Autumn League #2: James Fort, Kinsale Tuesday September 4th Results and Report
Post date: Sep 07, 2018 8:11:20 AM
The second event in the CorkO Autumn League saw a crowd of over 50 orienteers converge at the historic site of James Fort in Kinsale to do battle on Tuesday night for the event winner title. A fine fresh evening greeted all those who ventured west for the event. We were delighted to welcome so many Kinsale town residents to the event. We hope you all enjoyed the challenge of navigating around this familiar terrain.This compact area with its slopes down to the water is renowned for its physicality and with a double-sided map on the Long course competitors knew they would be traversing these slopes multiple times and in all possible directions. Both courses commenced with a run towards the Dock beach before a short climb onto the open terrain. From here the criss-crossing of the terrain commenced. The leg from 2 to 3 on the long course was the first of several visits to the Fort for all the long course competitors on the night. From here they descended down the north west slopes punching two controls en route. The planner set out a grueling leg from 5 to 6 which took competitors from the lowest point on the north west side to the lowest point on the north east side. The only way to avoid the climb here would have been to swim around the headland. As this option was definitely a non runner it was a tough climb back up the hill before a fast descent down the other side. From six there was a second visit through the Fort before another trip to the slopes on the north east and then another up and down this time to the northern block house.
From here competitors flipped over the map to do it all again. There was another circuit through the fort before a return to control 203 which had been visited on the first map. From here there was a sequence of short fast legs around the fort. No doubt many opted to use the infamous tunnels on some of these legs. Careful ducking was required to ensure sufficient clearance when venturing through these novel features. The planner had one last surprise in store for competitors as they enjoyed the fast descent from control 17 at the fort to control 18 the depression above the beach.Having reached the depression competitors had to then climb back up the hill to control 19 before one final climb up and over the hill to the final control. Despite all the grueling climbs both courses provided competitors with some spectacular views of Charlesfort, Kinsale harbour and the Bandon river for those who took the time to appreciate them.
If you found the terrain tough going on Tuesday night then perhaps you might consider signing up for the CorkO Winter Strength and Conditioning Class which kicks off on Monday September 24th at Fitnessworx. No doubt after 12 weeks of training you'll have the strength to tackle any steep terrain. You can sign up by dropping Danny an email at dannyohare (at) gmail (dot) com to reserve a placeSimilar to last week Dan McDonnell and Darragh Hoare ran hard and pushed each other as they battled it out for the event winner honour and it was Dan who claimed the bragging rights aain this week. The steep slopes didn't seem to slow him down as he completed the 3.5km course with it's 170m of climb in a time of 24:10. Darragh had to settle for the runner up spot when he finished in a time of 25:16. Third place on the night went to John Scannell who punched the finish in a time of 27:43.The fastest lady to traverse the terrain at James Fort on Tuesday night was Aoife O'Sullivan. She made light work of the hilly terrain and completed the 3.5km course in a time of 33:27. Runner up on the night was Deirdre Ni Challanain she punched all 20 controls in a time of 36:14. Third place went to Elaine Sheridan who punched the finish in a time of 37:44.This weeks 1.5km Short Course was super competitive and there was a mere 6 seconds between the top two orienteers at the finish line. It was Ciara Ryan who took the event winner title when she finished in a time of 14:52. Hot on Ciara's heels was Tessa Kingston who punched the finish 6 seconds later to take the runner up honor on the night. The final podium place went to Chiara Bosonnet who punched all 11 controls in a time of 16:40.
Will done to all who participated. Full individual results with split times and route gadget for those willing to share their routes is available at the following link:
http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=moreResult&id=21855
Huge thanks this week to Conrad Daly for planning the physically demanding courses! Thanks again to David O'Donovan for taking care of starts and to all those who assisted with control collection, Zac Harringthon, Dan McDonnell, John Spelman, Aaron Coughlan and Cian Horgan.
Next week we’ll be visiting the Regional Park Ballincollig for the third event in the league. This park was once home to a major gunpowder works but has now become a very popular public amenity. Check out the link below for a map and some area trivia.
www.corko.net/calendar/ballincollig-regional-park