Victoria Park Planners report 2011

07 July 2011

Perfect mid-winter weather helped the enjoyment of a post-earthquake club event at Victoria Park. The planning was on-again off-again several times after concerns about rockfall danger in after-shocks, the latest on June 13. The Port Hills rangers were very helpful, and the map was modified with a big out-of-bounds triangle for rockfall danger below the rocky summit behind the war memorial. SportIdent allowed us to use a narrow corridor in and out of the Start/Finish.

This map has been used many many times, but it still has a lot of interesting terrain, especially for newcomers. Re-mapping is in progress, so a much more accurate map will be available next year.

Most of the courses were set too long, causing several people to pull out before completing. Long wet grass and slippery terrain led to slow times on the red courses, despite the modest height of climb for this map. Over 20 people did not complete or mis-punched controls. One sprained ankle required a slow walk-out.

In the red courses, men’s winning times were just under one hour for long and medium courses, but well over an hour for short red and all the women. Many times were over two hours, which was OK on a nice day, but would have been dangerous if the weather had been bad. Winning times on the white and yellow courses were around 20 minutes, with most others finishing within an hour. Future planners on this map are recommended to plan slightly shorter courses, especially in the winter.

Many thanks to Jan and her willing team of organisers, and to volunteers who collected controls. It was great to have so many non members (50%) taking part and lets hope they can return to future events.

Andy Buchanan and Dave Laurie.