Rain Rain Go Away
A Cobbled Together Inward Bound
Race Directors: Tom Driscoll, Tom Fitzgerald and Erin Ronge
Course Setter: Holly Ashburner
La Nina decided to mix things up for the race organisers in 2022 with wet weather forcing the event to be delayed and streamlined with divisions being dropped together for the first time since the removal of Division 7 Independent. Fortunately, despite the initial dismay of many to be runners and coaches the delayed holding of the event on the 29th & 30th served up perfect weather for a trip to Maloneys Beach.
Explore the Drops
Could you pick them?
Div 1 & 2
Ridge Riding
The drop was someone up I-Ridge Rd. It was particularly challenging to pick as the road names were omitted from the maps for some reason or another, leaving the teams having to decipher where they merely based on the road shapes along with surrounding terrain and nature. Only Bruce’s Div 1 correctly picked the drop with all the other teams heading in the wrong direction, with most teams realising where they were after reaching the junction of I-Ridge and Araulen Road (below/left) and having run. On top of this apparently, the first 15km of the route did not disappoint with the ridge roads living up to their name and providing the teams with an initial grant of vert. Bruce’s initial advantage was however surmounted by not only Griffin and B&G’s Div 1 but they were also passed by Bruce’s Div 2 after they had opted for a flatter route. B&G and Griffin Closely trailed each other at the mid-race point but by the time they had gotten to End Point Griffin had built up a sizable lead. B&G Div 2 along with Fenner Div 2 had a disastrous start both running for almost 2 hours in the wrong direction with Fenner ending up DNFing whilst B&G Div 2 soldered on all the way to Endpoint finishing hours after any other team, however scoring the requisite points to secure B&G the Overall win.
Div 3 & 4
Gliding down the Clyde
This drop was on Brooman Road just east of it’s intersection with flat ridge, the drop because of that nearby intersection was deemed by the course to to be “easy” to pick, however all but 2 of the teams headed in the incorrect direction, only realising their mistake after running east (the wrong way) for 20 mins so and reaching McMahons Rd (see attached streetview as the drop site has done available). Div 3 was apparently such a close run affair that the live blog on the night described it as a social run as all the teams headed down along River Road adjacent to the Clyde. Ursula and Griffin eventually strung a lead over the rest of the Div 3 pack with Griffin pipping Ursula at line (by 3 mins) getting into Endpoint the first of any team. Div 4 was won by B&G who were the third team to cross the line climbing ahead of Ursula who got disqualified for entering private property and Wamburun who received a 30-minute penalty for not bringing an item to scrutineering.
Div 5
Putting the Run in Runnyford Rd.
There is nothing more classic than an Inward Bound drop on road with no intersections to help work out where you are, this perhaps left teams with no better option than to use a random number generator to choose whether to head or south from the drop site. Teams that ran south would be disappointed to give themselves effectively give themselves a handicap for the long run up Runnyford Road ahead of them. With the course seemingly being a footrace perhaps with the only navigational challenge coming with the bushbash required to reach the crossing at Princes Highway encountered by all divisions, this left B&G div chasing Bruce for the whole way but unable to close the gap to them they gained from choosing the correct direction from drop. (No Streetview available again so some pictures are attached).
Div 6
Don’t get distracted by the sunrise
Being dropped at sunrise might have acted as a big clue to tell the teams to head east along Bolaro Mountain Road (or more likely the fact if you want to reach the sea you should head east unless you trying to reach Cottesloe Beach). This route again led to a footrace it seems with B&G storming ahead by the time they had reached the highway crossing and never looking back to reach the line first however they were granted an hour time penalty for contacting spectators at Endpoint before heading through the final scrutineering resulting in Bruce to win the division by less than minute over Johns.
Div 7
Turning on the Tides
Apparently again this drop was easy to pick with both scouts running into intersections, and all teams heading south into the depths of Murramarang National Park. This left the challenges of navigating the tidal estuary at Durras Lake and how to get across it without breaking rule 172(c) which prohibits swimming. Evidently, perhaps this course was designed for a different slot on the tide charts and as such led to teams for the first time being granted time bonuses for being unintentionally delayed at the crossing. Fenner ended up wading to victory in Div 7.
2022 Results
A huge congratulations to all the runners and coaches for being a part of the first Inward Bound since 2019, and for completing it under such challenging circumstances!
A special congratulations goes to the following teams/squads:
- B&G for taking out the Inward Bound trophy for the 5th consecutive event.
- Griffin Hall on winning the Bill Packard Trophy for winning Division 1.
- Bruce Hall Div 1 for winning the Doherty-Banks Navigation award for being the only team in Division 1 or 2 to correctly pick their (very difficult) drop and executing a near flawless nav on the trickiest course this year.
The overall results were as follows:
Based off the finishing times and penalties as listed below:
Several matters were considered by the Race Referee in 2022, with the following penalties awarded:
- 20% point penalty to Johns for spectators with alcohol at send off
- 15% point penalty to Wamburun for failing to notify Race Directors of a course leak in a timely fashion
- Disqualification of Ursies 4 for running on a prohibited road (Old Coach Road)
- 2hr penalty to Ursies 3 for conduct at odds with the spirit of the event
- 2hr penalties to Burgmann 5, Burgmann 6 and Griffin 6 for missing Category B items (watch, whistle and photo ID respectively)
- 1hr penalties to Johns 3, Burgmann 5 and B&G 6 for contact with spectators
- 30min penalties to Wamburun 4, Wamburun 5 (x2), Ursies 5 and Griffin 6 for missin Category C items (blindfold, blindfold and reflective tape, space blanket and fleece pullover respectively).
- 30min penalty to Burgmann 6 for late arrival to send off scrutineering.
- 15min and 1hr time bonuses to Bruce 7 and Griffin 7 respectively for time lost due to uncontrollable factors at the Durras Crossing
The Race Referee would like to remind runners and coaches that the rules exist for the safety of all participants and officials. They acknowledged that due to this being the first running of the event in 3 years, there is a general lack of awareness of the rules among runners and spectators and has therefore been more lenient than in past years with penalties. However, now that the event has run successfully, they can not assure participants that the same leniency will be applied in the future.