Autumn League #2: Regional Park Ballincollig Tuesday September 1st Results and Report

Post date: Sep 03, 2015 8:20:59 AM

The flat parkland terrain in Ballincollig lends itself to fast and furious orienteering. Both the Long and Short course commenced with a first leg which traversed the numerous soccer pitches. The pleasant smell of freshly cut grass wafted across the pitches on this leg. For some competitors on the Long course the soccer training taking place on one of the pitches may have prevented them from taking the most direct route to controls one and ten.On the Long course the leg from three to four was exceptionally long but allowed for some fast running along the banks of the canal. Following this leg there was a succession of short legs with directional changes. There were some interesting route options on several of the legs, most notably on the leg from 7 to 8. The shortest route here meant taking a chance on being able to quickly cross the undergrowth and surrounding marsh.The busy nature of this park forces us to revert to old style manual punching. However despite our best efforts to conceal our kite locations sadly the final control on the Long course was tampered with on the night. So apologies to all those competitors who squandered precious time looking for the kite and punch which had been relocated by some meddling passerby.Both courses concluded with a fast sprint to the finish. For many there was no let up in pace throughout the course and there was so weary bodies at the finish. Thankfully the jellies and liquid refreshments available at the finish aided the recovery process for many. Following their run several of our younger competitors got to enjoy a post run cool down in the marvellous new playground which was just meters from the finish control.On the 4.6km Long course Cillin Corbett demonstrated great speed and agility to take the event win. He completed the course in a time of 26:36. Just over a minute behind Cillin was Sean Murphy who took the runners-up honour finishing in a time of 27:55. Hot on Sean’s heels was third place finisher Conrad Daly. Conrad punched all 12 controls in a time of 28:21.For the second consecutive week Niamh Corbett claimed the title of the fastest lady on the night. Niamh completed the course in a time of 33:10. The runners up distinction went to Eibhlin Cleary as she finished the Long course in a time 39:26. The final podium spot went to Claire O’Brien when she finished in a time of 40:48.

Of the 32 competitors on the Short course it was Eidin Christie who topped the field. She completed the 2.7km course in a time of 19:35. The runners-up award went to Niamh O’Donoghue she punched all nine controls to finish in a time of 20:50. Matthew Kearney earned third place on the night when he finished in a time of 24:10.Well done to all who took part. Full individual results are available here.Thanks this week to Darren Burke for planning the course, Gerald Duffy for controlling the event and Bobby O’Connor and Jim O’Donovan for setting out the course and taking care of registration. Thanks also to Dave O’Donovan for taking care of starts on the night.The next event in our autumn league will see us journey West to the scenic sea side hamlet of Kinsale for another orienteering adventure at the historic James Fort. For directions and area trivia check out the following link.Just a reminder that we’re staging an Orienteering Training day in Walshtown Wood on Saturday September 12th so if you think your navigational skill could be a little bit sharper then why not sign up for our training event. Further details on the day can be found at the following link.It is sure to be a fun and social day so hope you can join us.