A sharp eyed competitor has pointed out an error in the Bulletin that was sent out and published yesterday - the Middle Distance event at Chatto Creek is on Monday 19th April - not Saturday 19th April. I'm sure most of you are smart enough to figure it out, but just in case not, we hope you read this! The updated bulletin is now available on this website. Happy reading!
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Previous versions of Chatto Creek and Naseby have been posted on the 2021 NZ Champs Otago page of the website.
The NZ MTBO Champs Bulletin is now available here. This includes details and important information which all participants need to read before the event, including competition details, safety information, and directions.
The courses are now all planned and ready, and the team are primed for an awesome event in a weeks time. See you all there! Thanks to everyone that got their entries in early, which qualified them to go in the draw for one of two Graeme Read mapboards. We are delighted to announce the two winners who were Jan Harrison from PAPO, and Liam Williamson from Dunedin! Congratulations to you both - you can collect your new shiny mapboard at the MTBO champs event and give it a good testing out during the competition! A big thanks to Graeme Read who produces these boards and who gave us an amazing deal for this competition - much appreciated. And just a reminder to anyone yet to enter, you have until April 11th to get your entries in before they close.
People can also now sign up for the social dinner and prize giving that takes place on Monday 19th at the Alexandra bowling club, as well as for the MTBO training sessions being run by Rob Garden and Marquita Gelderman near Alexandra on 21st and 22nd April. These training rides should be well worthwhile for those of you staying on after the champs. People can sign up for these using the link that is up on the "Entries" tab of the mtbo.nz website, or here. MTBO is one of those disciplines which when it comes to major events, often involves people being drawn from multiple clubs. This champs is no different, and whilst Joe Sherriff, with the support of Dunedin Orienteering, have been the main drivers to get this off the ground, PAPO have come to the party with both manpower and expertise - most of the organising team happen to be PAPO members, and Dunedin Orienteering will be supporting the event with equipment and on the day volunteers as well.
Hosting a National event during times of Covid is no easy task, so we are thankful for the team at PAPO to agree to be the main hosting club, using their experience in running events under different Covid restriction levels to ensure the event can happen under both level 1 and 2 Covid restrictions. This means that if any part of the country is at level 2, then the event will happen under level 2 restrictions to ensure everyone attending is kept safe and that we comply with the ONZ and MoH guidelines. Of course we are hopeful the country will stay at level 1, but it is good to know that plans are in place to still run the MTBO Champs should any part of the country move up a level. We hope this gives people a bit more certainty, and that they will have more confidence to enter and organise travel to the event. And on the subject of entries, don't forget to get your entries in before March 27th to be in to win one of 2 Graeme Read Mapboards! Even without the promise of great prizes, this event has such outstanding areas to ride on with awesome maps that any NZ based MTBOers would be crazy to miss out. We expect final event information to be up on the website in the next week or two, so stay tuned! For people who are yet to enter the NZ MTBO Champs, we encourage you to get your travel booked and entries in soon! To encourage you we are offering a prize draw of 2x map boards, eligible for everyone who has entered by 27th March.
Planning is well underway for the Champs, and the team are pretty excited by what's in store for competitors. Viv Prince and Dave Armstrong reckon they have one of the best MTBO middle distance maps in the country at Chatto Creek, with lots of fast off track options that is unique for MTBO and will favour those competitors who can hold a line on a compass and navigate off track. Conal Boland Bristow and Matt Bixley have been spoilt for choice planning interesting challenges at Naseby for the Long, which has a super interesting complex network of tracks that offer fun riding, interesting route choice, and even a swimming dam at the event centre that promises a great day out on and off the bikes! And we have been assured by Joe Sherriff and Alister Metherell that their sprint courses on the complex maze of tracks close to Alexandra is guaranteed to be the opposite of boring and will need focus and concentration to do well on. Whilst the promise of great courses and competition is assured, competitors will also have plenty of time to socialise, relax and check out the local area. This includes the social event / prizegiving that will take place on Monday 19th April at the Alexandra Bowling Club. Catering will be by the Alexandra Lions Club who always put on a superb feed. A link to a Google entry form will be circulated as soon as we have the price confirmed. For people who are in Central Otago later in March, there is an MTBO event near Alexandra on 28th March. Great training for the Nationals. Check out www.facebook.com/COOrienteering and let us know if you are coming. A reminder also that the South Island Foot Orienteering Champs will be on the weekend after the MTBO champs, details here 2021 South Island Champs (google.com). Updates will be posted in the mtbochamps.nz website and MTBO NZ facebook page, so stay tuned. All enquires and questions should get directed to Joe Sherriff [email protected]. We are delighted to announce that dates have been set for the 2021 NZ MTBO Champs - Joe Sherriff and a team from Dunedin, with support from other clubs and the MTBO committee, have agreed to hosting a NZ Champs in Central Otago 17th - 21st April 2021. This is great news and we are super excited to have this on the calendar, and to begin plans for events in this awesome area. Last used in 2018, central Otago is one of the premier MTBO locations in NZ with a variety of high quality terrain that will challenge and delight MTBOers.
More information to come, and in the meantime get these dates in your diaries!  The event is over, and we can now all sit back and reflect on two days (3 events) of hard racing and MTBO socialising! Congrats to all the placegetters and well done to everyone that competed - we hope you enjoyed the events and had a great time in and around Rotorua. We are now in the process of cleaning up and reflecting on the events ourselves - to that end we would value any feedback, which could be things you liked, or things that could be improved. Please email to [email protected].
Results are all up, via the links above. The ONZ MTBO Committee are talking with a few people about possible next champs, so stay tuned on here, the ONZ events listings, and the MTB Orienteering NZ facebook page for information on this in due course. See you next time! We will be posting results each day on the website, but also check out the MTB Orienteering NZ Facebook page, where people can share news, photo's, and stories of their MTBO efforts over the weekend.
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AuthorPete Swanson Archives
February 2023
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