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Post date: May 28, 2014 11:17:24 AM
This week the Cork Orienteering Club Summer League series descended on Doneraile Park for what was the third event in our ongoing league. We don’t get many opportunities to venture this far North in our summer league but this superb location is definitely well worth the journey. As this is the most northern destination in this year’s league it tends to lure many of our club members now resident in Limerick along to compete. These folks certainly made their presence known in this week’s results.
It was a glorious summer evening and all 106 entrants got to enjoy some challenging and highly competitive orienteering courses in a truly charming setting. Thanks to all our north Cork club members who spread the word about the event and encouraged numerous new families and individuals to come along and try some orienteering. The wonderful playground was a big draw for some of these young competitors following their orienteering adventures. We really appreciate the support and hope you all enjoyed the event.
The evening sun really accentuated the great features of the park from the great house and open pastures to the elegant bridges and tranquil water features. Thankfully, the resident wildlife seemed unperturbed by our presence and the deer herds took no interest in the passing orienteers while a swan swam graceful by as competitors bounded across the bridge overhead.
The first portion of the Long course had participants’ zig-zag between some distinctive trees in a field. The planner may have deviously placed a few extra controls on other distinctive trees in this area to force competitors to read their map and pay attention to their specific control codes. I hope you weren't inadvertently drawn to these additional controls.
The mid section of the Long course was all about route choice. Often the longest route may in fact be the quickest route as some competitors found out when attempting to take shorter routes on legs 6-7 and 8-9. Sticking to the paths here was probably the best option. For a good part of the leg from 11 to 12 the areas adjacent to the path were comprised of blankets of wild garlic. The aroma was quite pungent. Thankfully, the planner didn’t place a control in the midst of these perennials as once bruised they give off a very strong smell which would no doubt linger on ones runners for some time.
The 5.3km Long course offered all who competed plenty of running and as predicted the winning time was close to thirty minutes. Sean Harte took the event win completing the course in a time of 30:34. Second place on the Long course went to Jonathan Lucey who finished in 31:32. Brian Corbett took the final podium spot with a time of 32:38. He narrowly (7 seconds) edged passed John O’Donovan for the honour.
The fastest lady around Doneraile Park on Tuesday evening was Limerick based Sharon Lucey who completed the 13 control course in a time of 39:48. Trishia O’Mahony continues to display her summer league form by achieving yet another podium finish this week. She claimed second place finishing the course in a time of 43:06. The final podium spot went to Deirdre Mannix with a time of 50:27.
The Short course proved very fast and competitive again this week and it was Conor Singleton who took the top spot. He punched all 9 controls in a time of 9:24. Patrick Ring wasn't far behind Conor finishing with a time of 9:42 and took second place in the process. David Hamilton finished third completing the course with a time of 10:38.
Well done to all who competed. Full individual results with split times are available here
A few photos from the event have been posted on the Gallery page of our website.
CorkO would like to extend a big thank you to the Cork Schools Orienteering Association (CSOA) for the use of their map and for staging this event as part of the CorkO Summer League. We very much appreciate the opportunity to visit this fabulous area. Thanks to Liam O’Brien for planning and organising the event. Thanks also to Willie Fitzgerald for taking care of starts and control collection and thanks to Claire O’Brien for looking after data entry and download.
We are very grateful to the OPW for granting us access to the park for this event.
The next location on our Summer League diary is the Regional Park Ballincollig which was once home to a major gunpowder works. The park extends for 2.4km along the south banks of the River Lee. The park has undergone some changes since our last visit and next Tuesday's event will start from the middle car park. This new car park is adjacent to the newly installed allotments. This event will see the return of old style manual punching. Check out the link below for a map and some area trivia.
www.corko.net/calendar/ballincollig-regional-park
Finally, best of luck to all those participating in the Irish Orienteering 3-Day, Cork City Marathon, Carrauntoohil Hill run, Cork Maritime Festival and any other adventure activities this long weekend. Remember the flat parkland terrain in the Regional Park Ballincollig presents an ideal place to loosen out after a strenuous weekend of activities or alternatively a nice workout after a very laid-back long weekend.
Hope to see you there.
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