Training Log Archive: Bruce

Event: Australian Rogaining Championships
 

Sprint the South West stage 3
Cowaramup - the cow town!



I was suitably dressed for this mornings race in my Fresian singlet.
I started well and pushed hard to the compulsory road crossing, catching a minute on the runner in front.
I would have liked a bit longer to recover at the crossing, but there was a gap in traffic, so I had to proceed. Some people got over a minute to recover and plan ahead.
In the middle part of the course I felt a bit tired. I chose a good route through the light green forest, but Henrik took over 15 seconds out of me.
Still I made that up with a good finish navigating through the school across the ovals to take the win.

Sprint the South West stage 4
AMaze'n Margaret River




This was one of those special races that I will remember.
The first 6 minutes were in forest, paddocks, then gardens. Then the next 10 minutes were in a complex hedge maze.

A 1:1000 map of the maze made the map easier to read but full concentration and map contact was required.
I may not have picked the optimal routes on a couple of occasions, but I kept great map contact and got through extremely cleanly. I am not sure if many could say this.
The difficulty was increased by having to dodge many lost orienteers, while still keeping my speed high.

I think that I was behind Henrik in the forest section, but my good maze section made up for this.

This was a superb event. Well done SWOT.

Maze Re-run
Controls 10-F with optimal route choices and a GoPro.
I was about 1 minute quicker this time, but some of that was due to familiarity and some was due to less human obstacles in the maze.

C • Looks a bundle of fun 6

Cowaramup Long - Splits

Ameze'n Long - Splits

Event: Sprint the South West
 

Sprint the South West Stage 1
Bunbury 3 Campus



At #1 I punched the depression and as I was taking off, whack! Something hit me on the top of my head. I had stood up and hit a tree. Just like Catching Features!
My head was a bit sore on the way to 2 and I felt some blood dripping. I lost a few seconds by not concentrating.
The rest of the course was fine. I probably missed the shorter route choices on 9 and 10 as I did not see the opening to the elevated walkway. Instead I came in from the back. It may have slightly longer but was less twisty.
After the race I wanted to warm down, but about 20 people wanted to look at my head at different stages. I knew that I needed to go to emergency but I couldn't get away.
It doesn't hurt too bad but it will need a couple of stitches.

Sprint the South West Stage 2
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar



After 2.5 hours at. Bunbury Hospital, I actually recovered ok for this race.
There were some tricky garden beds and fences in the first half, but I was smooth.
I pushed harder in the easier second half and extended my lead.

Mason had another fantastic run to win the Short category.

Bunbury 3 Campus Long - Splits

Bunbury Cathedral GS Long - Splits

Australian Relay Championships
1st Australian team in M21E
Matt Doyle, Bruce Arthur, David Brownridge



The Danish team got the win, but what really mattered was the first Australian team home. The field was depleted. We even had to make a late change with Bryan Keely not able to make the starting line today with injury.

Matt got off to a great start, coming back with the leading pack of Simon, Oscar and the Danes, with a bit of a gap back to Ian.
I started just behind Craig. I took the lead up the hill and felt that I had an edge in speed on him today after recovering better from a shorter race yesterday.
Craig had the shorter split at 1 and re-took the lead, but I ran away up the hill to 4 and 5.
I must have passed the Danish team at 5. I didn't notice this until I heard the commentators when I went through the spectator control in the lead.
Just before this the rain really started coming down hard.

The rocks were getting really slippery and I had to slow down to avoid any nasty falls. I had already slipped early in the course on the way down to 1, but luckily I landed on my feet.

My only time loss was a small mistake at 17. I though I left the fence at the bend, but on my GPS it shows that I left about 30m early.
My time wasn't brilliant, but I had a longish split of 7.7km and slippery conditions. Still, I did what I needed to do, which was put David out in a good position for the final leg.

Victoria was resident champion in Men's Elite at the Australian Orienteering Relay Championships for the first time since 2003 at Beechworth. This was my only other elite national title.

Thanks to my team mates Matt Doyle and David Brownridge. Not bad for a Year 12 student, an M40 and David stepping up at the last minute.

I thought that my days of elite national championships were now out of reach. We were a bit fortunate that the field was weaker than normal, but at this stage of my career I will happily take it.

I was also fortunate to have a proud Dad moment with Mason Arthur, Jensen Key and Torren Arthur taking out the Australian Orienteering Relay Champions in Men's 12.
Torren has had a great week with M10 wins in all competitions. He is now more than ready for the next challenge in M12 in Tasmania. He returns to Melbourne tonight (with Anne and Sophie) for Division Athletics on Tuesday and school camp on Wednesday.
Mason had a couple of very close seconds last weekend, so it was great for his confidence to be part of a winning team. He is looking forward to Sprint the South West on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Well done also to the Victorian Elite Women for winning the National League title, and to all Victorian age group runners that contributed to the best overall state award at today's relays.