[Pictured about from left: Martin Dent, Patrick Miller and Wayne Gregson, the top three in event # 3 at Mt Ainslie]
Martin Dent is the early leader in the 2020-21 Runners Shop Twilight Series, after three races, but he is being challenged by a 74-year-old, 40-year veteran of the sport, Wayne Gregson and a 19-year-old junior Ryan Stocks, all pictured below.
The first event at Stirling Park was a fairly sedate affair when compared with the events at Stromlo West and Mt Ainslie, where competitors were faced with rain-induced tall grass and weeds such as Paterson’s Curse slowed down competitors and sometimes obscured control flags. The top three finishers on corrected time at Stromlo West were:
- Martin Dent with a corrected time of 6 min 8.01 sec
- Wayne Gregson 6 min 39.21 sec
- Matt Stocks 6 min 42.99 sec
The top ten on corrected time in the third event at Mt Ainslie are in the table below. Note the gap between Toni Brown and Darryl Erbacher for fifth and sixth place was two hundredths of a second.
| Points | Competitors | Handicaps | Corrected times |
| 125 | Martin Dent | 0.930 | 5 min 44.3 sec |
| 124 | Patrick Miller | 0.970 | 5 min 56.52 sec |
| 123 | Wayne Gregson | 0.580 | 5 min 59.42 sec |
| 122 | Hayden Dent | 0.670 | 6 min 01.17 sec |
| 121 | Toni Brown | 0.608 | 6 min 02.74 sec |
| 120 | Darryl Erbacher | 0.532 | 6 min 02.76 sec |
| 119 | Eoin Rothery | 0.700 | 6 min 03.87 sec |
| 118 | Elise Palethorpe | 0.776 | 6 min 06.92 sec |
| 117 | Paul de Jongh | 1.000 | 6 min 07.92 sec |
| 116 | Cath Chalmers | 0.664 | 6 min 11.34 sec |
The full results are here, the splits by course are here and the maps and photos are here
With the best two scores to count, Dent has 250 points from two wins, while Gregson (a second and third) and Stocks (a first and fourth) are equal second on 247, Patrick Miller is fourth on 244 and Dent’s son Hayden and another septuagenarian Darryl Erbacher are equal fifth on 241 points. They are listed below:
1. Martin Dent RR A 250,
2. Wayne Gregson RR A, Ryan Stocks BS A 247,
4. Patrick Miller BS A 244,
5. Hayden Dent RR A, Darryl Erbacher PO A 241
The full standings are here.
Gregson was an active, highly-competitive orienteer in the 1980s and 1990s, but until recently he has been keeping fit through cycling and general running. On his return to the sport, he shows he has lost none of his skills.
Next week’s event at The Pinnacle will be equally challenging as the past two events, as some of the grass will be waist high. With problems connecting the Orienteering ACT website to Eventor, the best link for event 4 at The Pinnacle is currently here.