Waterford Orienteers

Slievecoiltia

2012-01-15T22:52:00.000Z

Over 60 took part in the SE league event today at Slievecoiltia overlooking Kennedy Arboretum. Full results can be found here.

Planners note: control 209 was marked too far to the west on the map. Some corrections will be made to this area before use the next time. Control 205 was possibly marked a little too far west. The track is marked as indistinct and veers rather more to the west than is shown on the map. Hopefully these two small errors did not spoil your enjoyment. Thank you for your patience.

Forthcoming events

2012-01-05T21:44:00.000Z

Please note that the event on January 15th is at Slievecoiltia (Kennedy Park) not Carrickbyrne. This will now take place on February 5th. Take signs for Kennedy Arboretum from New Ross. Take road to the left close to the main gate of the Arboretum. Follow this road up to the top of the hill where the start takes place. Avoid running any competitors down on the way up please.

Check out the details of the hill on Mountain Views.

The SE Secondary schools event will take place at Faithlegg woods on 19th January instead of 26th to facilitate the East Munster schools cross country event. The Primary schools is on February 8th at the same venue. More details on the IOSG blog...www.irishschoolso.blogspot.com

Ballyconnery results

2011-12-11T19:40:00.000Z

Check out the results here. Apologies to anyone who followed the Google map directions on the IOA website and ended up south of Cappoquin. Plans to run light green if there is enough demand as the green is proving too long and/or too challenging for some of the punters.

It's a dogs life...they expect me to chase around the forest all day looking for these silly orange and white things and then what do I get...a bowl of water!

What another loop?...Norman at the spectator control...remember you are running age 19 again

so a brown dotted line on the map is a gully

Big thanks to Jana who did trojan work on computer and registration.

Munster League at Glengarra wood

2011-11-20T22:54:00.000Z

Well done to club members who finished well in the Munster League event run by CorkO today: Gints Plaudis 3rd on the Brown course; Hilary Collins 3rd on the Orange course; Thomas Callery 3rd on the Green course; and especially to Andrew Pim 1st on the Blue course.

Yours truly at the Veterans Home International

2011-11-18T23:35:00.001Z

The VHI this year was held in Deeside, Scotland, 8-9th October. The individual race was at Birsemore Hill and the Relays at Coull. A most enjoyable experience despite one biggish error on the Individual.

Jenkinstown 13/11/11

2011-11-10T00:24:00.002Z

The results for the event held at Jenkinstown are now posted on the IOA website.

Getting instruction at the start

More below

A strange finish

Made it to the end

Family rivalry

Whats my result? I know more than you Daddy!

Munster Champs

2011-10-27T13:26:00.000+01:00

Please check out the details for the Munster Club Championships at Coumshingaun on Sunday October 30th and the SE relays at Kennedy Park on Monday October 31st.
There is a separate blog for these two events.
www.munsterorienteeringchamps2011.blogspot.com

If you are already entered check your start time. If you are interested in making or joining one of the WATO relay teams for Monday, please ring me as soon as possible on 087-2229677. All ages and levels required.

Tower Hill results

2011-10-19T14:58:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to Con Murphy and Nigel Pim for organising the event at Tower Hill. Full results can be found at the IOA website. Apologies regarding the use of an older version of the map. There was a break down in the systems. I basically forgot to hit send with the draft course maps to the printer and they remained in drafts!
I received frantic calls in Scotland at the VHI but was unable to solve the problem from Ballater in Deeside.

RSC and Tramore results

2011-09-27T19:05:00.003+01:00

Almost 200 people took part in events over the weekend. It all kicked off with Family fun day at the RSC organised by Waterford Sports Partnership on Saturday. A big thank you to Jana who manned the computer.

Winners of the Long Course 1 were the Dee family. Long 2 was won by Roisin and Ann Walsh with Moya Howlin. Short 1 was won by Rita O'Brien with Cadhla, Cathal, Niamh and Oisin close behind. Short 2 was won by Niamh Phelan with Alice Sheridan, Hannah and Aidan in second place. Third place was Liz and Jenny O'Connor. More below...

