Summer League #8: Moanbaun Wood Tuesday June 26th Results and Report

Post date: Jun 28, 2018 8:5:57 AM

Moanbaun Wood near Watergrasshill was the destination for the eighth event in the CorkO summer league. As temperature soared nationwide Watergrasshill was no exception and while some may have opted for a trip to the beach on Tuesday evening close to 60 orienteers braved the sweltering heat to compete in Moanbaun Wood.Furthermore, two of our regular summer league top ten finishers were headed for Dublin airport as they were due to fly out with the Irish Junior Orienteering squad to compete at the European Youth Orieteering Championships (EYOC) in Bulgaria. We would like to wish Dan McDonnell and Cathal Lane and the rest of the Irish team going to EYOC 2018 the very best of luck. They have all trained hard and are ready and able for the challenge that awaits them in Bulgaria.The slightly reduced field on Tuesday night provided a perfect opportunity for those in attendance to improve their overall league standing by obtaining a higher placing on the night and perhaps reducing their overall points tally.The Short course at 3.3km wasn’t so short but took participants on a large loop around the wood. The course was on the wide fire road and was entirely buggy friendly and it resulted in some very fast times on the night. The planner designed the Long course to test competitors speed and navigational skills. The first five control were shared with the Short course and were positioned along the fire road through the forest. The faster runners in the field would have gained a considerable advantage on this section.These fast runners may have been lulled into a false sense of confidence as the next section of the course comprised an intricate series of technical control in and around the infamous quarry. The leg from 5 to 6 presented competitors with there first route choice of the run. The skilled orienteers might have opted to take the shorter more direct route through the light green while those enjoying the fast running on the forest road might have taken the slightly long but less risky route along these trails. There were more route options available on the leg from 6 to 7. The searing heat may have influenced some competitor’s routes on this leg. The shaded route to the west of control 6 may have been preferred over the trail through the sun soaked rough open land.

Careful navigation was required to locate control 7 and from here there was a tricky short leg to control 8 the depression on the hill. The next leg from 8 to 9 proved to be one of the main talking points in all the post-race discussions. Some got carried away running down the soft sandy tracks in this section of rough open. From 9 there was an arduous climb towards control 10 which wasn’t helped by the scorching temperatures. The leg from 10 to 11 took participants along the edge of the quarry and there were some stunning views from this height for those that took a moment to observe them. The sun reflecting off the sandy ground on these legs accentuated the heat and the occasional fresh breeze was most welcome.Some lost valuable time at control 11 when they initially failed to spot that it was positioned in the depression on the eastern side of the fence. There was no way to approach it from the west side of the fence which forced some to back track. Following 11 the course opened up for the faster runners again with controls 12 and 13 positioned adjacent to the fire road.The leg from 13 to 14 marked the commencement of the second series of technical controls in the runnable forest. Some careful map reading was required to spot the earth walls and follow the correct ones in the forest to controls 14, 15 and 16. The beautiful open forest was exited by crossing the river. A welcome splash through it was most refreshing on the night, before a steep climb back to the forest road. In their eagerness to finish it seems that several competitors cut into the forest too early in their attempt to locate control 17. A bit of scrambling through the dense forest and around the low branches was required to get back on track. Competitors who made this mistake stood out at the finished as many of the twigs and bark they clambered though were still attached to them at the finish line. From 17 the sprint to the finish was slightly impaired by having to negotiate one’s way around some brashings in a section of forest that has very recently been thinned. Once competitors exited this area they got to enjoy a lovely sojourn through the beautiful beech forest before returning to the forest road for the final sprint to the finish. This long and tough technical course was made even more challenging by the heat and terrain and had most competitors parched at the finish. Thankfully there was plenty of water to rehydrate these exhausted athletes.On the 5.2km Long course which was probably closer to 7km it was Conrad Daly who claimed yet another Summer League event winner title. He finished the course in a time of 40:10 to earn his fourth event win in the 2018 summer league. If he keeps this pace up he will have the league title secured in no time. Runner up on the night was Martin Jakobsson he punched all 17 controls in a time of 42:58. The final podium spot went to Pat O’Donovan who despite almost losing his glasses in the wood managed to complete the course in a time of 47:22.The fastest lady around Moanbaun Wood was Elizabeth Jakobsson she completed the Long course in a time of 53:32. Runner up on the night was Aoife O’Sullivan who punched the finish in a time of 59:01. Hot on Aoife’s heels was third place finisher Sinead O’Donoghue who crossed the finish line in a time of 59:49.On the 3.3km Short course it was Andrew Murphy who took the Short course event winner title. Andrew punched all nine controls in a time of 18:51. Runner up on the night was Ted Feehan who finished in a time of 23:51. Not far behind Ted was Mary O’Sullivan who punched the finish in a time of 24:17 to take claim third place on the night.

Well done to all who endured the heat and participated on the night. Full individual results with splits time are available at the following link:

http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=moreResult&id=21821

Huge thanks this week to Jim O’Donovan and Robert O’Connor for planning and organising the event. Thanks also to Andrew Turner for assisting with control collection.

Next week the Summer League tour will head East to Curragh Wood near Midleton for the ninth instalment in the league. There will be no escaping the hills at this location. However, the art of contouring might help eliminate some unnecessary climb on this steep terrain. The area will surely present its own unique challenges to all who partake. For directions and some woodland trivia check out the following link:

www.corko.net/calendar/curragh-woods

Hope you can join us!