of just over 3 hours was only good enough for 3rd, 6 minutes behind Mark Lawson who has astounded orienteers by getting into the national squad after starting in his 30's. Lawson is an even newer recruit to MTBO, riding a rigid bike with no frills, not even toe-clips! So it was Phil Wood who took the honours by the huge margin of 21 minutes, which bodes well for his Southern Traverse in two weeks time.
And what of Starnes? The unlucky rider shredded a tyre at control number 3. However he showed what might have been, by returning to the start, borrowing another tyre, and unofficially putting up a time good enough for second.
Equipment was also a factor in the veteran mens race. Locals say that you just don't get punctures in the sandy tracks of Woodhill, but titleholder Dave King punctured. He was carrying a spare tube, but found it hard to refit the sand-covered tyre and lost 12 minutes, double what he would have expected. The Wellington rider finished in second place, 7 minutes down on Aucklander Rob Garden.
Jacqui Sinclair (New Plymouth) retained her Veteran Womens title ahead of Auckland's Lisa Mead, the only rider to do so. And Colin Barr from Upper Hutt moved up from third last year to become the Junior Mens Champion.
In the score event, Craig Starnes obtained a deserved win, although veteran Rob Garden was only 40 points behind. Fogden was the top woman although only after a tie on points with World 35+ Foot-orienteering Champion Marquita Gelderman (Helensville) was resolved by reference to finish time. She was 5th outright. Similarly, Sinclair gained the veteran womens win on a tie-break, and Barr was pushed into second by Simon Jager (Auckland) when finish times were considered.
Results have been posted. Next year's championship is expected to be in the Rotorua or Taupo areas.
This page written by Michael Wood and installed 5 Nov 02, photo added 11 Nov