On Sunday, it was the Tramore Surf and Sea festival where competitors were almost blown away by the wind and the rain.
Blue Course was won by Gints Plaudis from Paul Smyth (Ajax) and Shane Doyle.
Green course was won in impressive style by Jonathan Pim from Willie Fitzgerald (Cork O), Jonathan Tighe and Norman Storey.
Red course was won by Robert Pim and Isaac Burns from Pat O'Connor, Denise O'Connor and Emily Hartley.
Yellow course was won by Odhran O'Donnell from Eimear O'Donnell, Kyle and Louis Sullivan and Sean Malone. For full results, click here.

New season in the southeast

2011-09-16T22:21:00.001+01:00

The season is off and running.
Results from the Kennedy Park event held as part of Heritage week at the end of August can be found here.
The results for the event held on the new map of Woodstock can be found here .

New season

2011-08-11T13:25:00.001+01:00

Shake off the cobwebs, bring out the runners and visit Kennedy Park for a spot of Cunning Running.
As part of Heritage week, there will be an orienteering event on Sunday 28th August with start times between 11 and 1. Range of courses on offer to suit all ages and standards.
Follow standard signs for Kennedy park from New Ross.

Return to Austria

2011-07-26T22:11:00.001+01:00

Laura and myself returned to Austria for another bout of 6 day orienteering. Laura found herself running longer courses than me for the first time as she has just entered W20 whilst I have slipped out to M55.

Laura seen here finishing the last day, over 6 km, glad to return to cultural visits in Vienna!.

My best performance was on the medium distance on day 3...an old army base (we are used to these in Ireland..think Curragh, Kilworth, Magilligan, Finner,etc). Managed 14th out of 42 finishers. I was delighted to beat 2 who made the A sprint final at WMOC in Hungary.

Given that 5 of the top 10 overall were in the A final long distance at WMOC and the winner is a 5 day time cross country ski world champion, add in the top Austrians who were not at WMOC, I was happy to complete the competition in 23rd place. The biggest challenge was the variety of scales used. Day 1 started with a 1:7,500 and then switched to a 1; 4,000 half way through...confusing one to begin the competition with! They seemed to be big into 1;7,500 on massive A3 sheets which can be confusing due to the number of times you have to refold the map.

yours truly on day 3

intricate contour detail!

Kennedy Park Results

2011-06-18T18:46:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Robert Pim for planning a successful Red Course and to Laura for help on upload. Full results for both Scatter courses and the red course are available on the Wato blog and the IOA website.

Waterford Adventure Race

2011-06-06T23:18:00.003+01:00

Club members John Casey (10th on the elite out of 66) , Elaine Mullane (3rd on sporty female), Nuala Callery (2nd on sporty female) and Brigid Coffey (12th on the womens elite) took part in the 2nd Waterford Adventure Race which included a run from Mellarey down through Glenshelane woods, bike ride up to the Vee, run up the hill at the Vee, bike back to Lismore, kayak along the river Blackwater to Cappoquin, run back to Lismore, and then back on the bike to the finish to Melleray.
They feature on Nationwide for Friday 3rd June...check out RTE player. Click here.

Successful Shamrock O Ringen

2011-06-06T20:33:00.006+01:00

Club members travelled to Kilcrohan and the Sheeps Head Peninsula for 3 days of that special form of orienteering only found in west Cork. Not a tree or path in sight...rocks and crags litter the landscape.

Brid Casey was winner in the W21 short class whilst Robert Pim (M14), Thomas Callery (M40s), Andrew Cox (M55) and Sue Pim (W65) were all second on their courses. Well done to all concerned.

Tramore results

2011-05-08T21:35:00.003+01:00

A windy sunny Tramore was the venue for the final SE and Munster League event.
Thanks to John Casey (planner, controls out), Thomas Callery (controls out), Andrew Pim (Start, controls in), Liisa Honkasaari (registration, controls in) and Andrew Cox (controls in).
Results can be found here.

Where did the Easter bunny go?

2011-05-05T19:47:00.005+01:00

The Pim and Cox families headed north to the JK 2011. Day 1 was the sprint in Stranmillis College. Fast and furious, not to everybodies liking, 25 controls in 2 km. I was happy with my run, 27th out of 101 entrants on M55 despite 2 one minute errors.
Day 2 was at Tyrella in the sand dunes where Robert Pim was best in 2nd place on M14B. Laura Cox was 4th on W20L. Day 2 was on Slieve Croob where Andrew Pim finished a creditable 35th out of 106.

