Autumn League #3: Regional Park Ballincollig Tuesday September 12th Results and Report

Post date: Sep 14, 2017 9:18:28 AM

The Regional Park Ballincollig was the destination for the third event in the CorkO Autumn League. There has been a dramatic change in the weather over the last few days and the lovely Autumnal weather we’d been enjoying has been replaced with wet and windy conditions. Our event planners endured the worst of these conditions as they braved the elements and put out the controls in time for the event. Thankfully by early evening the rain had subsided and it remained dry but a bit blustery for the duration of the event. The ominous skies didn’t deter our dedicated followers and there were over 45 entrants on the night.The planner set out two testing courses. The Short was a nice 3km loop around the park while the Long course took competitors to both ends of the park. Both courses started from the middle car park and from here the Long course participants ventured towards the eastern most end of the park punching several controls on route. From here competitors would eventually zig zag their way to the western end of the park to control 16. With 19 controls, there were lots of control legs and the course offered plenty of route choice from the start with several means to approach the first control.  This flat terrain lends itself to fast running which then requires fast route choices.Competitors needed to pay close attention to the map detail on some legs in particular the leg from 17 to 18. Here competitors had to decide quickly on the optimal route around the high stone wall and the easiest approach route to control 18. This fabulous park with all its amenities is always a very popular destination so some of the pitches may have been busy on Tuesday night which forced orienteers off their optimal straight line routes in this area. The course concluded with a 380m run to the finish.On the Long course Conrad Daly continued his winning ways and bagged another Autumn League event win when he completed the 5km course in a blistering time of 29:22. Having won the 21L class at the Northern Ireland Championships last weekend Agris Kramins continued his podium form and was runner-up on the night. He completed the testing Long course in a time of 32:37. Aidan Kelleher claimed third place when he finished in a time of 33:20.The fastest lady around the Regional Park on Tuesday night was Niamh Morrissey she punched all 19 controls in a time of 37:22. Runner-up on the night was Una Buckley, she completed the course in a time of 39:40. Third place went to Michelle Pierce who crossed the finish line in a time of 47:12.

On the Short course the Bosonnet siblings battled it out for the event winner honour with Chiara just edging out her brother Isaac to claim the title. She completed the course in a time of 25:48. Isaac punched the finish a mere 11 seconds after Chiara and was runner-up on the night. The final podium place went to Liam Twomey who punched all 10 controls in a time of 28:56.

Unfortunately, another one of our SI units malfunctioned on the night, perhaps it made it easier to locate as it beeped continuously for the duration of the event. So, apologies to those who got a DNF when they initially downloaded. The results have been corrected to reflect this broken unit. Well done to all who participated on the night. Full individual results with split times are available at the following link:

http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=moreResult&id=3000Huge thanks this week to Ben Gearey and Sinead O’Donoghue for planning and organising the event. Thanks also to David O’Donovan for helping with starts and Conrad Daly and Gerald Duffy for assisting with control collection.Thanks also to Cork County Council for granting us access to this lovely park to stage our event.The next event in the Autumn League is the 12th Annual Cliona Callanan Memorial Orienteering Event. This event will take place on Sunday in the beautiful and majestic surrounds of Doneraile Park in North Cork. All proceeds from the event will go to The Cork Children’s Leukaemia Association. This park with its resident deer herds has an extensive network of paths, fine meadows and some unique water features. No doubt our north Cork crew will have some interesting and challenging courses in store for us. Further directions and park info can be found here:www.corko.net/doneraile-forest-parkHope you can join us on our northern adventure.