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Post date: Sep 01, 2018 5:21:25 PM
The first event in the CorkO Autumn League saw a crowd of over 56 orienteers converge on Currabinny Wood in Ringaskiddy on Tuesday evening. The evenings are slowing begin to close in so many were eager to take advantage of the few remaining opportunities for evening orienteering in 2018. This was also the first chance for all our Summer League finishers to collect their hard earned league finisher t-shirts. Many of the junior orienteers were very excited to receive their t-shirts and donned them immediately. We were also delighted to welcome some first time orienteers to the event on Tuesday night and we hope you enjoyed your adventure around Currabinny Wood.It seems many of our Tuesday evening regulars weren't resting up during our orienteering break but were busy travelling to events abroad. Refreshed and experienced from these orienteering escapades some were sporting snazzy new O-tops. A group from Cork Schools Orienteering Association (CSOA) traveled to the UK to competed at the Lakes 5 day. They designed a very creative and colourful new team O-tops for the occasion and they certainly stood out at Tuesday's event.The fine bright evening meant that conditions were ideal for orienteering and the planner set out two testing courses. The Short course was a nice gentle circuit of the wood while the Long course was a score event with no time limit. With 22 controls to visit it was a fully body brain workout for our Long course competitors! Currabinny Wood is renowned for its steep terrain and having received the map some careful route planning was required to select the optimum route that would take in all controls in an efficient manner while minimising the climb. Those that took the extra few minutes to analyse the map and pick their route benefited for it in the long run. While those that blindly ran to the first control they spotted on the map may have wasted precious time doubling back on their tracks to punch some controls.After a long dry summer the conditions underfoot were exceptionally dry and the going was fast as a result. As competitors bounded along the trails and scrambled through the forest I'm sure competitors paths crossed on numerous occasions. Those that took the clockwise route around the wood had a fast downhill run to the finish. However those that went anticlockwise around the hillock had a tough climb from the last control to the finish line.
With so many controls scattered throughout the forest it was easy to lose track of which ones you'd already punched and some careful map reading was required to ensure you didn't miss a control by folding the map or placing your thumb over a control while holding the map. The control that proved trickiest on the night was located on the earth wall in the area of open forest on the south west area of the map. This area always proves challenging as runners our forced to deviate from their intended route while negotiating their way around some of the vegetation in this area. On the Long course it was Dan McDonnell whose navigation skills and speed were top of the field on the night. He traversed the wood and punched all 22 controls and obtained the maximum 220 points while finishing in a time of 20:52 which earned him the event winner honor. Runner up on the night was Darragh Hoare who scored maximum points and punched the finish in a time of 22:20. The final podium spot went to our Summer League Champion Conrad Daly who again achieved the maximum points and finished in at time of 24:27.
The fastest lady around Currabinny on Tuesday night was Aoife O'Sullivan she visited all the controls and completed the score event in a time of 27:10. Runner up on the night was Caroline Murray who again punched all 22 controls and finished in a time of 32:24. Elaine Sheridan finished third in a time of 35:01 also managing to visit all the controls in the wood.
Huge congratulations to CorkO's Dan McDonnell and BOC's Darragh Hoare and Aoife O'Sullivan who along side fellow Cork Orienteers Joe Bosonnet and Zane Kramina both CorkO and Liam Cotter (BOC) have been selected to represent Ireland at the Junior Home International Orienteering competition that will be taking place in Scotland in early October. We wish them all, the best of luck with their training and I'm sure they will do us and team Ireland proud at the races in the Scottish highlands!
On the 2.3km Short course our summer league short course champion continued his winning ways and punched all 12 controls in a time of 23:33 to take the short course event winner honour. Runner up on the night was Billy Caball who completed the course in a time of 24:16. There was a very close contest for third place on the Short course with just three seconds between the next two finishers. Ber O'Sullivan narrowly managed to edge out Kevin Cronin to claim third place when she punched the finish in a time of 25:03.
Well done to all who participated. Full individual results are available at the following link;
http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=fullResult&id=21851
Huge thanks this week to Gerald Duffy for setting out the courses. Thanks also to Dave O'Donovan and Robert O'Connor for assisting with starts. We were very grateful to Conrad Daly, Zac Harrington and Matthew Lee for assisting with control collection.
Next week we head West to the start of the Wild Atlantic Way when we visit James Fort in Kinsale. From previous visits to this location many will recall that this pentagonal Fort with its spear shaped earthen Bastions at the corners is surrounded by open hillside. It will be tough going traversing this hilly terrain but the picturesque views and the opportunity for a post run cool down at the Dock beach will make it all worthwhile. Further information on the location and directions are available here:
www.corko.net/calendar/james-fort
Hope you can join us at this fabulous destination.
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