2000 ACT Championships
2000 ACT Championships 8/24hr events, Jerangle
We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves, bummer about the hot humid weather. Started to rain on Sunday at about 3pm, we got 18mm overnight and Monday didn't get above 20c.
Thanks to everyone who helped:
in particular Geoff Mercer, who not only vetted, but helped throughout the event, answered lots of e-mail and a bit of running around too.
Adrian Sheppard and Ian Nerrie who were our other vetters.
the landholders for permission to use their land
Paddy Pallin for the ongoing support and spot prizes
SMEC Print in Cooma for giving us a good deal on the map printing
the Jerangle Tennis Club and the P&C for the catering
Bob & Bill Boate from Jerangle Bush Fire Brigade for helping with water drops
Adam Zanko from the school for coming on the epic western safety run (nearly 7 hours)
John Phillips for help with admin
Finally the competitors for entering. There were some impressive scores, and happy faces.
Thanks again for coming, it was a great turnout, 221 competitors on the day, with 30 teams (74 people) starting the 24 hour and 51 teams (147 people) in the 8 hour, making this one of the biggest ACTRA championships in recent years.
ACT 24 hour Champs Organisers Report
We agreed to organise the ACT championship some time ago at last year’s Paddy Pallin 6 Hour. We had been wanting to set a course in the country to the West of Jerangle for some time. We were a little worried it was going to be too rough and inaccessible. We took our mountain bikes for a spin and we pleasantly surprised to find that although the terrain was very steep and rocky, the vegetation was very light (in most parts). Happy we had a suitable area, we proceeded to do nothing until a couple of months before the event.
However once we started the four (or so) days that it took to set the course flew by. Originally, 90% of the course was owned by the Phillips family (Lisa’s father was born at the hut at W1). Thankfully they realised that most the country wasn’t fit to run goats let alone sheep and thus, our list of landholders grew larger and larger. There seemed to be little huts and houses everywhere we went. Most of these were more than accommodating and thought the idea of anyone trudging up and down the ridges of their own free choice rather funny. We were impressed by how distinct the terrain was on the ground, we had little trouble finding our intended control locations. We were quite specific in the type of course that we wanted to set. We placed the controls approximately 1.5 km apart and tried to place the points to eliminate any obvious routes.
We aimed for an even distribution of control values and tried to avoid too many controls of the same value near ridges, creeks or roads. We were particularly aware of not creating a situation where it was just a matter of trotting around the perimeter of the course to arrive at the highest score. (We nearly did it!)
Our only concern was the placement of the hashhouse. We were aware that the access track was going to cause some difficulty and we tried to find alternative sites. Our problem was that other access roads were either rougher then the one we chose or they would have resulted in the hash house being situated at one end of the course. Believe it or not, we did spend quite a bit of time trying to fix it (it was a lot worse).
We were fortunate enough to, once again, leave all the catering details to the Jerangle P&C and tennis club. They are becoming super-caterers and can almost do it in their sleep. Predicted hot weather meant a last minute re-think on water drops. We added W5 at the bottom of the course and used drums from the North West (W3 & W4). Our logic was that 2/3 of the entries were 8 hour, and wouldn’t get to the other drops, so more drums closer would be better.
The day started with quite strong winds and the storm clouds threatened from the west. However everyone arrived, registered and left with the sun still shining (except, of course, Burgmann College teams who arrived at 2pm).
The steep terrain claimed a number of slight injuries ranging from sprained ankles to Kylie Brown who, at three months pregnant (WITH TWINS) found Wallaby Hill a little too much on such a hot day.
As the 8 hour competitors came in we had lots of smiles, a few sore legs and reports of the creeks having dried up in the weeks leading to the event. Danswell Creek is spring fed and was still running up high, but had gone underground down near the Strike-a-Light River. We held the 8 hour presentations, still waiting on a few teams. Eventually all but one were accounted for. We knew they were experienced and well equipped outdoor people and the night was mild. After inspecting their very ambitious intensions slip, our concerns eased. They arrived back around midnight, all smiles, with their pride in tatters.
As part of the planned safety runs we planned to top up the water drops. W1 was very heavily used. We were greeted at W4 (around 1am) by some very thirsty 24 hour competitors. Looks like many had the same route in mind, because very little water was taken from the drums after that.
The rough terrain must have taken its toll, as the 24 hour teams steadily came in most of the morning. The end was almost anti-climatic. Judging from the comments we received from competitors it looks like we succeeded in setting a challenging course. Most people seemed to find it hard to identify an obvious route and enjoyed the lack of thick scrub (for most of the course). Dale Emmerton from Victoria even jokingly complained about the lack of blackberries.
As we were packing up, showers that threatened all weekend started. Sunday night gave us 18mm of rain and the temperature didn’t get above 20 degrees the whole of the next week.
We had such a great time setting the course for the ACT Champs. We can’t stress enough to anyone considering setting a course – give it a go, it’s almost as much fun as doing an event. Many thanks to our vetters, Ian Nerrie (who still managed to vet, even in the middle of repairing bridges damaged by flooding on the south coast), Adrian Sheppard and Geoff Mercer (who tripled as our help in Canberra and admin during the event – if in doubt ask Geoff), the wonderful (I’m sure you’ll all agree) caterers, the landholders, SMEC Print in Cooma for looking after us with the maps, John Phillips for help with Admin and the Jerangle community for all their help in general.
