Farewell to British Elites Mark Purkis & Charlotte Watson who are heading home to England after the Bay of Fires 3 Days. We will miss them greatly but wish them the best of luck with their orienteering goals and other life adventures. Hopefully we’ll catch up over the years - many of us will be looking for their names in world championships.
Photographed are the couple with our two lucky winners Nikko and Zali - who in 15 seconds counted the most correct number of “Mark made” barriers on the map of Claremont College used for Sprint Training. Mark and Charlotte presented them with 2 of their British O Tops.
Mark has been our Hobart coach in residence for the past 6 months, running our Monday night navigation training sessions. He also organised the awesome Southern Summer Cup and Coaching Long Weekend. He showed us locals how to make the most of even “boring” and/or “steep” areas with clever loops, barrier placements and down hill sprints. Every Wednesday Mark also gave coaching tips at the Schools-Twilight Events.
Together Mark and Charlotte delivered the Orienteering Sporting Schools Program in Hobart Primary Schools. The kids loved them!
And of course they introduced us to the world of O Geeking! Who knew orienteers would use the web to essentially create their own maps and courses in preparation for championship events.
Thanks must also be passed on to all our Hobart O Families who hosted Mark & Charlotte. Without their generous hospitality OT would not be able to run the coach in residence program