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Post date: May 15, 2013 6:19:54 PM
The Cork Orienteering Club 2013 Summer League got off to a very successful and fiercely competitive start in Fota House and Gardens last night. Thankfully the erratic summer weather we’ve been experiencing of late didn’t dampen people’s enthusiasm for getting back out orienteering and making the most of the bright evenings.As a result there was a great turnout with 93 entries, several of these being families or groups (Last Giraffe, Team Tuesdays and Chipmonks to name but a few) who opted for safety in numbers and chose to pool their navigational skills to complete the course. The buggy friendly nature of the terrain at Fota certainly seemed to appeal to many families. We really hope you all enjoyed your orienteering experience at Fota and will join us again at some of our other Summer League events. In fact the quotes of the night came from some very young lady participants (<3yrs old) and were “More beeps Daddy” and “Next one, next one”. They looked to be having a great time!The event planner obviously has a very astute eye for detail and architected some very scenic routes through the gardens and one could very easily have been distracted by the colourful and aromatic vegetation not to mention the artistic sculptures such as the “Regeneration Circle”. The Long course took participants down to towards the railway station were they had the pleasure of running through some very beautiful open forest which was had a nice sprinkling of bluebells. Control 10 also provided a vista of the railway bridge connecting Harper Island to Fota Island.All those who elected not to avail of the map bags at the start may have regretted it when they got caught in one of the fleeting down pours on the night. A small element of map memory may have been required. The courses also included a few mandatory crossing points…..I’m guessing some split analysis would reveal if anyone breached these.
So who has merited the first event win and claimed an early lead in the 2013 league results table? Things were very close on the Long course with just over a minute and a half separating the top three finishers. It was Donal Murphy who took the honours on the night with a winning time of 28:09. Brian Corbett (pictured opposite) was runner up completing the course in a time of 29:06 and the final podium place went to Aidan Kelleher who was just 29 seconds behind Brian.Two thirds of the Irish Orienteering Championships winning ladies Relay team were in action in Fota last night and they further demonstrated their class by taking the top two positions. Niamh Corbett was first with an impressive time of 33:37 and she just missed out on an overall top ten finish. Ailbhe Creedon was second fastest on the night finishing with a time of 37:35. Trishia O’Mahony took third place in a time of 41:16.We’d just like to congratulate several of last year’s short course participants who have advanced to the Long course. We hope they enjoyed the extra distance and increased navigational challenge the Long course presented. It is sure to improve their orienteering ability.The Short course got off to an equally competitive start as three young orienteering aficionados set a frantic pace on the night. Joe Bosonnet's (top pic) orienteering speed give him the first Short course event win of the league completing the course in a time of just 11:48. There was a bit of sibling rivalry for second and third spots and Aoife O’Sullivan took the runner-up position with a time of 14:10, she finished just ahead of her brother Oisin O’Sullivan who completed the course in a time of 16:28.
Well done to all who participated. Full individual results with splits are available here.If you would like to see some of the action from the night there are some photos from the event in the Gallery section of our website.A very big THANK YOU must go to Oisin Creagh who planned the event. This was Oisin’s first time planning a Summer League event and I think everyone would agree he did a fantastic job and planned great courses. The only problem on the night arose when Oisin tried to leave and his car wouldn’t start, luckily someone came to his rescue with some jump leads.Thanks also to Gerald Duffy for controlling the event, Dave O’Donovan for taking care of starts and Danny O’Hare who was our meet and greet representative on the night. Danny was kept busy explaining the procedure and map to several beginners. However he did slip up a little on his own run, it is important to get all the controls in the correct order! Finally thanks also to Rob McEvoy for assisting with control collection.Next week sees the Summer League move on to Currabinny Wood near Ringaskiddy. Legend has it that the wood’s name commemorates a giant, Binne whose burial chamber surmounts the hill (‘Corra’) to this day. Watch out for it on your run next week. Further trivia and directions can be found here.
Hope to see you there,
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