It's been a long time coming, but Wellington Orienteering Club finally put together a great team, on paper and in practice, to win the relays at the 2010 National Championships in Naseby.
"It's the best win of the weekend" said team captain and 3rd leg runner Lizzie Ingham, who should have been tired after winning two individual titles over three prior days of racing.
"Jamie Stewart did a great job to set us up, just a couple of minutes off the front" she commented. "Then young Nick Hann ran through the pack like a hot knife and put us six minutes in front. That was the run that won it for us."
But it wasn't over then, with the anchor leg to come. Ingham had to face the daunting prospect of being chased down by Carsten Joergensen who, with two elite National titles in hand, still seemed to be in the same form that took him and a Danish relay team to gold in the World Championships 13 years ago.
Struggling to control nerves, Ingham made mistakes on three of the first four controls and lost several minutes to Joergensen, running for Peninsula and Plains (Christchurch) club.
But in the chasing pack, nerves and excitement also took their toll as the pack lead see-sawed.
"I caught up to Rebecca Smith for Rotorua, and I was making little mistakes" noted Joergensen. "Then I made my biggest nav-mistake of the weekend...and Bill Edwards and Duncan Morrison caught up."
The tricky map detail of the Naseby forest made made for a perfect relay course, and the pressure mounted for the chase group who were well aware that runners from Northwest and Hawkes Bay clubs would sweep through if they faltered.
Eventually Joergensen eased ahead for second, unable to reel in Ingham, with Bill Edwards (Hutt Valley) overtaken by a flying Duncan Morrison from Hawkes Bay.
But a control mis-register for Hawkes Bay on the second leg meant Morrison's efforts were in vain as Hutt Valley took the official third placing.
The well-run National Orienteering championships concluded at the relays, with the consensus that Central Otago was a world class orienteering area.
Results: 2010 National Orienteering Championships - Club Relays
Long Relay
- Wellington Orienteering Club: Jamie Stewart, Nick Hann, Lizzie Ingham 1:07:58
- Peninsula and Plains Orienteers: Matt Scott, Selena Metherall, Carsten Joergensen 1:11:36
- Orienteering Hutt Valley: Ramesh Swamy, Laura Robinson, Bill Edwards 1:12:57
Short Relay
- Hawkes Bay: Sara Bailey, Vaughan Sceats, Sean Morrison 40:26
- Peninsula and Plains Orienteers 41:28
- Wellington Orienteering Club 45:36
