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25 Orienteers return to The Sandhills after 35 years

25 orienteers who participated in the first use of The Sandhills map on 21 August 1983 for the ACT Championships returned 35 years later for the 2018 ACT Long Distance Championships on Sunday 16 September. A full report on the 1983 Championships including most of the top three placings is here.

The event was organised by the Red Kangaroos, who soon afterwards became the Red Roos, who staged the 2018 Championships. The course planners were Ian Johnson (since retired from orienteering) and Bob Allison, who was among the 25. The other officials, Bob Poole (organiser), Graham Brownlee (controller) and Kathy Saw (event secretary), have also since retired.

Event management and administration was primitive compared with today. All processes were manual and all competitors wore cloth chest numbers, issued on the day of the event from Registration which opened at 8.30 am. Competitors were asked to return them when they finished. Competitors on the longer courses were advised to expect a manned control where they should hand over their map to the official (punch boxes were on the map). A full-sized map is here.  In those days there were no AS classes so most of the B classes would now be AS classes.

Water and Staminade was to be available at the Finish. EOD entry fees were $1.20 for adults and $0.60 for juniors, while regular entry fees were $6 and $4 (cheques payable to ACT Orienteering Association). There were 431 entries including 134 juniors.

The double-uppers were (class in 1983/class in 2018); none won the double:

  • Belinda Allison: W12B/W45A
  • Nicola Plunkett-Cole: W13A/W45A
  • Peter Antcliffe: M19/M50A
  • Gareth Prosser: M19/M40A
  • Ari Piiroinen: M19/M55A
  • Martin Wehner: M19/M55A
  • Ann Scown: W21A/W65A
  • Mary McDonald: W21B/W60A
  • John Scown: M21A/M60A
  • Grant McDonald: M21A/M60A
  • David Jenkins: M21B/M55AS
  • Peter Shepherd: M21B/M65A
  • Judy Allison: W35A/W65A
  • Sandra Hogg: W35A/W70A
  • Dave Lotty: M35A/M65AS
  • Bryant Allen: M35A/M70A
  • Richard Ogilvie: M35A/M70A
  • Keith Fifield: M35B/M70A
  • John Suominen: M35B/M70A
  • Maureen Ogilvie: W43A/W85A
  • Pauli Piiroinen: M43A/M80A
  • Kevin Paine: M50/M85A
  • Hermann Wehner: M56/M90A
  • Hugh Moore: M35A/Planner
  • Robert Allison: Planner/M70A

Thanks to Bob Allison for his research for this story.