Summer League #9: Glenbower Wood Tuesday July 7th Results and Report

Post date: Jul 09, 2015 9:37:31 AM

Glenbower Wood in Killeagh was the destination for the ninth and penultimate competitive event in the CorkO Summer League. The dismal rain which descended for much of the day on Monday was more indicative of a winter’s day rather than a summer one. Thankfully, conditions greatly improved on Tuesday and the 86 orienteers that travelled to Glenbower Wood got to enjoy a pleasant evening in a really charming woodland setting. We were especially delighted to welcome some of our neighbouring orienteers from Waterford who journey to the event. Some of the local residents also took up the orienteering challenge on the night and it was fantastic to see so many eager young runners in action in the wood. The local community in Killeagh really appreciate the fabulous woodland amenity that they have and they have done trojan work developing the wood and opening up new paths. These paths have created some interesting trails which help make the wood even more accessible to all. In the run up to this event two of our club members were busy re-surveying this area. They made extensive map updates for the event which gave us access to areas which haven’t been used for orienteering in over twenty years. So, huge thanks go to Jim O’Donovan and Bobby O’Connor for this work and for allowing competitors to sample new and varied terrain. The Short and Long courses commenced in opposite directions on the night which may have confused some starters. The Short course which encompassed a lovely clockwise loop around the Dissour River began in a northerly direction while the Long course commenced in a southerly direction. The first leg on the Long course took competitors back along the road leading into the wood to a control site near the playground. From here competitors entered the narrow stretch of forest run which was adjacent to this road. The graceful sounds of the Dissour river could be heard throughout the early sections of each course. Both courses also took competitors over the shaky bridge and under the more structurally sound metal bridge. Eagle eyed orienteers might have spotted the small fairy village in the vicinity of the shaky bridge. There were lots of tiny little enchanting doorways at the base of the trees in this area. The courses had several long legs which provided opportunities for some fast running along the glorious trails throughout the woods. Having passed under the metal bridge the Long course competitors entered a rhododendron tunnel which led to control 11 and 12. From controls 12 through 16 competitors had plenty of route options with an intricate network of trails through the vegetation in this area and pockets of forest run to choose from. According to local folklore control 13 on the Long course at the boulder was in fact positioned beside a Holy Well and mass rock. The well is known as Fainin's Well and is a Bullaun stone were rainwater collects in its hollow and it is known to have curative properties. In their haste to complete the course I’m not sure too many orienteers had time to request some cures from this well. The mass rock next to it is a sub-rectangular stone with a rectangular socket which was used to place a wooden cross. It seems the final two controls on the Long course escaped some competitors notice and they completely skipped over them and went from 17 straight to the finish. Perhaps the format in which the control descriptions were printed on the map causes this confusion. Our health and safety advisor might have taken issue with the location of control 18 on the long course, at the foot of a crag above an even larger crag. A certain amount of scrambling was required to get to this control site and some very careful foot work was required on exit! Thankfully all survived this climbing adventure. Now down to the important business of the results and who coped well under pressure and managed to improve their placing in the overall league results. On the Long course it was Donal Murphy who led the way and achieved his first event win in the 2015 Summer League. He completed the course in a time of 29:40 which gave him a very convincing win with over four minutes to spare over his nearest challenger. This win will surely improve his overall league total. The runner up honour on the night went to Emer Perkins who punches all 19 controls in a time of 33:47. This impressive run by Emer also gave her the honour of being the fastest lady on the night. Despite some errors in the early part of the course Agris Kramins narrowly missed out on the runner up spot. He was just 21 seconds behind Emer and finished in a time of 34:08. I think he even surprised himself with this result perhaps others squandered valuable seconds out there too.

Niamh Corbett is away this week on international duty. She is representing team Ireland at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in Rauland, Norway. She’s already had some great runs in Norway finishing 60th in the Sprint race, you can follow her progress at www.jwoc2015.orgMeanwhile, back in Glenbower Wood on Tuesday night her absence provided another opportunity for the other ladies in the field to attempt to improve their overall league standing. As mentioned already Emer Perkins had a superb run which saw her finish runner up on the night and also take the title of the fastest lady around Glenbower Wood. Another lady who had an excellent run on Tuesday was Eibhlin Cleary she completed the Long course in a time of 37:52. This gave her the runner-up honour in the ladies results but also saw her placed 6th in the overall results on the night. The final podium spot in the ladies section went to Claire O’Brien who completed the 4.4km course in a time of 39:51. On the Short course despite a long trek from Bandon to Killeagh to attend the event Orlagh O’Sullivan made light work of the 2.3km Short course. She completed it in a time of 18 minutes and 41 seconds and was crowned the Glenbower Wood Short course event winner. Liam Twomey was runner up on the night when he completed the course in a time of 22:59. The final rostrum place went to Finbarr Scannell who punches all 10 controls in a time of 24:31. Well done to all who participated. We apolgoize that some of the SI units were taken by persons unknown, in the hour prior to the event starting. Four SI units were taken in total. This affected 3 controls on the Long course and 3 controls on the Short course, and the results have been amended to reflect this. Full individual results with split times are available here.We also uploaded a few pictures of the wood including Fainin’s Well, the mass rock and the fairy village you can check them out on the Gallery page on our website. Thanks to Mary Curran for planning and organising the event and massive thanks again to Jim O’Donovan and Bobby O’Connor for resurveying the area for the event. Thanks also to Martina Broderick and Alan O’Neill for their assistance with registration and starts and to Shane Doyle and Rob McEvoy for assisting with control collection. The tenth and final competitive event in the CorkO Summer League which will take place next week in Curragh Wood near Midleton. The steep terrain at Curragh will present its own unique challenge to all who partake. For directions and some woodland trivia check out the following link. Remember this will be the final competitive event in the 2015 Summer League so if you have an orienteering nemesis you are trying to overtake in the league table don’t miss your last chance to surpass them. However, if you are still chasing a summer league finishers t-shirt fear not as following the Curragh event there is still one other fun event remaining for you to attend to earn this memento.

Hope you can join us in Curragh Woods.