Summer Shorts and Sprints 2025 Add some sizzle to your Spring and Summer, at a brand new series of sprint and short distance races in parks and campuses on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings. Race at a different venue each week during October and November – the perfect lead-in to the Melbourne City Race, the Victorian Primary Schools Champs, and the Victorian Sprint Champs. SPRINTS are on campuses or in parks with more landscaped features and/or complex terrain. Courses are approx 3.5 km, 2.5 km, or 2 km. Map scale is usually 1:3000 or 1:4000. SHORTS are in less complex parkland. Courses are a little longer, at approx 4 km, 3 km, or 2 km. Map scale may be 1:5000 or 1:7500. Online entries for each event open 2 weeks beforehand. Here’s what to expect: a great selection of full colour maps three action-packed, fun courses, with something for everyone from newcomers to top sprinters designed for fast thinking, with lots of controls, direction changes and route choices choose your own start time and course Sportident electronic timing, in Air mode (Sportident stick loan included in entry fee) Inflation-busting entry fees! Kids Run Free at SSAS events – applies to under 13s. Kids aged 13-20 pay just $6, and adults pay only $12 Coaching and assistance for newcomers, and a family-friendly outdoor activity; no limits on age or ability, and no previous experience or special equipment needed Prizes: All competitors will receive points each week, with 100 for the winner, 99 for second, etc. At the end of the 5-race series of Summer Shorts and Sprints, your best 4 scores will be totalled for your overall score. Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 males and females on each course. There are also weekly prizes on offer for the on-the-day winners on each course, and winners of the weekly Mad Dash leg. Other events: Sun November 23 – Melbourne City Race, Williamstown Seaport – click here for details Sun November 30 – Victorian Sprint Champs (venue tba) Questions? email enquiries@drocorienteering.com.au 2025 EVENTS: SSAS 1 - Sunday 19 October - University of Melbourne Burnley Campus - NEW MAP A brand new campus map to kick things off, nestled next to the Yarra River in inner suburban Burnley. Organisers – Melbourne Forest Racers Event format: Sprint Location: Yarra Boulevard, Burnley Course lengths: approx 3.5 km, 2.5 km, or 2 km Registration opens: 10:30am Start times: 11am-12pm Courses close: 1pm Online entry opens 5 October SSAS 2 - Sunday 26 October - Tarralla Wetlands - EXTENDED MAP A newly extended map in Melbourne’s east now includes Swinburne TAFE’s Croydon Campus, adding even more variety to the fantastic mix of parkland, woodland, wetland, trails, sports fields, buildings, gardens and sculptures. Organisers – Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club. Event format: Short Location: Town Park, Croydon Course lengths: approx 4 km, 3 km, or 2 km Registration opens: 10:30am Start times: 11am-12pm Courses close: 1pm Online entry opens 12 October SSAS 3 - Saturday 1 November - VU St Albans - UPDATED MAP A classic campus in Melbourne’s west, and one of our favourites; fully updated for 2025. Organisers – Bayside Kangaroos. Event format: Sprint Location: University Boulevard, St Albans Course lengths: approx 3.5 km, 2.5 km, or 2 km Registration opens: 1:30pm Start times: 2pm-3pm Courses close: 4pm Online entry opens 19 October SSAS 4 - Sunday 9 November - Stamford Lakes - NEW MAP Another great new map of this recently-opened parkland in the southeast suburbs. Organisers – Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club. Event format: Short Location: Stamford Park, Rowville Course lengths: approx 4 km, 3 km, or 2 km Registration opens: 10:30am Start times: 11am-12pm Courses close: 1pm Online entry opens 26 October SSAS 5 - Saturday 15 November - Pipemakers Park - NEW MAP Used in the first ever Sprint Into Spring Series but not since, this compact but highly complex park with its interesting industrial heritage in the inner west, has been remapped from scratch for 2025. Organisers – Bayside Kangaroos. Event format: Sprint Location: Van Ness Avenue, Maribyrnong Course lengths: approx 3.5 km, 2.5 km, or 2 km Registration opens: 