Summer League #11: Ballincollig Regional Park Relay Results & Prizegiving

Ballincollig Regional Park was the venue for the eleventh and sadly final event in the Cork orienteering club 2012 Summer League. Over 60 orienteers turned-up for this final fun event. This area is famed for the Gunpowder Mills which were established here over 200 years ago. This powder would have no doubt caused numerous blasts over the year but thankfully the only explosive action in Ballincollig last night was that of the competitors participating in the Cork Orienteering Club Summer League Relay championship!The format of the event was a 2-person relay team and there was twelve competitive teams on the night with an almost equal number of non-competitive teams. The relay followed a score format and there were a total of 19 controls scattered over the full length of the park. The first leg runners had the choice to get any 9 controls before handing over the map, punch card and SI card to their partner who had to punch the remaining 10 controls before returning to the finish.While some partnerships were arranged before the event the majority of teams were impromptu alliances formed at registration. Although SI cards were used for precision timing all the controls required paper punching. So were you rusty on your punching technique? Did you waste too much time trying to align the punch perfectly in the correct box? Furthermore, did you revert to the old technique of attaching the punch card to your top using safety pins? This ancient art supposedly prevents the loss of the punch card while traversing the terrain.Teams were given the option to review the map together and agree a strategy for punching the 19 controls in the most efficient manner. However, most folks opted to let the first leg runner take their pick from the 19 controls on offer. As a result several first leg runners elected to get the controls nearby and left the long distance running to their partner. Perhaps they had an ulterior motive for adopting this approach.....maybe the smell of fresh coffee and the lure of home make cakes from Cafe Chico clouded their judgement here! Meanwhile all the second leg runners could be spotted either waiting patiently at the picnic table or pacing furiously around the handover area.Identifying the most appropriate areas to cross the water was crucial to efficient route planning last night. Given our not so impressive summer weather, the water levels in the River Lee, the main canal and many of the millraces were much higher than normal. Moreover, some of the narrower paths were particularly muddy in places however it was the roots on these paths which provided the most challenge and required some careful foot work. The numerous buildings used in the manufacture of gunpowder, that are scattered throughout the park provided convenient discreet control sites. Thankfully none of the controls went walk-about and all teams completed the course.So down to the business of results and the 2012 Summer League Relay Champions were Donal Murphy and Pat Murphy who completed the score course in a time of 54:24. The runners up were husband and wife duo, Conor and Una Buckley who finished in a time of 56:42. The final podium spot went to Rob McEvoy and Oisin Creagh who finished in a time of 57:34.On the night 24 participants opted for the Short course which was on offer. The honours on this course went to Billy Caball who finished first, completing the course in a time of 32:32. Two of the Bosonnet siblings, Sean and Sienna teamed up this week and covered the short course together in a time 35:36 to finish second. While Johnathan Lahive finished third with a time of 38:56.

Full results of the Relay and Short course event are available here:

http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-1946

Thanks to Gerald Duffy for planning last night’s courses and to Daithi Power and Dave O’Donovan who helped with registration and starts. Thanks also to Ailbhe Creedon who braved the elements and assisted with control collection.

PRIZEGIVING

The Summer League prizegiving took place after the event. It kicked off a little later than planned as we waited for the last of the second leg runners to return. However Cafe Chico’s selection of hot drinks and home-made cakes provided a welcome distraction and there was plenty of post event banter to be heard in the vicinity of the download. For the past ten weeks we have somehow managed to avoid the rain but unfortunately it eventually caught up with us at last night’s event. Most of the early starters and first leg runners may have avoided it but just as the prizegiving kicked off the misty rain that has become synonymous with our summer to date appeared and added a dampener to the proceedings. However it didn’t diminish the delight of many of our prize winners at their achievements. Check out some of the winners in the photo gallery here.

Prizes were awarded to the top five finishers on the Long course and the top teams on both courses while all league finishers on the Short course were awarded medals. The recipients were as follows:

Long Course Men's League

WINNER:                  Rob McEvoy (12pts)

RUNNER-UP:            Brian Corbett (13pts)

3rd:                          Danny O'Hare (20pts)

4th:                          Donal Murphy (21pts)

5th:                          Conrad Daly (23pts)

Long Course Women's League

WINNER:                   Ailbhe Creedon (14pts)

JOINT RUNNERS-UP: Una Buckley/ Trishia O'Mahony (17pts)

4th:                            Elaine Sheridan (23pts)

5th:                            Liz Deane (28pts)

Short Course League

WINNER:                 Sean Bosonnet (10pts)

RUNNER-UP            Sienna Bosonnet (12pts)

3rd:                          Joe Bosonnet (14pts)

4th:                          Fintan Cadogan (32pts)

5th:                          Jerry Moynihan (52pts)

6th:                          Finbarr Scannell (79pts)

7th:                          Sarah Scannell (92pts)

8th:                          Rob O'Leary (159pts)

9th:                          Fiadh O'Leary (160pts)

TEAM RESULTS

LONG COURSE WINNERS:            UCC (192pts)

(pictured left)

SHORT COURSE WINNERS:          Team Bosonnet (48pts))

(pictured above)