It was left to the Cox family to fly the Wato banner at the Irish Champs held in the Wicklow mountains. Day 1 was the middle distance on the peat hags of Glendoo. Laura won the W20, Angela was 2nd in her class, Jana was 5th in W21s and Andrew was 8th out of 27 entrants on M55. Day 2 was the classic distance at Brockagh where I managed to be 2nd Irish finisher home, 7th overall behind some good GB runners. Laura won W20 again to be Irish Champion.

On the Saturday evening, there was a chance to try Mini O...highly complicated, loads of controls, instant decision making...look at the pictures!

Ballyconnery results

2011-04-01T19:47:00.004+01:00

Full results can be found by following the link on the results section.

Fog to sun

2011-03-27T22:51:00.002+01:00

After a foggy clod start, the day turned into glorious wam sunshine. Whilst there were few on the Blue course, the Red was very heavily subscribed. just under 100 people took part. Full results are uploaded here. Apologies for having to manually putting the finish time as the Finish control died. RIP! Thanks to Angela, Jana and Ian for their help in running the event today. For those interested in what it costs to run an event...we start each event with the Coillte licence (€40), the IOA registration fee (€35), printing the maps, plastic bags, petrol expenses when the map needs to be updated and planning the courses, putting out the controls and costs on the day. Any surplus goes to replacing equipment and further mapping.

Tower Hill results

2011-03-13T20:29:00.001Z

Thnaks to Pat, Con and Hugh for running todays event. Results are uploaded to the IOA website...click here.

South East league Standings

2011-02-12T21:23:00.003Z

For those interested in the SE league standings up to 12/02/11, click here.
Some adjustment will be needed in the end with red and orange courses as we do not always use the same nomenclature.
Results from Kilbunny here

Faithlegg recapture Primary schools shield

2011-02-09T17:44:00.003Z

Thank you to members of Waterford Orienteering Club (Hugh and Liz Dobbs, Andrew Pim, Pat and Veronica Purcell, Jana Cox) and Form 5 pupils from Newtown school (Izzie, Nichola and Anna) for running todays event at the RSC.
280 Primary pupils took part from 9 schools. Full results here.
Pictorial coverage in the Munster Express, Sports section.
Overall winners were Faithlegg National School (92.23) who recaptured the mixed shield from last year's winners Butlerstown (98.15)
Waterpark (42.55) were clear winners in the 5th class Primary Boys section from Christchurch (62.07) and Faithlegg (73.17). James Bond and Joseph Ryan (Waterpark, 1st), Gary Healy and Dean O'Mahoney (Waterpark, 2nd) and Craig Johnson and Harry Jephson (Christchurch 3rd).

Faithlegg (37.20) narrowly won the 6th class Boys from Butlerstown (2nd, 38.27) and Dunhill (3rd, 61.10). Leading pair were Robert Pim and Conor Quinn from Dunhill whilst Sean Darcy and Joe Monaghan (Faithlegg) were 2nd and Bill Lacey and Tom Costello (Butlerstown) were 3rd.

St John of Gods were clear winners in both the 5th and 6th class sections.
In 5th class, Danielle Leonard and Ciara Silby (1st), Hazel Purcell and Maya Howlin (2nd) and Hannah Jacob and Casey Cullinane (3rd) gave JOG a clean sweep. Waterpark (2nd, 62.26), Christchurch (3rd, 83.53) and Faithlegg (4th, 85.03) were the team placings.

In 6th class, Lorna Aylward and Maeve Bolger (1st, JOG), Kate Maguire and Eleanor Walsh (2nd, JOG) and Niamh Walsh and Alice Hutchinson (3rd, Mercy) were the individual placings).
St John of Gods (1st, 31,53), Mercy (2nd, 42.14), Christchurch (3rd, 51.48), Faithlegg (4th, 55.03), Butlerstown (5th, 59.48)

Bad luck to the pair from Mercy Primary who had an exceptionally fast time but failed to punch one of the controls properly.

