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Post date: May 29, 2013 11:42:14 PM
Doneraile Park was the destination for the third event in the Cork Orienteering Club Summer League and what a fantastic location it proved to be. This was the first time our Summer League series ventured this far North and although it may have been a long journey for some especially those who travelled from as far afield as Clonakilty and Kerry I think all would agree it was well worth it.
We received a great welcome in Doneraile and there was almost a festival like atmosphere at the event with a tent, bunting and lots of informative signs to assist beginners. The organisers did a great job at promoting the event locally and there was another big entry again this week with over 100 participants.
All in attendance got to enjoy another glorious summers evening in a very tranquil setting with lovely courses which embraced so many of the great features on offer in the park. The wonderful playground was a big draw for some of the younger competitors following their orienteering adventures and the area also proved an ideal picnic location.
The planner made great use of the areas of fast forest run and the early part of the long course took competitors across some lovely ground. The route from control 5 to 6 on the Long course led orienteers along a track that divided two deer enclosures. Thankfully the deer seemed indifferent to the presence of so many runners on their home turf. This type of track running affords serious competitors an opportunity to study the map and look ahead to see what the rest of the course entails. However the more leisurely orienteers many have just decided to savour the beauty of their surrounds and at the same time would have spotted fellow competitors away in the distance striding passed the front of Doneraile House and realised where the latter part of the course was going. Form the post run discussions it seems control 11 and 18 proved costly for some as they were well camouflaged into their environs.
Last week the bluebell suffered at the expensive of our orienteering escapades and this week sadly more encountered a similar fate. However it was the very aromatic wild garlic in the vicinity of control 17 which paid the biggest price from our presence in the park. I'm sure the distinctive tracks through this blanket of wild garlic in the forest aided some in getting to control 17! It certainly was a nice change to go home with ones runners smelling of wild garlic rather than rotten bog water!
One of CorkO’s elite Darren Burke came all the way from Kerry to attend the event in Doneraile and his journey wasn’t wasted as he claimed first place on the Long course with a time of 24:33. Darren has just been selected as part of the Irish Orienteering team who will be travelling to this year’s World Orienteering Championships (WOC) which are taking place in Finland in July. Darren will be competing against the best in the world in both the Sprint and Middle distance events. There was a bit of family rivalry for the final two podium spots on the Long course with Brian Corbett just edging out his son Cillin to claim second place with a time of 26:55. Cillin Corbett finished third in a time of 28:38
The Corbett family continued to display their orienteering prowess in the Ladies section with Niamh Corbett taking first place with a very impressive winning time of 31:04. This time left Niamh tied with Danny O’Hare for 6th place in the overall Long course results on the night. CorkO member Niamh has just been named on the Irish Junior Squad team that will be travelling to the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) which are taking place in the Czech Republic at the end of June. The second fastest lady in Doneraile was Trishia O’Mahony who finished in a time of 39:40. Christine O’Donovan with a time of 41:23 took the final podium spot.
The ferocious competition on the Short course continued again this week with some incredibly fast times. In fact there was just 13 seconds differentiating the top three finishers. It was David Hamillton who claimed first place with a time of 11:03 and had only 8 seconds to spare over second place finisher Billy Hedigan. Billy finished in a time of 11:11 and he had just a 5 second lead over third place finisher Joe Bosonnet 11:16
Well done to all who partook on the night I hope you enjoyed the visit to this splendid area. Full individual results with splits are available here.
Incidentally Jonathan Lucey had the fastest split to the finish control with a time of 17 seconds his finishing kick wasn't hindered by the slight incline.
If you missed this fantastic event just to tease you a bit more there are a few photos (not too many as I didn’t want to get locked in!) from Tuesday on the Gallery page of our website.
This week we extend our thanks to the CorkO “North Cork crew” who staged a tremendous event. It was a great team effort by the Power and Callanan families. Thanks to Denis Power for planning the courses, John Power for controlling and Jim Callanan for organising the event. Thanks also to Lois Power and Siomha Callanan for taking care of registration, data entry and download.
Thanks again to Dave O’Donovan for taking care of starts, he got to enjoy the luxury of a canopy this week. Finally thanks also to Rob McEvoy for assisting with control collection
The next location on our Summer League diary is The Regional Park Ballincollig. This event will see the return of old style manual punching. Check out the following link for a map and some area trivia.
Best of luck to all those participating in the Shamrock O-Ringen, Cork City Marathon, Carrauntoohil Hill run, Cork Maritime Festival and any other adventure activities this 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. It should literally be a stroll in the park with minimal navigational challenge compared to Shamrock O-Ringen terrain!
Hope to see you there,
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