Weeks had passed since the Saturday afternoon series had finished and my good friend and neighbour Derek W and I were very excited to be competing in the first event of the Western Summer Series 2015. I left a sumptious meal of slow cooked lamb shanks and a glass of red at home for my good lady wife to enjoy when she arrived home at 7pm after a hard day at the office so my leave pass to compete was assured!

We decided to ride our pushbikes to the event as the traffic can be a bit hectic at that time of day although the final push up the Afton Street hill left us a bit short of breath! Anyhow there were plenty of eager orienteers champing at the bit, eager to tear this course apart as wave upon wave of runners  A,B,C,D and Power Walkers headed off. Now this is a great course as it's got hills, the Maribyrnong river, walking trails, an athletics track, swamps, cliffs, a creek. It doesn't get much better than this. It took me a while to work out a good Power Walker's route that avoided unneccesary climbing but eventually it all fell into place. It was one of those courses that was hard to decide which controls to discard. In the end I dropped a cluster of 3 (Controls #1, #3 & #6) around the athletics track which in hindsight was a mistake as I finished 12 minutes early, so frustrating!

I think the course setter must have decided to go easy on us for the first event of the series as a large section south of the river was control-less which if utilised, could have been a soul destroying course in the hands of a more sadistic course setter. However it was a fantastic warm magic evening with a huge moon rising to greet as as we crossed the finish line, the perfect start to what promises to be a great Western Summer Series. I can't wait for the next event at Williamstown Beach on the 10th November.

Peter Irish

My Course 7.8km 20 Controls http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/903837137

Season tickets will be on sale for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday series, for the next two weeks.  At just $48 per series, these are a massive saving - up to $40!  You must be a member of a club to take advantage of the discount.  Click here for more information on membership and clubs.