Cork League #2: Walshtown Wood Sunday November 23rd Results and Report

The second event in our Cork League saw a crowd of sixty plus competitors converge at Walshtown Wood on Sunday morning. We were delighted to welcome a large group of eager beaver Scouts from Glanworth to the event. We hope they enjoyed their orienteering adventure.Our Kilworth event in early December is renowned for frosty conditions so many competitors were surprised to encounter similar frosty conditions in Walshtown so early in the season. There certainly wasn’t much dawdling following registration as competitors were keen to keep warm and get started. Thankfully, the crisp fresh air gave way to fabulous bright sunshine as the morning progressed and it really was a fabulous day to be outdoors.

Following all the rain of late the conditions underfoot were quite damp in places and some agile footwork was required to avoid some of the icy cold water on some trails. The frosty conditions made the Giants Grave in the southern section of the map look particularly eerie.

The wood at Walshtown is divided into three distinct sections and a good network of paths and roads traverse the map. The Beginners and Improves course made good use of these paths while the same paths provided participants on the longer technical courses some route choice.

Much of the forest provides fast running and many legs on the longer courses made good use of these areas. While a compass bearing was useful on these legs the limited feature detail in some areas made it difficult to re-locate if you veered off your bearing. Luckily, you were never too far from a path to help get you back on track.

The planners set out lovely challenging courses and the refreshing air on the day was ideal for orienteering. So well done to all who competed. Full individual results with split times are available here.

A huge thanks to John and Hugh Power for planning the courses. Thanks also to Denis Power and Jim Callanan for organising the event. Their efforts were very much appreciated by all who competed on the day.