Summer League #2: Currabinny Wood Tuesday May 19th Results and Report

Post date: May 20, 2015 6:7:28 PM

Well over one hundred enthusiastic orienteers gathered in Currabinny Wood near Ringaskiddy for the second event in the CorkO summer orienteering league. Tuesday evening saw the return of the more traditional Irish summer weather with sunny spells interspersed with scattered showers and a cool breeze. Thankfully, the showers throughout the day didn’t seem to deter competitors and we’d another great turnout. Luckily the tree canopy in the wood did provide some shelter from the showers during the competition.

Once again it was fantastic to see so many families in attendance and taking full advantage of the long bright evening. In fact buggy congestion could have been an issue on some paths! We hope you enjoyed the views and the terrain on offer in Currabinny and didn't find the hills too demanding.This little hillock slopes down to the sea on three sides and several of the control sites on both courses offered glimpses of the surrounding harbours. Some competitors even spotted a large ferry departing the Port of Cork. It is difficult to avoid the hills in this wood and although the 2.3km Short course was buggy friendly the steep path from four to five proved too challenging for some. This area has been associated with giants in the past but some of our younger competitors may have spotted a rather unusual feature at the bottom of the tree at control site 247.  It seems someone has constructed a tiny little fairy door on this tree. The keen eyed orienteer may have spotted some more of these unique doors on their trails. Several of our short course competitors were a little too eager to finish and skipped right passed control 10 before realising the error in their ways.The Long course in Currabinny begun with a fast descent to the first control and any observant participants would have also immediately registered that the course was going to conclude with a steep ascent along the same path. The planner designed the course with lots of route choice and several legs on the Long course cleverly drew participants into the forest to take the shorter direct routes, most notably legs 2-3, 7-8 and 9-10. Given the undergrowth in some of these areas full leg cover would have been advantageous but this didn’t stop some folks who sacrificed a few superficial scratches for precious time over fellow competitors.Throughout the course the section of fast descent were to be savoured as inevitably they were followed by some steep climbs. With 18 controls to be located there was no room for any lapse in concentration on this course and it was especially important to pay attention to the control codes!

The post run refreshments proved a real hit again this week and provided an assembly point for some post run analysis. Furthermore, it would seem that many families were competing amongst themselves for bragging rights on the journey home. So down to the serious business of results and lets find out who best conquered the hills in Currabinny.After a tentative start Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan made light work of the physical terrain in Currabinny Wood and stormed to victory on the Long course. He completed the 4.4km course in twenty seven minutes and forty seven seconds which afforded him a very comfortable lead with almost seven minutes to spare over his nearest challenger. This incredibly fast time secured him back to back event wins in the summer league to date. The contest for the final two podium spots was much tighter and after the demanding and navigationally challenging course a mere 14 seconds separated our second and third place finishers. After narrowly missing out on a podium spot at last Tuesday’s event it was Agris Kramins who took the runners up place in Currabinny having completed the course in a time of 34:45. The final podium honours on the Long course went to Rob McEvoy who punched all 18 controls in a time of 34:59.In the ladies section Niamh Corbett made her 2015 summer league debut in style when she completed the Long course in a time of 41:16 and in the process has the distinction of being crowded the fastest lady in Currabinny. Her impressive running sets a very high standard for the chasing field to pursue. The battle for the runners-up accolade was fierce and only 23 seconds separated the next three course finishers. It was Trishia O’Mahony who finished 2nd on the night finishing in a time of 47:15 just 9 second clear of third place finisher Elaine Sheridan. Both ladies denying Fiona Power a spot on the rostrum.

On the Short course Matthew Kearney continued his winning ways and claimed a second consecutive event win when he finished the 2.3km Short course in a time of 18:50. The hills didn’t seem to slow Matthew on his run.  Second place on the night went to Liam Twomey who finished in a time of 21:24. A great run from Billy Caball one of our M70 competitors saw him claim third place on the night. He punched all ten controls in a time of 22:14.Well done to all who participated. Full individual results and with split times are available here.Thanks to Dermot Gallagher for planning the challenging courses and to Fiona O’Riordan and John Scannell for organising and controlling the event. Thanks to Dave O'Donovan for taking care of starts. Special thanks also to Rob McEvoy, Gerald Duffy and Niamh Murphy for their assistance with various tasks on the night including data entry, refreshment monitoring and control collection.The beautiful and majestic surrounds of Doneraile Park in North Cork will be the location for the third event in our summer evening orienteering series. 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 next week. Further directions and park info can be found here.On a side note one of our competitors at Fota House and Gardens misplaced his SI card the number is: 1401409. So if you happened to find it he would be very grateful if you could let us know.Hope you can join us in Doneraile Park next week.