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Post date: May 16, 2019 5:20:45 PM
The 2019 CorkO Summer League got off to a cracking start on Tuesday night in Fota House and Gardens. The sun shone brightly on the night and over 100 enthusiastic orienteers turned up to begin their summer league campaign.We were delighted to see so many familiar faces returning for another season of summer orienteering. We were also thrilled to welcome some new individuals and families to the summer league and to the sport of orienteering. A large group from the Fermoy Scouts were also present to test their navigational skills. There was certainly a taste of summer in the air on Tuesday night and I hope you all enjoyed your orienteering adventure around these stunning surrounds.The planner confined the Short course to the area around Fota House and Gardens. The Long course took competitors to all areas of the map. The planner had a little fun with the first control and decided to test competitors map reading ability. This control was located on a distinctive tree in the open. As there were a number of distinctive trees in this area the planner placed some decoy kites on some of these trees too. While some participants ended up visiting a number of these distinctive trees before finding the correct one with the SI unit others passed this early test with flying colours. From here there was a long run towards the runnable forest at the railway end of the park punching one control en route. Competitors enjoyed a few fast legs in this tricky forest area before returning back toward the main house.Long course entrants got to enjoy a lovely loop around these fabulous gardens and visited many of the interesting structures located in these gardens in the process. From water pumps to carved seats and charming gazebos there were lots of interesting control sites to take in. The tremendous colours and delightful aromas may have distracted some as they whizzed around the gardensThe final leg from control 18 to the finish offered some interesting route choice. Some elected to take the shortest and most direct route and splashed their way through the marsh area. Others avoided the marsh by keeping north of it and some returned through the path network in the gardens. There were two uncrossable fences on one of these paths which required diverting around which made this route a little longer than the others.
The 2019 Summer League got off to a very competitive start with less than a minute between the podium finishers on the Long course. Andrew Turner proved the fastest on the night when he completed the 4.2km course in a time of 24:30 and took the event winner honour. There was just one second differentiating the next two finishers and Joe Bosonnet took the bragging rights when he punched the finish in a time of 25:25 just ahead of third place finisher Dan McDonnell.The fastest lady around Fota House and Gardens on Tuesday night was Aoife O’Sullivan she punched all 18 controls in a super time of 29:43 and had a comfortable winning margin over second place finisher Sharon Lucey. Sharon completed the course in a time of 33:01. The final podium spot went to Caroline Murray who was hot on Sharon's heels and finished in a time of 33:36.On the 2.4km Short course things were equally as competitive as the Long. Ciara Fitzgerald was the fastest on the night and finished in a time of 18:08. All the orienteering practise by the Fermoy Scouts is showing in their results. Their speed and navigation skills continues to improve and the aptly named team of Fermoy Scouts – Wolves & Cheetahs 2 finished in second place having punched all controls in a time of 20:16. Chasing them around the course were joint third place finishers Fermoy Scouts – Wolves & Cheetahs 1 and Sean Bosonnet 20:20.Well done to all who participated on the night. Full individual results with split times are available at the following link:http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=moreResult&id=22041Huge thanks to Conrad Daly for planning and organising the event and getting the league off to a great start. Thanks also to Rob McEvoy for controlling the event and to Dave O’Donovan for not only taking care of start but also ensuring the maps made it to Fota on time after the printers made an error with our print order. Thanks too to Gerald Duffy and Elaine Sheridan for assisting with control collection.
Thanks as always to the OPW and Fota House and Gardens for granting us access to this fantastic location.
World Orienteering Week runs from May 15th to May 21st and next Tuesday night we will be celebrating World Orienteering Day in the beautiful and majestic surrounds of Doneraile Forest Park. This park with its resident deer herds has an extensive network of paths, fine meadows and some unique water features. No doubt our north Cork crew will have some interesting and challenging courses in store for us all. Further directions and park info can be found here:
www.corko.net/doneraile-forest-park
You can also find out more about the World Orienteering Day initiative at
https://worldorienteeringday.com/
Hope you can join us on our northern adventure.
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