Lisa Phillips & Dick Walker
Read MoreWe hope that everyone enjoyed themselves, bummer about the hot humid weather. Started to rain on Sunday at about 3pm, we got 18mm overnight and Monday didn't get above 20c.
Thanks to everyone who helped:
in particular Geoff Mercer, who not only vetted, but helped throughout the event, answered lots of e-mail and a bit of running around too.
Adrian Sheppard and Ian Nerrie who were our other vetters.
the landholders for permission to use their land
Paddy Pallin for the ongoing support and spot prizes
SMEC Print in Cooma for giving us a good deal on the map printing
the Jerangle Tennis Club and the P&C for the catering
Bob & Bill Boate from Jerangle Bush Fire Brigade for helping with water drops
Adam Zanko from the school for coming on the epic western safety run (nearly 7 hours)
John Phillips for help with admin
Finally the competitors for entering. There were some impressive scores, and happy faces.
Thanks again for coming, it was a great turnout, 221 competitors on the day, with 30 teams (74 people) starting the 24 hour and 51 teams (147 people) in the 8 hour, making this one of the biggest ACTRA championships in recent years.
ACT 24 hour Champs Organisers Report
We agreed to organise the ACT championship some time ago at last year’s Paddy Pallin 6 Hour. We had been wanting to set a course in the country to the West of Jerangle for some time. We were a little worried it was going to be too rough and inaccessible. We took our mountain bikes for a spin and we pleasantly surprised to find that although the terrain was very steep and rocky, the vegetation was very light (in most parts). Happy we had a suitable area, we proceeded to do nothing until a couple of months before the event.
However once we started the four (or so) days that it took to set the course flew by. Originally, 90% of the course was owned by the Phillips family (Lisa’s father was born at the hut at W1). Thankfully they realised that most the country wasn’t fit to run goats let alone sheep and thus, our list of landholders grew larger and larger. There seemed to be little huts and houses everywhere we went. Most of these were more than accommodating and thought the idea of anyone trudging up and down the ridges of their own free choice rather funny. We were impressed by how distinct the terrain was on the ground, we had little trouble finding our intended control locations. We were quite specific in the type of course that we wanted to set. We placed the controls approximately 1.5 km apart and tried to place the points to eliminate any obvious routes.
We aimed for an even distribution of control values and tried to avoid too many controls of the same value near ridges, creeks or roads. We were particularly aware of not creating a situation where it was just a matter of trotting around the perimeter of the course to arrive at the highest score. (We nearly did it!)
Our only concern was the placement of the hashhouse. We were aware that the access track was going to cause some difficulty and we tried to find alternative sites. Our problem was that other access roads were either rougher then the one we chose or they would have resulted in the hash house being situated at one end of the course. Believe it or not, we did spend quite a bit of time trying to fix it (it was a lot worse).
We were fortunate enough to, once again, leave all the catering details to the Jerangle P&C and tennis club. They are becoming super-caterers and can almost do it in their sleep. Predicted hot weather meant a last minute re-think on water drops. We added W5 at the bottom of the course and used drums from the North West (W3 & W4). Our logic was that 2/3 of the entries were 8 hour, and wouldn’t get to the other drops, so more drums closer would be better.
The day started with quite strong winds and the storm clouds threatened from the west. However everyone arrived, registered and left with the sun still shining (except, of course, Burgmann College teams who arrived at 2pm).
The steep terrain claimed a number of slight injuries ranging from sprained ankles to Kylie Brown who, at three months pregnant (WITH TWINS) found Wallaby Hill a little too much on such a hot day.
As the 8 hour competitors came in we had lots of smiles, a few sore legs and reports of the creeks having dried up in the weeks leading to the event. Danswell Creek is spring fed and was still running up high, but had gone underground down near the Strike-a-Light River. We held the 8 hour presentations, still waiting on a few teams. Eventually all but one were accounted for. We knew they were experienced and well equipped outdoor people and the night was mild. After inspecting their very ambitious intensions slip, our concerns eased. They arrived back around midnight, all smiles, with their pride in tatters.
As part of the planned safety runs we planned to top up the water drops. W1 was very heavily used. We were greeted at W4 (around 1am) by some very thirsty 24 hour competitors. Looks like many had the same route in mind, because very little water was taken from the drums after that.
The rough terrain must have taken its toll, as the 24 hour teams steadily came in most of the morning. The end was almost anti-climatic. Judging from the comments we received from competitors it looks like we succeeded in setting a challenging course. Most people seemed to find it hard to identify an obvious route and enjoyed the lack of thick scrub (for most of the course). Dale Emmerton from Victoria even jokingly complained about the lack of blackberries.
As we were packing up, showers that threatened all weekend started. Sunday night gave us 18mm of rain and the temperature didn’t get above 20 degrees the whole of the next week.
We had such a great time setting the course for the ACT Champs. We can’t stress enough to anyone considering setting a course – give it a go, it’s almost as much fun as doing an event. Many thanks to our vetters, Ian Nerrie (who still managed to vet, even in the middle of repairing bridges damaged by flooding on the south coast), Adrian Sheppard and Geoff Mercer (who tripled as our help in Canberra and admin during the event – if in doubt ask Geoff), the wonderful (I’m sure you’ll all agree) caterers, the landholders, SMEC Print in Cooma for looking after us with the maps, John Phillips for help with Admin and the Jerangle community for all their help in general.
Lisa Phillips & Dick Walker