Happy New Year

2010-12-29T18:39:00.006Z

Happy New Year to one and all.

The highlight of the year has to be the JK event to be held for the first time in Northern Ireland. For seasoned orienteers and novices alike it is a chance to try a large scale event for the first time. Check out the website here. The brochure (which features our own Neil Dobbs) can be downloaded in pdf format here.
Anyone interested in purchasing a club top from Trimtex should email me to let me know if they are interested. I will post cost and other details shortly.

Orienteering challenge

2010-12-16T19:45:00.001Z

Click here to see a 6 minute clip from the Breakfast Challenge with Chris Evans...guess what it's Orienteering!

Greenane results

2010-11-19T18:51:00.003Z

The results from the event held at Greenane wood, Colligan, Dungarvan on 21st November are uploaded here.

Thanks to Con Murphy for helping on the start, Contols out and some pix. Thanks to Angela Cox for Registration.

Mahon Falls event

2010-11-03T23:33:00.003Z

Full results are posted in the results section. Thank you to Pat O'Connor (Planner/Controls out), Norman Storey (Start/controls out), Elizabeth Storey (Registration), Hugh Dobbs (Start), Andrew Pim (controls in), Liisa Honkasaari (Controls in), Laura Cox (Download)

Results have been manually uploaded to incorporate adjustments for controls 201 and 207.

Tower Hill results

2010-10-18T18:44:00.002+01:00

The results of the SE League event held at Tower Hill, Portlaw on Sunday 10th October can be found on the IOA website. Thanks to Con Murphy for his help putting out controls and starting on the day. The next event will be held at Davmore, Mahon Falls on November 7th.

Tramore results

2010-09-26T18:26:00.006+01:00

Thanks to Andrew and Liisa for putting on the event in Tramore. Full results can be found at the IOA website. Apologies to the last few runners as I pulled in control 12 by mistake too early but it did not affect the times.

Easter 2011

2010-09-23T20:33:00.003+01:00

The Jan Kjellstrom International Festival takes place In the North between 22nd and 25th April, 2011. One of our club members is splashed across the front cover!!! Download the programme in pdf format

2010-09-16T14:41:00.002+01:00

Any orienteers suffer from insomnia?

JFK results

2010-08-29T14:32:00.006+01:00

Results from the Non League, Come and Try it event held at Kennedy park as part of Heritage Week can be found on the IOA website. Apologies to those who are interested in their splits as there seems to be some problem uploading these without errors. Will work on ironing out the problem.
Thank you to Angela and Jana for their help in running the event.
The next event will be the schools event at JFK on 21st September. If anyone is able to lend a hand, I would be delighted to hear from you. The next club event will be in Tramore on 26th September.

Change of Direction in Sport

2010-08-22T12:13:00.002+01:00

If you missed the Health Supplement on Tuesday in the Irish Times...here is the link

WMOC 2010

2010-08-19T16:51:00.008+01:00

No pre-qualification....it is your chance to participate in a World event with former elites and regular club orienteers from all over the world. I went to Switzerland with the premise that there is always someone a) worse than you and b) will mispunch or not finish the course on the day.
Any age, shape and size can be seen at the World Masters..ranging from new born babies of 35 yrs old to the grand daddy of them all who is over 95 and still going strong.
In the past couple of years they have brought in sprint qualification. There was not a great demand for it once but now most people compete in the short form of street O. Age classes are divided up into random groups/heats for qualification in La Chaux de Fonds at the heart of watchmaking Switzerland. At M50 (my class) there were 294 sprint competitors divided into groups of around 60. I was in heat 2 which was won by Jorgen Martensson (a former Norwegian elite). Despite a mistake in the middle part of the course I finished the 2.3 km in 18.29 which was enough for 27th place. (25 seconds quicker and I would have finished 20th!) This qualified me for the B final. The photo shows what happens when the Sport Ident system cannot manage the numbers of finishers...fortunately I was an early starter and avoided the queues that built up in the centre of the town.

