Summer League #10 Curragh Wood Tuesday July 15th Results and Report

Thankfully the start was located a good distance from the car park which eliminated the long slow drag up the hill from the beginning of both courses. But due to the nature of the landscape in Curragh Wood it would be difficult to eradicate much of the remaining climb from the courses. Both physical and mental stamina was needed to complete the arduous Long course at Tuesday’s event. With 18 controls to punch there was lots of navigation required and even when the body began to feel the strain of the steep terrain the brain needed to stay engaged on the task at hand to avoid any costly mistakes.There was plenty of route choice on many of the legs and due to the persistent fine weather many of the forest tracks were exceptionally dry which meant there was also lots of roots to be negotiated. Some agile foot work was necessary to avoid tripping on some of these paths. Competitors were forced to visit the control site 214 twice on the Long course first for control 4 and also for control 14. Alas, it would seem that some competitors didn’t pay enough attention to their map on their first visit to this control and left in the direction on control 15 rather than 5. Control 7 on the Long course took competitors to the ring fort at the highest point in the wood. The vibrant green flora on the forest floor in the vicinity of controls 12 and 13 made these difficult to spot from a far.Anyone who previewed the whole course early on in their run knew what was in store for them on the home stretch. For those that were tackling one leg at a time and anticipating a relatively easy run to the finish the planner had a few surprises in store for them on the latter section of the course. Having punched control 14 there was a nice run to control 15 which was followed by a steep descent to control 16. This was then following by a ferocious scrambling climb to 17 and 18 before competitors got to savour the downhill run to the finish. With prizes and bragging right at stake on the night who handled the pressure and the orienteering challenge best in Curragh Wood?On the Long course John Chandler continues his winning ways and attained back to back Summer League event wins. He completed the gruelling 5.2km course in a time of 37 minutes and 41 seconds. This wins also gives him a hat-trick of event wins in the 2014 league and will probably secure him the runners-up spot in the overall league. Jonathan Lucey was very determined to hold on to his fourth place position in the league and he had a very steady run which left him runner-up on the night. He punched all 18 controls in a time of 39:19. Once again mere seconds separated our second and third place finishers and Donal Murphy took the final spot on the rostrum when he finished in a time of 39:53.

There was fierce competition in the Ladies section on the Long course this week. CorkO ex-pat Toni O’Donovan was back home in Cork for a week’s holidays and she set a blistering pace on the long course and took the event win in the process. She completed the course in a time of just 42 minutes and 16 seconds. This very impressive run meant that she finished fifth in the overall long course results. Any ladies looking to improve on their present league standing were further disadvantaged by the return of Niamh Corbett to competitive action in the summer league. Following an orienteering vacation at WOC with her family she had a solid run in Curragh Wood and finished in a time of 49:45 which left her runner-up on the night. Our Summer League Long Course Lady Champion Sharon Lucey had to be content with third place this week when she finished the course in a time of 52:17. A nasty slide on her run left Sharon a little more cautious on the latter section of the course. However, Sharon’s consistent form throughout the league ensured she achieved a podium finish at every event she attended and makes her a very worthy champion.

On the Short course Gerry & Maeve Brett saved their best performance for the last competitive event. Having completed the course in 22 minutes and 21 seconds they achieved their first Summer League Short course event win. Jamie Latimer continued to display his consistent orienteering skills and claimed the runners-up spot on the night. He finished in a time of 23:19. The final podium spot went to our regular Buggy-O adventurers Conor and Aisling O’Mahony. With words of encouragement from its passenger and power from it pusher their all terrain buggy whizzed around the Short course in a time of 24:36.

Well done to all who competed. Full individual results and splits time are available here.

A few photos from the event have been added to the Gallery page of our website.

This week we extend a huge thanks to Conrad Daly for accepting the challenge and workload involved in planning a Summer League event. He really set out some testing courses. Thanks also to Mary Curran for controlling the event and Andrew Turner for his assistance with registration. We were also very grateful to Gerald Duffy, Liam O’Brien and Shane Doyle for their assistance with control collection on what turned into a damp and misty evening.