Summer League #11: Farran Forest Park July 17th Relay Race, BBQ and Prizegiving Results and Report

Post date: Jul 20, 2018 11:19:46 AM

Another Summer League series drew to a close on Tuesday night in Farran Forest Park. After ten fiercely competitive events at varied locations around the city and county the league concluded with a fun relay race. The weather has been incredibly fine throughout this year’s league and despite some localised showers in the early part of Tuesday afternoon we were fortunate once again to get to enjoy another fine evening of glorious sunshine for our Summer League finale After ten events were individuals pitted their orienteering skills against one another in the battle to be crowned Summer league champion Tuesday’s relay race was all about team work. Each team had to complete a Short leg (~2km) and a Long leg (~3km). The target being to pair up many of our regular Long course participants with some of our habitual Short course contestants. As the event also included a group start it provided the perfect opportunity for all our summer league followers to mingle. Furthermore, to celebrate the end of another very successful and enjoyable summer of orienteering the evening concluded with a BBQ and prize-giving ceremony in the National rowing centre. While some participants came with pre-arranged partnerships other pairings were formed on the night. We did our best to keep the teams as even and fair as possible. Orienteering really is a sport for all the family and participants of all ages can par take and this was most evident in many of the alliances formed on Tuesday night. It was great to see so many family combinations Feehans, Murphys, O’Donovans, Moynihans, O’Sullivans and Hoare to name but a few. It is the middle of holiday season at the moment and we were especially delighted to welcome a number of visiting international orienteers to the event. The Antcliff Family from Bushflyers orienteering club in Canberra Australia took in our event on their busy trip to Ireland. Nerijus Mlsikas from Shiauliai Orienteering Sport Club (SAKAS) in Lithuania managed to squeeze in the Relay race while visiting his friend Ari who is based in Ireland. Ari choose not to compete at the event but captured some lovely action shots from the race which he has kindly shared with us. The Jansson Family also took in our orienteering event while on their hols. They were very fortunate to experience one of our most fun and social Irish orienteering event. We sincerely hope you all enjoyed the race. Once all the teams were registered our planner gave a brief explanation of the handover process, then all 36 first leg runners were called to the start line. The maps were distributed and the countdown began. Once the GO instruction was hear runners sprinted off in all directions. There were lots of controls to visit on all the courses. In a relay race it can be easy for competitors to get distracted by the sight of other orienteers and follow them rather than read the map. Given the relatively small area covered by the courses contestants’ paths would no doubt have crossed several times in the park. Therefore, it was very important for participants to pay attention to their map and their control codes and not to get carried away following fellow competitors. In particular the series of controls adjacent to the forest entrance and car park may have caught some orienteers out. All the second leg runners waited patiently in the handover area for their team mates to return. This year the course planner designed all courses such that the finishing series of controls on all courses took competitors into the open area in front of the Zipit cabin. From here participants completed a final loop around the car park area before reaching the finish. This finish loop allowed our race commentator Brian Corbett to update everyone on the competition status and advice all second leg runners to prepare for a smooth transition. It also gave those waiting and watching an opportunity to cheer on their team mate and see some of the chasing that was taking place on the courses. However, for some the pressure of being watched and cheered on seemed to distract and confused them somewhat which led to some time losses for some.

Basked in the evening sun this beautiful and majestic park proved a fitting setting for our relay race and following a very competitive race the 2018 Summer League Relay Champions were Terence Hoare and Sean Kelleher. They completed both their relay legs in a combined time of 35 minutes and thirty seconds. The fast pace of this pair means they received our fabulous first prize which was sponsored by Zipit Forest Adventures. Terence and Sean will get to return to Farran Forest Park and transverse it from the tree tops and along the various zip lines as they experience the exhilarating and challenging Zipit aerial trails. All those participating in the Zipit experience on Tuesday certainly looked like they were having fun. Runners up on the night were the Conor O’Mahony and Sinead O’Donoghue they were less than minute behind our Champions and finished in a time of 36:20. Not far behind them was the mother and son partnership of Caroline Murray and Josh Hoare. They took third place when they crossed the finish line in a time of 37:09.