Despite another error of interpretation near the finish in the final in the old streets of Neuchatel, I had a respectable run 16.08 and finished 49th out of 80. Tiny errors of judgement can cost many places but overall I was delighted with this.
The Long Distance Qualification races were much more challenging. The first day was 7.5 km at Les Breuleux. The many open runnable areas made the times fast if....and only if you did not make it a mistake. Relocation in the early part of the course was tricky. This cost me a wopping 24 minutes on 2 controls. I ended up in 44th out of 53 in my heat.
The second qualification took place at Les Cernets over the shorter distance 5.5km. More queues as they underestimated the time taken to transfer 6000 competitors up to the competition area by bus shuttle.
I had a marginally better run but still too many errors and finished 41st in my heat. Despite this, I ended up in the C Final which was a big improvement on the D Final four years ago in Austria.
After a rest day, the finals took place at Le Cernil.
This was to be my best run. Started off cautiously and used simple handrails and catching features to spike the first two controls. The 3rd control nearly proved my downfall as I lost 10 minutes in some harmless forest with plenty of tracks. Misread the tracks and had to relocate. From then until the end I had a near perfect run for me and caught up loads of places to finish 29th out of 83 in the C final. Next year I can look forward to moving up to the equally competitive M55 class.

It would be great if there was more Irish and specifically Waterford representation in Hungary next summer of in the Harz mountains in Germany in 2012. There are open events for younger age categories as well up to W18 and then open for other less competitive adults.

Orienteering in the Alps: Tyrol 2010

2010-08-19T15:52:00.016+01:00

After a false start out of Waterford airport when Aer Arann in their infinite wisdom decided the flight was not taking off as they were unable to refuel it, the Cox family trekked off by car to the Italian Dolomites. Evening ferry out of Rosslare to Fishguard, arriving in the middle of the night, cross Britain to the Channel Tunnel. 7.30 a.m. train under the English Channel and arrived in France 35 minutes later. Autoroutes, autobahns and autostrada galore as I drove through the day into NE France, south of Stuutgart in Germany, around Munich and south to Innsbruck in Austria. Getting dusky by this stage as we crossed the Europa bridge and on through the Brenner Pass to Italy. Almost as far as Bolzano before entering the Eggetal where the first three days of the Tyrol 6 day Orienteering event was to be held.The event centre was a small village in the Dolomites called Deutschnofen. The first two days however were held close to the Karersee. A beautiful setting at over 1600 metres and some of the toughest orienteering that I have encountered. The image of the boulder does not tell the whole story...it was like being in the middle of a rock fall and the whole area being covered with dense vegetation...tricky detail!
No wonder they call the map, the Labyrinth.

After 3 days of sweltering heat on the Italian side of the border, we headed north to Innsbruck and the Wipptal.
The rest day featured an evening sprint race in Fulmes
at the end of the famous valley which has the Stubai Glacier at the upper end.

Days 4 and 5 involved getting a chairlift to the competition area. Despite the very steep run in to the finish, it was more normal forest for the most part.

The final day was at the scenic Oberbergersee with a mixture of runnable forest and some technical rockfall areas.

Final SE League Standings

2010-08-19T15:02:00.002+01:00

Producing League positions proved more difficult than expected. There is a standard programme to calculate these but the following problems arose.
1. competitors using abbreviated forms of their names
2. Munster League events provide 6 colour coded courses so that there is a crossover between light green, red and green.
3. Age categories change on January 1st which means some youngsters move up to a harder course.
4. Family groups are to be encouraged but makes it difficult to work out which youngsters merit prizes.

Blue Course: 1. Pat/Patrick Coady. 2. Willie Fitzgerald
Green Course: 1. Liam O'Brien. 2. Steve Hogan
Light Green Course: 1. Sue Pim. 2. Jonathan Pim
Red Course: the Counihans: Charlotte, Sophie and William
Yellow Course: 1. Emma Pim

Anyone who has not yet collected their prize (book token) should see me at the next event.

Tramore results

2010-05-20T20:35:00.005+01:00

Thanks to the Pim family for all their hard work in running the recent event at Tramore sand dunes. Full results can be found on the IOA website. Please note that the completion times are correct but something went wrong on the start control. We suspect it is still 1 hour out of sync with the other units.

