Summer League #8: Moanbaun Wood Tuesday June 27th Results and Report

Moanbaun Wood was the destination for the eighth event in the CorkO Summer League. The incredible run of fine weather we’ve been enjoying lately came to an abrupt end on Monday and on Tuesday morning many orienteers might have been a little hesitant about packing their orienteering gear for the event that evening. Thankfully, the rain stayed away and the 100 plus orienteers who attended the event in Moanbaun Wood got to enjoy another fabulous evening in the outdoors.Moanbaun Wood means “The White Bog” so the heavy rain the night before did have an impact on the terrain. The ground was little soft and marshy in places and many of the small streams were a little wider than normal.This wood has a vast network of forest roads which link the various sections of runnable forest and the planner set out two challenging courses which tested participants speed and map reading skills. The Short course took a nice loop along the forest roads with some brief excursions into the forest for controls 4, 6 and 10.The first control on the Long course was at a bend in the forest road so it was all about speed and fast running getting to this control site. From here competitors were taken into the forest and some careful navigation was required to get in and out of this area in an efficient manner. A short section of road running followed before another excursion into the wood for controls 3 to 5. On the leg from 4 to 5 some competitors may have opted to return to the forest road to take advantage of the faster running on this trail over the rougher brashings in the forest. There were more route choices to be made on the leg from 5 to 6. Once again, the faster runners might have elected to take the paths over the more direct route thought the runnable forest.The leg from 8 to 9 proved costly for some on the night. Those who attempted to take the more direct route along the fence got caught up in the forest walk and vegetation fight on the other side of the fence. So unfortunately, the shortest route didn’t result in the fastest split. Following nine there was another jaunt into a lovely area of runnable forest for control 10 before a return to the track for some fast running to controls 11 and 12. Both courses concluded with a run through the picturesque beech forest. The observant orienteers in the field might have spotted the magical fairy village adjacent to control 240. They certainly picked a beautiful area to take up residency. Having punched the last control competitors had one final sprint along the forest road to the finish. Unfortunately, the finish control malfunctioned three quarters way through the event and jumped ahead in time by almost 5 hours so we apologies to those who couldn’t get their exact finish time when they downloaded. The results have since been amended to correct for this mishap.This wood is renowned for the midge and luckily, they stayed away for most of the event. Although word of our presence in the wood did get out late in the evening and the organisers, late finishers and merry picnickers got pestered by these nasty critters.On the Long course Conrad Daly returned to his winning ways and took the title of Moanbaun Wood event winner. He completed the 4.2km course in a time of 28:25. This win will no doubt elevate Conrad to the top of the Summer League leaderboard. A visiting orienteer from 3ROC was runner up on the night. Eoin Riordan punched all 15 controls in a time of 30:04. Third place on the night went to Cian O’Mahony who completed the course in a time of 31:30. Cian has been steadily improving as the league has progressed and this third-place finish will allow him to discard his Currabinny result from his points total and will see him narrow the gap on our league leader Conrad.This week Niamh Corbett was off on her holidays which gave the rest of the ladies in the field an opportunity to battle it out for the title of the fastest lady in Moanbaun Wood. Sinead O’Donoghue has been one of the most consistent podium finishers in the 2017 league and she didn’t miss the opportunity to capitalise on Niamh’s absence and was the first lady home having completed the course in a time of 36:34. Runner up on the night was Trish O’Mahony she punched all 15 controls in a time of 38:47. The final podium spot went to Elaine Sheridan when punched the finish in a time of 41:48.There were over 30 competitors in action on the Short course and it was Tadhg O’Mara who finished top of the class on the night. He punched all 11 controls in a time of 33:26. The Bosonnet siblings battle it out for the remaining podium places with just 15 seconds between them all at the finish line. Issac Bosonnet took the runner up spot from his sister Chiara. Issac finished the 3.3km course in a time of 38:37. Chiara finished just 8 seconds clear of her brother Sean and claimed third place in a time of 38:44.Well done to all who participated on the night. Full individual results with split times are available here.Huge thanks this week to Eadaoin Morrish for planning and organising the event. Thanks also to Codi Kelly Morrish for helping put out and collect the controls. Thanks to Mary Curran, Andrew Turner and Danny O’Hare for assistance with registration and data entry. Thanks to Robert O’Connor for handling starts and to Dermot O’Sullivan and Danny for helping with control collection.The ninth event in the 2017 Summer League will take us East to Curragh Wood near Midleton. 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 click here.Hope you can join us!