Summer League #5: Tramore Valley Park Tuesday June 5th Results and Report

Post date: Jun 07, 2018 1:36:24 PM

Tramore Valley Park was the destination for the fifth event in the CorkO Summer League. This convenient city centre location is very accessible and always proves a popular stop on our Summer League tour. Despite a strenuous long weekend for some having participated in the club’s 20th Shamrock O-Ringen (3 tough days of orienteering) or the Cork City marathon or the Carrauntoohill hill run many opted to enjoy yet another fine evening in the outdoors and mustered up the energy to orienteer on Tuesday night. Of the 88 entrants on the night at least one participant was spotted proudly wearing his brand-new marathon relay finisher t-shirt!As the evening rush hour traffic resonated all around this site it was fabulous to escape the mayhem and enjoy a challenging run around this park. The dominant mound at this location offers great views of Cork city and its suburbs. Unfortunately, the council have only just begun the process of cutting the grass on this dome hill so I’m sure its presence influenced some route choices on Tuesday night. The long grass was also home to a pheasant who may have been startled on a few occasions as orienteers bounded down this hill.Anyone expecting a gentle stroll around this renowned site was in for a surprise. The planner took no mercy on participants and set out a gruesome Long course which had competitors traversing the infamous landfill mound multiple times and in almost all directions.Although the course was advertised as 5.5km this measurement was based on how the crow files. It would have been energy sapping to take the straight-line route to all controls particularly on the legs that went up and down the hill so participants probably covered approximately 2km more than this by the time they punched the finished.Both courses began and finished with a sprint across the playing pitch. From the goal posts at the Northern end of the pitch Long course participants had several routes options to control two. From here competitors began their first ascent of the mound. Noting the position of the bridges was important when selecting routes on this and several other legs. Control four was on the Southern side of the mound so it was a case of up and over. This was entrants first experience of the rather long grass. The early starters laid out the tracks and although some of these may not have been the straightest of routes it was certainly easier to follow this zig-zag tracks that to create new ones. The faster runners in the field would have enjoyed the fast running on the wide track from four to five.