RSC training, some pix

2010-05-08T15:38:00.005+01:00

Sunny day out at Kennedy Park

2010-05-03T21:40:00.004+01:00

A huge crowd (estimated 170) took part at the SE League event at Kennedy Park today. Results have been uploaded manually to the IOA website.
Apologies to anyone who wants to check their splits..I had to reprogramme the Start control as the battery died but forgot to reset the time. Results therefore were out by one hour. If anyone cant live without their splits, I can email you the raw data for you to peruse.
Solved our ongoing problem with OR thanks to a combination of advice from Rob, Brian and Nigel. Transfered download to Intrepretative centre and system worked perfectly...power issues.

Anyone interested in a simple sprint O /training event are invited to be at the Waterford regional Sports Centre at 2 p.m. on Saturday 8th May by kind invitation of the Waterford Sports Partnership.

Training exercises

2010-04-17T19:35:00.002+01:00

For those of you who are missing having orienteering events you may be interested in this website with Training exercises.
O-training.net

April break

2010-04-12T21:24:00.002+01:00

Those who read this blog might wonder why there are no local orienteering events during April.
At Easter, the Jan Kellstroem event takes pace in the UK. This year the Cox and Casey families represented the club in Devon.
The Irish schools competition takes place on April 15th at Glengarra wood, near Cahir.
On Sunday 18th, there is a Munster League event on the sand dunes of Inch in Co Kerry.
The Irish club championships take place at Coleraine University for the Sprint (Friday 22nd), and Magilligan sand dunes (Saturday23rd).
Please note that the next event takes place on Bamk Holiday Monday 3rd May at Kennedy park.
The Leinster Club championships take place at Carlingford, County Louth on May 9th.
We then host the final Munster League event on May 16th at Tramore.

WSP Training

2010-03-30T16:35:00.008+01:00

On a bitterly cold morning, 60 enthusiastic and not so enthusiastic young people from Waterford City took part in some basic training at Kennedy park. The first part covered the concepts of distance (pacing exercise) and direction (3 butterfly loops). The second part was an actual competition. Thanks to Paul Allen, Laura Cox, Shirley Fan and Louis O'Carroll for helping run the event.
Three groups failed to punch the start properly so no result came up on the computer...sorry to Niamh, Lisa and Niamh, Paul, Daryl and David, and Emma and Catherine.
Course A ....1. Craig, Hassan and Dean; 2. Steven and Josh
Course B ....1. Agnes and Claudia; 2. Niamh and Siobhan
Course C ....1. Rachel and Abigail
Course D ....1. Mark and Florian
Course E ....1. David, Bubbles and David
Course F ....1. Cian and Oran; 2. Shannon and Jade

Beautiful day out at Colligan

2010-03-28T23:24:00.007+01:00

Over 60 competitors of all ages took part in the event at Colligan wood today.
Full results can be found at the IOA website. Thank you to Con (controls in), Angela (Registration) and Laura (photos and download) for helping run the event.
A couple of thoughts from the Planner: many of those on the Red course found difficulty distinguishing between a ride and a small track on the map. A ride is a firebreak between lines of trees. Sometimes they can have single trees growing in them. Sometimes there are additional extraction rides from recent forest activities that are not mapped. Check out the explanation of map symbols here.
Another problem was the Pit (control 221). In fact it was accurately mapped but confusion arose over additional extraction rides. The boulder on the opposite side of the path was incorrectly mapped and should have been 30 metres to the west.

Colligan woods 28/03/10

2010-03-26T14:46:00.001Z

The next club event takes place at Colligan woods, Dungarvan on Sunday 28th March. Start times from 11 to 1. The event will be signposted from the N72 (Waterford to Cappoquin road) at the Master McGraths statue (Clonmel road). Take the second left to the woods.
Ring 087-2229677 if you have a query.

Planners Report

2010-03-15T20:24:00.004Z

The results from the Munster League event held at Goirtin Wood are posted on the results section of the IOA website.

Below, I will explain some issues that arose on the day from our collective experiences. I am sure that others have been through similar problems. We thank everyone who took part for their patience, understanding and their advice. The vast majority appeared to enjoy the day.

