The end of the 2006 elite orienteering season has seen several teams turn their hand (and legs) to Adventure Races (AR). AR generally consists of running, mountain biking and kayaking, all with a navigation component and in teams of 2-4 people. It’s a great way for orienteers to train during the summer, and keep up a bit of navigation training too.

The NSW Ultimax Stingers have been competing with regular success in the AROC Sprint Adventures Series. At last Sunday’s event in Narrabeen, Sydney, the team of Rob and Peter Preston, and Richard Mountstephens won the Men’s category, and race outright. Ben Rattray (Southern Arrows), Mace Neve (Vic Nuggets) and Glenn Meyer (Stingers) raced to 7th outright and 3rd in the Mixed category. Danielle Winslow also raced in the 2nd placed All Women’s team, Canberra based ‘Adrenalin Adventure’.

In Victoria, several Nuggets team members competed in the Teva Series race at Mt Macedon. Adrian Jackson, Alex Randall and Jim Russell destroyed the field to win by 40mins. But success didn’t stop there, with Kirsten Fairfax, Kathryn Ewels and Jasmine Neve winning the women’s category.

Ben Rattray and Andrew Hill have recently returned from Chicago, USA, as the World Citychase Champions. City chase is an urban Adventure Race where competitors are required to run, and uses public transport to complete different tasks around the city. It is a similar format to the television show ‘The Amazing Race’. They competed as Team Australia, after winning the Sydney leg of the international series earlier this year.

The World 24hr Rogaining Championships was recently held in the Warrumbungles National Park, about 500km NW of Sydney. The event was very popular, with orienteers making up many of the 300 teams. The men’s class was won by New Zealand orienteer Chris Forne and his partner Denis de Monchy. Rob Preston (NSW Stingers) and Damon Goerke were 2nd. The women’s class was won by occasional Canberra orienteers Julie Quinn and Heather Logie, with Victorian Nuggets Kirsten Fairfax and Kathryn Ewels 2nd. The Mixed Category was won by a Latvian team, with Canberra based Team AROC finishing 2nd.