1:30pm Start times: 2pm-3pm Courses close: 4pm Online entry opens 2 November 2024 EVENT RESULTS AND MAPS: 2024 Summer Shorts and Sprints PENOLA A surprisingly complex campus where precision proved to be more important than pace. Course planners Geoff and Claire made great use of the compact, complex campus, keeping courses tightly concentrated around the buildings, and using a map flip and artificial barriers to good effect. Results, Splits, Livelox Routes Maps TARRALLA No matter what pace you tackled the course at, there was an adventure to be had. All courses began with some tricky legs around the council buildings and fences, requiring immediate focus on careful map reading. Everyone enjoyed numerous controls along the newly landscaped creek, before preparing themselves for the Mad Dash around the athletics track. Then it was on to the Giant Frog, the final control, and into the Finish! Congratulations to course winners Torren Arthur, Sarah Love, and Izzy Greenhalgh. Torren was pipped for the Mad Dash by James Love, who ran the 200m leg in a dashing 35 seconds. Sarah was the Mad Dash winner on course 2, and Izzy took out the prize on course 3. The Series Scores have been calculated – check them here. Tarralla Results and Splits Maps Photos MT LILYDALE INDOOR-OUTDOOR We promised you something different – and Mt Lilydale certainly delivered! The outdoor sections of this hilly campus are tricky enough, but when you add in the interior of a building with multiple entry points, a furniture maze in the centre, and more complications created by locker banks, corridors and internal doorways, you have something really out of the ordinary. Congratulations to today’s course winners – Callum White, Geoff Armstrong and Mel Kent. Today’s winners of the Flying Furlong were Lucas Kent (30 seconds), Luca Topley Vlahos (33 seconds) and Sam Scadden (46 seconds). Congratulations! We’ve updated the Series Standings – click here to see your overall points score after 3 races. Heading up Course 1 are Matthew Layton and Keely Williams. On Course 2, Geoff Armstrong has a 2 point advantage over Sarah Love. And on Course 3, Eofy Greenhan has the lead ahead of Elijah Spencer. Results and splits Maps Photos RUFFEY LAKE We had a huge turnout on a lovely day at Ruffey Lake! Courses were planned by Ella, a member of the Junior Squad, and she did a great job. Today’s main skills were accurate bearings and reading the contours – and making sure you checked your control numbers. Each course had a different Hill Climb leg – for course 1, it was close to the end, from control 18 to 19. On course 2, it came right at the beginning, from control 1 to 2. And on course 3 it was between controls 2 and 3. Our winners were James Robertson/Matthew Layton, who tied on course 1; Dion Keech on course 2, and Ben Greenhalgh on course 3. Results and Splits Maps Photos DEAKIN BURWOOD On a scorching 36 degree day, it was time to tackle the multi-level challenges of Deakin Burwood, a campus that constantly changes – and each addition brings complexity and confusion. Dion Keech was our course planner, and Vida Fox led the MFR team in presenting a great event. Congratulations to course winners Tim Hatley (c1), Geoff Armstrong (c2) and Jenny Mitchell (c3). Results and Splits Maps Multi Level Mayhem and Mad Dash Mishaps This early leg created a lot of confusion early on, with so many route choices between the controls, including taking the stairs and heading upwards. However, while many people came unstuck here and lost a lot of time, it wasn’t the complex legs that caused most of the mispunches, particularly on course 1. The Mad Dashers fell for the old trap – See Flag, Run to Flag, Fail to Check Map or Number, Mispunch. Yes, there were two different controls at the end of the Mad Dash leg. See images SALESIAN COLLEGE Salesian may be small but it certainly packs a punch, with a bit of everything, from the elegance of Rupertswood Mansion, the heritage of the Ashes Oval, to multilevel school buildings, to chook sheds and an orchard. Course planner Stephen Collins set up some great route choice legs and kept us all on our toes with every step. So much fun! Salesian results and splits Salesian maps Photos – Salesian Sprint 30 Nov 2024