We had two technical issues on the day.

the Download station worked intermittently and then gave up the ghost, despite being surrounded by several technophobes. For no apparent reason it worked fine today and I was able to upload the remaining SI cards.
Synchronisation: we had problems with the batteries on 4 of our stations so I sent them off on holiday to Sportident. However, I forgot to synchronise them with the rest of the set when they returned. They were one hour different. It means that the completion time is correct but there are some strange splits.

On the mapping side, most of the courses were reasonably successful. There were however several issues that arose.

Mapping issues: this was a team mapping exercise between 4 club members. Only one was an experienced mapper. This caused problems when it came to putting the updates on the new OCAD map. One of the critical updates would not open. This meant that one mapper used an older version of the basemap to add their updates. This particularly was a problem around the pit (203). The vegetation changes I added on the opposite side of the road failed to make the final version of the map. One strip of white forest or possibly open ground with scattered trees became open ground. Another similar strip of white forest didnt quite make it on the final version.
Control choice:: there was one poor choice of controls used. Control 231, the crag, was put out by myself without checking any features around the tagged site. I readily admit this was an error as the tagged site was surrounded by larger crags both to the east and the west.This caused a lot of wasted time in the area. I was unable to remove it from the results. I had originally intended to use an excellent depression on the other side of the road. I should have stuck to it!
Control Misplacement: I noted when collecting controls that control 223 had migrated from the easternmost to the westernmost gully. The OCAD symbol for a gully is rather too thick to be used on 1:15,000 scale maps. They tend to merge into each other. It is also possible they were shown a little too far to the east of the map relative to the open ground to the north. Thanks to Paul for pointing this one out.
Control location: Is it valid to put a control in a pit when it is in runnable forest and close to a road? I know that there are rules that state otherwise but it would have been seen from the road and not pose any sort of challenge. It was only used on the more technical courses.
Map scale: The person producing the maps had major difficulties with OCAD on his computer and was unable to change the scale on the map. This meant that all courses except the yellow had to contend with the original 1:15,000 scale. This proved difficult with poorer eyesight. As someone who has such a difficulty myself, I empathise with those who were put out by the unfamiliar scale. It is only the elites who complain about not being enough 1:15,000 maps!

Andrew Cox
(Planner)

Waterford Secondary Schools

2010-03-04T21:44:00.002Z

Pictures and link to results on the IOSG blog
Thanks to Jana Cox for her help on Download and to Ian McHardy for bringing in controls.

Waterford Primary School Results

2010-02-24T21:46:00.002Z

Thanks to all who helped out today, especially Con Murphy, Roger Johnson, Hugh Dobbs, Veronica Purcell, Jana Cox and all the pupils from the Transition Year in Newtown.
Full details of the event are posted in the IOSG blog.

Here are the provisional results:
6th Class Boys
1. Team 13 Dunhill
2. Team 2 Butlerstown

6th class Girls
1. Team 55 Christchurch
2. Team 60 Grangemockler

5th class Boys
1. Team 16 Gaelscoil
2. Team 26 Faithlegg

5th class Girls
1. Team 8 St John of Gods
2. Team 20 Gaelscoil

Tower Hill

2010-02-07T19:56:00.004Z

An excellent turnout today at the 6th SE League event. Full results can be found on the left under results.
Thanks to Con Murphy for all his hard work in ensuring the success of the event and for the pix.
Thanks also to Laura and Angela Cox on registration and computer upload.

Happy New Year

2009-12-29T18:41:00.002Z

Seasons Greetings and here is the result of the jury....fixtures for the New Year

17th January: Carrickbyrne, County Wexford
7th February: Tower Hill, Portlaw
24th February: Waterford Primary schools at Newtown school
28th February: Coumshingaun
4th March: Waterford Secondary schools at Tower Hill, Portlaw
14th March: Goirtin/Kilsheelan (Munster League also)
25th March: Munster Secondary and Primary Schools at Colligan East
28th March: Colligan East
9th May: Kennedy Park, County Wexford
16th May: Tramore

In addition there are events run by other clubs which might be of interest:
10th January at Curragh wood, Midleton ((CorkO)
21st February at Clonmore North, near Cahir (Cork O)

Full IOA fixtures here.

