Entries are now open for the 2021 Jim Sawkins Classic, to be held on Sunday 6 June on a new map of Stringybark Hill, Jerrabomberra.
All the details are in the information flyer.
Enter here by Wednesday 2 June.
The Jim Sawkins Classic
The Jim Sawkins Classic was created in 2008 to commemorate the life of Jim Sawkins, a stalwart of the Red Roos club. Jim began orienteering around 1980 and was a highly successful competitor winning many major titles including the 2005 and 2006 Australian 3-Days, the ACT Orienteer of the Year in 2005 and the 2000-01 Runners Shop Twilight Series. Jim Sawkins died while orienteering on Sunday 4 June 2006 at Goorooyaroo, after being the organiser and course planner at Farrer Ridge on the previous day.
The Jim Sawkins Classic includes a Handicap competition with two Divisions:
- Division 1, on ACT League course Hard 1, an Open competition for all ages and both genders.
- Division 2, on ACT League other Hard courses, a Restricted competition for competitors of both genders, but only for Men aged under 21 and 35 and over and all Women.
Competitors’ times are ‘corrected’ in accordance with the same Age/Gender factors used for ACT League and Runners Shop Twilight Series competitions to determine the winners. Thus competitors need to be sure that their correct age and gender are recorded in the Eventor.
The complete list of previous winners is available here.
Galaxy Format Courses
This year, the Jim Sawkins Memorial Handicap will use the Galaxy format, which is head-to-head racing on multi-loop courses. The Galaxy format was developed by Mike Dowling in March 2001 to prepare Australian and New Zealand orienteers for the 2001 Wold Games races for individuals.
The Hard 1, 2 and 3 courses have been designed for head-to-head racing. To get the most out of the event, find
another competitor on the same course (ideally of similar speed) and start at the same time. There will be A and B maps. The first loop on these courses also includes a phi-loop to split up the runners.
New Map
The event will be held on a new map of Stringybark Hill, Jerrabomberra, mapped in 2020 by Tate Needham.
The terrain is mostly fast and open with good visibility (but quite steep and rocky in places), nasty vegetation in and around the main creek and some of the other gullies will lead to some interesting route choice options.