World Master’s Games 2009

- Right on Target

A bulls eye at 70 m

By SGT Chris Hurricks

The World Masters Games is the largest multi-sport event in the world. This year’s event, held in Sydney’s Olympic Stadium during 10–18 October, was the biggest on record—28,292 competitors from 95 countries, over the 28 sporting codes.

Sergeant Chris Hurricks is an Avionics Technician at No 5 Squadron. He’s also a keen archer. Recently he took annual leave and crossed the Tasman to test his skills against the world’s ‘Masters’.

These were my first Masters. At the ripe old age of 32, and being that this year they were in Sydney, I jumped at the opportunity. I was competing in the Archery competition, which was broken down into four separate events; it was then broken down further into age and type of gear you shoot.

Field archery

The first event was over two days and made up of two different field rounds the IFAA (International Field Archery Association) was at an old Navy depot and the FITA (Federation Internationale De Tir A L’Arc—International Archery Federation) out in the Illawarra bush with the leeches and ticks. Despite this, I managed to take out a Silver Medal—only 6 points away from the Gold.

Preparing to fire

FITA target round

The second event again was over two days and was held at the Olympic Archery Centre. This involved shooting four different distances of 90, 70, 50, and 30 metres in high wind. I’m talking about the sort of wind that you almost have to picket the aircraft in! The event was nearly called off and in fact the boating events were. I didn’t get near Gold Medal contention, but I did get Silver and gain a little more experience in this type of archery, so next time I’ll be prepared.

Clout event

The clout event had a medieval flavour and involved firing arrows up in the air to reach a big target on the ground 180 m away. It sounds easy, but again we had the Sydney wind to contend with and it changed almost every few minutes making it very hard to compensate. I was lucky enough to win this one though, getting my first Gold of the games.

FITA indoor round

The final day of competition was the indoor round at 18 m—typically, the weather was at its sunny best outside! But I managed to take the Gold, so it was worth the ‘sacrifice’.

Bulls eye!

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony at Darling Harbour was a spectacular sight. It was great to see all the competitors who had won over the week wearing their medals with pride.

Recommendation

For any of you that are of the age (from 25 to 35, depending on your sport), I highly recommend competing in the Masters. It was great fun and you get to meet lots of new people. The next World Masters are in Turin, Italy in 2013. If you want to stay local there are the New Zealand Masters is next year and also the Pan Pacific Masters is at the Gold Coast. See you there!

My Final Results

Unfamiliar Terrain Revisited

By SQNLDR Jason Markham

Squadron Leader Jason Markham works part-time at Air Staff in Workforce Planning. He transferred to the Active Reserve after 20 years in the Royal New Zealand Engineers. He competed in the World Masters Games after a seven year break from orienteering due to an ankle injury.

Orienteering

Bronze medal for Orienteering

Orienteering is an off-trail race with map and compass to visit checkpoints in unfamiliar terrain. Sydney’s geography is ideal because of the many rocky formations and harsh running conditions. This was my first World Masters and I was one of the youngest competing in the M40-44 grade. There were two orienteering race formats at these games—sprint and long distance. I skipped the sprint so I could focus all my energy on the long distance where I am usually stronger, especially in rough terrain. The first day of the long distance was a warm-up event, followed by two qualification race days, then a rest day and, of course, the final race on Day Five.

Return to competition

My long break from orienteering had been the result of a twisted ankle during a World Cup race there in 2001. Although I had the advantage of familiarity with Australian terrain, I was concerned that my ankles might not be strong enough. But I also expected that the changes I had made in lifestyle, diet and mental approach since then would make my legs and mind more resilient under race conditions.

The races

The 1st qualification race was disappointingly easy. Thankfully, the 2nd qualification race was tougher so we could prepare mentally for the final race. A degree of nervousness is good during a big race, but on Finals morning I felt sick with nerves. Although I ran well early in the race, my body was tired from two strong runs in the qualification races. My split times showed I kept in touch with the leading runners until a third of the way through the race. I then made several poor route-choice decisions and although I finished strongly, it was not enough to catch the leaders.

I returned home exhausted but also pleased—I had navigated well in all three races and my legs had been strong enough for the conditions. It was also good to see New Zealand finish near the top of the medals table.

My Final Results

Long Distance Medals Table

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