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Night Orienteering @ Eagle Canyon

Saturday, 2 March 2019
Eagle Canyon Golf Estate


The first night orienteering event of 2019 kicked off this past Saturday at Eagle Canyon Golf Estate.
The night series is a firm favorite of mine as I find the navigation a bit easier and I find I am able to make up time for any errors with my running.

 On Saturday I attended a baby shower before the event, and with all the nice food around I did pig out more than I should have. This left me feeling a bit more nervous as I wasn't sure how it would affect my energy levels.
Working at registration at the event was also hectic with a lot of pre-entries to assist as well as a few on the day entries. This left my feet feeling sore from standing.
I was determined though to still go out and do my best and not use these things are excuses.

I chose my start time quite late, when there was a gap in registration, so I found myself amongst less competitive women and groups, which was nice.
Going to the start was about 700m, or so I was told. It was a good opportunity to do a warm-up jog to the start - something I do neglect.
With the start being in the dark it was quite difficult to see where everyone goes when they set off, but I could see that the womens course seemed to turn right from the start.


  • Start > 1: Turned right, followed the path along the vegetation. Control just off the path after the hill. 4th fastest
  • 1> 2: Dropped down to the bottom path and followed it all the way across the bridge *I could have cut across down the hill, but didn't have confidence yet*. I got stuck behind a golf cart on the bridge that stopped for other orienteers, so lost a bit of time. After the bridge I cut straight across, aiming for the edge of the houses. Following the fence, the control was pretty easy to find. 4th fastest
  • 2 > 3: I took a bit of time deciding on a route choice as I didn't read ahead. My first thought was to go left and follow the road (I saw Michele did this on Strava) but then decided to see if i could go between the dams - this route changed when I saw the veld and went back and headed towards the bridge. Crossing the bridge, I left the path and basically contoured along, almost parallel to the road. Considering my mistake, I was only 10 seconds slower than Michele. 3rd fastest
  • 3 > 4: Headed toward the dam and ran on the edge between the dam and the green, aiming towards the houses fence. Followed the fence along and left straight into the control. Quickest
  • 4 > 5: Exiting the control I ran back the way I had come from *I thought about going the top route, but running wise it looked slower and more map reading involved *. I joined the path and followed it all the way, aiming off when I reached the scattered trees. 2nd fastest.
  • 5 > 6: I delayed a bit on this one, going back past the start looked long but going closer to the houses had too much greenery to navigate. I decided to follow the path back past the start and exited out the path before the small building. I headed pretty straight across, I could see a bit of a hill and vegetation which I was aiming for. Quickest
  • 6 > 7: Basically straight line, I tried to find the footpath to avoid the veld, so wasted some time. Quite a few people coming out of this control so it was easy to spot once I started going down through the veld. Quickest
  • 7 > 8: Back through the veld and headed towards the path. Followed path all the way to the control. It was a good running leg. Quickest, gap to Michele was 45 seconds
  • 8 > 9: This was probably my worst control. My plan was to run to the bottom of the path and run around the dam. I didn't read the vegetation and found that there was only veld. I considered going through the veld up the hill to the path but then I saw eyes looking at me and decided against it. I ran all the way back up the path to the top and followed the path all the way around the dam. After the bridge I exited the path but found I went a bit too far left before seeing the control. On strava I saw that Michele went left from the control. between the dams and attacked the control from the opposite side. 6th fastest, 1 minute 15 slower than Michele, this is where I lost the time to her. 
  • 9 > 10: Ran straight up and followed the path all the way around. Once again I was avoiding the veld and opted for a faster running route. Quickest
  • 10 > 11: Followed the path straight down. Not my best control as I did read ahead on this one. 5th fastest
  • 11 > 12: Again didnt read ahead and seemed to have lost confidence, was quite slow running along the contour. 4th Fastest
  • 12 > 13: Straight up the hill and across. Could see the control so just ran for it. Quickest
  • 13 > 14: Followed the vegetation all the way around. Focused on pushing this leg Quickest
  • 14 > Finish: My best leg, there was tape to the finish, so I just had to run as hard as possible. Quickest

In the end I finished in 2nd place, which I was very happy about.  Overall a good event, some good opportunities for route choice and I found I lost time if I didn't read ahead. The sprinklers came on towards the end, which made it fun trying to find a route choice around them. Looking at other competitors like Michele on Strava, I can see where I lost time or where there was a better route to be taken.
Looking forward to the next night event at Leeukop in 2 weeks time.





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