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Orienteering @ Edenvale High School

14 April 2019
Edenvale High School


Back to Orienteering in the light and around buildings...
My weak point is fast navigation and as much as I like the urban or sprint events, I am actually not very good when it comes to navigating my way around buildings and thinking and planning ahead. If we got 1 minute to just stand and select route choices before we ran I think I would do so much better, its the moving while thinking that gets me confused and I feel I waste time if I stand at the control to read the map.

I have been to Edenvale once to help with schools league many years ago, so I had a vague idea of the layout. I was nervous about my speed, navigation and foot - I had come from an 11km run but I feel my fitness has dropped slightly. I was expecting to place maybe 3rd or 4th. I started near the back of the women, I feel its less pressure as I won't be caught by anyone.

Start > 1: Setting off I took a bit longer to find #1. Route choice was either left or right of building - I went left for an easy exit to #2.
1 > 2: Straight along road. Tried to read ahead to #3
2 > 3: Down along the road
3 > 4: Didnt read ahead and there was no easy way through. Cut down near the finish, along the top of stands and around. Wasted time close to #3 deciding which way to go.
4 > 5: Back through the gate, down and around the construction sit, along the road and between the buildings.
5 > 6: Down the road to the sheltered area
6 > 7: Left the sheltered area, ran down the road towards the right hand field, heading towards the fence.
7 > 8: Could see the tree, just ran for it. 
8 > 4: Ran up embankment, across field to the vegetation
9 > 10: Control easy to see, ran straightish for it
10 > 11: Took the road and went around the top buildings
11 > 12: Spent time trying to find the control on the map. Went down pavilion steps and across field
12 > 13: Through gate, along the fence and down the embankment to the control. It was quite rough running at the top - would have been quicker maybe to go straight down and run along the wall.
13 > 14: Followed bottom of embankment to the end, and went up into the control
14 > 15: Followed fence along, and straight across to control
15 > 16: Ran along to the steps, up the steps, followed the road and path through to control
16 > 17: Up the steps and along, down the steps to where the control was
17 > 18: straight along the corridor to the control
18 > 19: straight along the corridors, turned by #3 and along. There was a fence all the way along, not shown on map, so wasted time deciding if I should jump or go around. Since the part of the fence on the map was crossable, I jumped the fence.
19 > 20: Along the bottom of the stands, followed hedge along to control
20 > 21: Back up road and up stairs, turning left into control
21 > 22: Along top of stands/ stairs, through the finish to the control - saw this control from before the start, so knew where it was
22 > Finish: Down stairs to finish.



I was surprised to have finished 2nd Female after feeling slow and like I wasted a lot of time. Besides taking time to read the map and decide on route, I didnt actually make any mistakes. I think next time I want to try starting off slower, reading my route choice more ahead and memorizing my routes more, to save me time.

I enjoyed the butterfly loop, it is an easy leg and allows you to concentrate on the next control.

Next event is at the Wilds in 2 weeks time - I have never had a good run here so I will need to focus a lot more.



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