The DUO event at the Pine Forest, Oct 22nd, has been CANCELLED
The 2001/02 Leinster League has now got under way. There have been 2 events so far, at Trooperstown and at Raven's Rock. In spite of the recent Indian summer weather, the rain seems to have saved itself for Sundays. The forest at Trooperstown is suffering from rampant growth of brambles. The courses at Raven's Rock were mostly across the open bog on the top of the mountain. The heather is fairly high there and the going was slow.
The Munster Championships and the rescheduled Connaught Championships take place in November, on the 11th and 25th, respectively. The Munster Championships is at Clonmore, near Cahir, probably in the Galtees. It's about a 3-hour drive from Dublin so it should be possible to travel down and back on the same day. There are many nice forests in the area that have been used in the past. Rossadrehid was used for an Irish Championships in 1991, and Ballydrehid and Glengarra have also been used for major events. See the Cork-O web site for entry forms. The Connaught Championships is in Baunreagh in the Slieve Bloom Mountains ( Yes, that is in Co. Laois, in Leinster, but I guess it's beyond the Pale. ) This is a large mostly mature forest, that was used for last year's Irish Championships.
Results from Newbridge House are here. Thanks to Tommy Burke, Rob Flanagan, and John Rowe for planning and organizing, and Jean, Bernie, Alex, Fearghal, and Ciara for helping out on the day.
At the Irish / Leinster championships last Sunday Fingal had a 1-2-3 in the W12 class, with Helena Jones 1st, Erika Jones 2nd, and Meghan O'Driscoll 3rd. Otherwise there were no other prizes for club members. Many club members who were entered for the original event did not make it, including our most consistent prize-winner, Jean O'Neill. The event itself was very good. It was a strange feeling to do an orienteering course in Ireland almost completely in white runable forest.
The list of events for this season is almost complete. See the event list page for the full list.
Val, Helena, and Erika Jones had an enjoyable trip to the Scottish 6-Day Event. The event center was in Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis. The Orienteering areas were more like Irish open terrain, such as the Loo Bridge area in Kerry, than the more typical Scottish wooded areas, and very wet and boggy. The weather wasn't great, showery most days, but it could have been a lot worse. The girls found the W12A courses a big step up from the typical Orange level courses they do at home - very few paths to follow. Nevertheless they managed to complete each day. The W45A courses were very long and tough - nearly 8 Kms each day. The organization was very efficient - electronic punching and split times for everyone at the finish. The numbers were probably down due to the foot-and-mouth. There were very few Irish there, apart from contingents from LVO and NWO.
Reeta Kolkala, one of the top Finish orienteers.
At the World championships in Finland John Feehan qualified for both Classic and Short finals. The Irish Mens team came 20th in the Relays.
For last year's Leinster League we hear that the prizes will be awarded based on the events that were actually ran. However the number of events to actually count has not been announced so we don't know yet who the prize-winners will be.
The current Orienteering season completed with the Squad fundraising event in St. Anne's Park, on Sunday, 24th June. Deirdre O'Neill had done the initial work but the main planning and organizing was done by Rory Wallace, of Ajax, with assistance from Jean Mullen and Val Jones. Apart from the Rogaine for the die hards there are no more events scheduled until September. The Autumn program hasn't been finalized yet, but it's expected to include rescheduled Leinster and Connaught Champs as well as Munster and N.I. Champs. During the summer there are plenty of major events abroad, and some club members will be travelling to the Scottish 6-day event.
On the Hill running side the evening hill runs continue on Wedensdays until the end of July. The annual Hill Run took place on Howth Summit on Wedensday, 20th June. The course was set out and marked by Doug Corrie, with assistance from Gerry Smyth. Other Fingallians taking part, on a glorious evening, were Ray Linn, Deirdre O'Neill, and Val Jones. There were many Orienteers competing, and the race was won by Aonghus O'Cléirigh. It's a great way to keep fit during the summer so check out the IMRA site for details. ( and don't worry, everyone doesn't run up all the hills. )
The last club meeting of the season was held on Thursday, 31st May, as usual in the bar at the Ashbourne House Hotel. There was a proposal that we would run the Irish Championships Relays next year in Avondale, in conjunction with the Irish Individual Championships at Scarr. However we decided we would not take it on because of lack of experience and manpower in the club and the distance involved. For next season we propose to run 3 events, an event in Newbridge House in the Autumn, a Night event in St. Anne's in January, and a league event in Dún A Rí in the Spring.
Deirdre O'Neill has been flying the Fingal flag on the International stage. Last week she was part of the Irish team competing in the Park World Tour Champions Week, at Pardubice in the Czech Republic. ( photo from last year courtesy of Martin Flynn. )