Summer League #2: Currabinny Results and Report

Post date: May 17, 2012 12:45:38 AM

Thankfully it was another splendid evening for the second event in the Cork Orienteering Summer League which led to a crowd of 80 descending on the quiet hillock of Currabinny for a fun evening in the woods. Last week’s event preview mentioned some of the features which the woods is famed for and all of these were incorporated onto both the Long and Short courses but I’m not sure how many took the time to appreciate them!The most prominent aspect of the wood is the hill and there was no avoiding the climb. On the Long course the planners tried to entice people to go direct to several controls and while this seemed to benefit some of the experienced orienteers in the field for others it proved quite costly. Several legs on the Long course most notably 6-7 and 12-13 took full advantage of the pleasant areas of forest run. While leg 14 to 15 on the Long course was a fast descent for those competing on the Short course they had a very similar leg but unfortunately it was in the opposite direction. So a special well done to all those who took buggies out on the Short course this must have been tough going. Given many of the paths were muddy in patches it probably made it a bumpy ride for those on board but they all seemed to be enjoying the adventure. The midges made their Summer League debut last night but luckily it didn’t deter the post course analysis in the car park. Much discussion focused around control 16 on the Long course which caught some folk out, some ran straight passed it and others had difficulty identifying which odd tree was the right one.Presently Rob McEvoy and Conrad Daly are emerging as the on-form orienteers in the league to date. Rob didn’t succumb to the pressure of being top of the leaderboard and showed his steadiness with another first place finish. The hills were obviously not an issue for Rob who completed the Long course in 32:30.  A little over a minute behind Rob was Brian Corbett who finished second in 33:33 and Conrad Daly slipped one place this week to third with a time of 33:50.The Corbett ladies claimed the top two podium places in the Ladies section. Niamh Corbett was once again the fastest lady and completed the course in 44:11. Not only is Niamh showing great consistency in the Summer League but she has also been selected for the Irish team for the European Youth Orienteering Championships in France later in the summer. Congratulations Niamh and best of luck in France. Niamh’s Mum Liz was second in a time of 51:44 and a mere five seconds behind Liz was Elaine Sheridan in 51:49 ( I really shouldn’t have stopped to admire the bluebells… but they were just so pretty!!)On the Short course Fintan Cadogan took the spoils for the second week in succession with a time of 15:21 and this week Team Bosonnet narrowed the gap on him to just 43 seconds with Sienna second in 16:04 and Joe Bosonnet third in 16:11.With the “ob” members of team Fitzob absent there were no teams eligible for points on the Long course. Rumour has it the O’Brien family were celebrating Liam’s success on winning the inaugural IOA Spirit of Orienteering award. Well done Liam, we’re proud to have you in the club! On the Short course team Bosonnet picked up their first team points of the league with an impressive tally of just 9pts. It will be tough going to beat these guys.

Full individual results with splits and Route Gadget are available here:

http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-1917

Thanks to all those who have uploaded their routes already. It really does illustrate how people read the map differently and demonstrates the variety in the routes taken and certainly makes for interesting animation. Please feel free to give your comments on the event via our Facebook page.

Thanks to the dynamic duo, Jim O’Donovan and Bobby O’Connor for planning interesting and challenging courses. Thanks once again to Dave O’Donovan for assisting with registration and to all those who helped with control collection.