Bennelong Northside Orienteers History

Northside Orienteers and Social Hustlers (NOSH) was started in the 1970s by Owen Hales with friends as a Monday night running club.

Shortly before his death in 2021 Owen provided the following account of NOSH's formation and activites:

"The play on words behind the name “Nosh” being ‘a nosh up’. Since the runners made such a racket, chatting as they ran along on Monday nights, Owen made the rest of the acronym “social hustlers”, which became “harriers” as the name became more official." [Or did it? Officially, NOSH appears to have remained "Hustlers" rather than become "Harriers" - Editor]

"After a few years he met some of the key people back then who helped NOSH develop from a jogging group to an orienteering club."

NOSH initiated the club’s signature event - a 16km trail run from Lindfield Oval to Seaforth Oval - The Great NOSH Footrace. It features more than 500m of climb, with a stunning scenic route around Middle Harbour.

"The Great NOSH Footrace was devised by Owen Hales as part of the NOSH club’s activities in 1975, originally finishing at Manly Dam. This meant runners had to cross Wakehurst Parkway. Inevitably, the decision was made to finish at Seaforth Oval instead."

"Owen and his son created the original trophy - a statuette made from old pipes in the pose of a runner - spray-painted gold. It did the job as NOSH trophy for quite a few of years."

"Helping to run The Great NOSH Footrace was an ‘all hands-on deck’ affair for all the NOSH-club families, leaving fond memories of directing runners at the various checkpoints."

~ Owen Hales (August 2021)

NOSH became the ‘other half’ of Bennelong Northside Orienteers (BNO) when it amalgamated with BOO in 1988.