I have already begun to approach members to help plan, control and organise the above events. If anyone on our mailing list can help I would be glad to hear from you. Apart from planning and controlling, the many other jobs that need to be done on the day can be done by anybody. I look forward to hearing from you especially anyone able to help midweek with schools events. Thanks.

Event cancellation

2009-11-20T15:45:00.002Z

Following the completion of a risk assessment of the planned event for Knockanafffrin in the Comeraghs on Sunday, I have decided to cancel the event. It has been difficult to fully plan the event with the current weather conditions. Some of the access roads are currently blocked with water. The ground is very waterlogged and it would be impossible to mark all the new water features on the map!
The weather forecast with high winds on both Saturday and Sunday was not encouraging either. 35-50kph minimum. The sea area forecast reads as follows: Outlook for a further 24 hours until 1200 Sunday 22 November 2009: South to southwest winds veering southwest to west - generally up to gale or strong gale force, and reaching storm force in places. Rain or showers at times.

Orienteering Stance

2009-11-18T10:36:00.001Z

Thanks to Harry for permission to publish his poem (Shilo is his dog)

We were a happy trio,

me, Mum and leggy Shilo

arm -in -arm -off -lead

listening to

Mahon Falls

booming.

Cold air, wind rushing through me ~

every time we found

orange and white

we lurched forward

to find the

next.

We burst back. Shilo slips,

falls ten feet into the river,

is dragged, heaved,

tossed and turned

by the rushing

rapids.

I live in shocked suspense ‘til I see

him hobbling, disorientated but

trying to get back

to his familiar

orienteering

stance.

One hundred and ninety seven minutes.

How can I describe them?

Top of the world

Exhaustion

Experience

The end

November 2009

Mahon Falls prove tough

2009-11-08T20:07:00.005Z

Competitors at the Munster League event held at Davmore/Mahon Falls in the Comeraghs found the terrain tricky and heavy going. Some tried courses which were too demanding for them and ended up either taking a long time or missing a control. Full results have been posted to the IOA website.
Thank you to Pat O'Connor who planned the courses and tagged the control sites; Andrew Pim and Norman Storey who put out the controls and brought them in plus organised and ran the start; Elizabeth Storey who did registration; and Nigel Pim who did Upload and Download. Thanks to Laura for some of the pictures. As organiser of the event, I appreciate the contribution of all the club members. Thank you.

Munster Champs Success

2009-11-01T19:59:00.003Z

A small but elite band travelled to Toureen Wood near Cahir for the Munster Championships. Congratulations to Liisa Honkasaari (W40), Laura Cox (W18) and Andrew Cox (M50) who were all crowned Munster Champions. Ian McHardy (M35) won the Silver medal whilst Sue Pim, Roger Johnson and Angela Cox all won Bronze medals. Well done to all concerned.

Planning courses

2009-10-27T10:45:00.006Z

Two weeks ago, I found out that I was planning a local event at Kilbunny woods in Portlaw. The preliminary visit threw up some interesting changes to the map. Considerable forest clearance, new tracks formed and old tracks partially blocked. Panic....four hours of noting changes on an old map. More time updating the map on the computer using OCAD (Orienteering Computer Aided Design).

Back out to the forest to check the changes and plan the four colour coded courses. Another three hours in the forest clearing the brambles from usable tracks. On the way back from the forest saw a sign that there was to be a sponsored horse ride in the Portlaw woods on Sunday 25th, the original date for the event. Managed to agree a change to the Bank Holiday Monday.

Put out some of the controls on Friday, feeling reasonably happy that everything is in hand.

Left home on Monday morning at 8.30. Put out the directional roadsigns. Arrived at the barrier, at least it was not locked! Drove out the the furthest point to find a happy forester clear felling an area of forest that contained two controls! Help! Had to do some last minutes rejigging of courses and map changes. Why do Coillte never tell you what they are doing when you pay the user licence fee?

People started to arrive, starting to get a little drizzly...loads of people arrive...starting to rain and get very misty. first Blue course competitor returns...control missing...kite and post still there on the ground, SI unit missing. Nothing I can do, only on Blue course in an area with almost no through traffic...maybe a horse ate it the previous day?

Green and red course competitors return with tales of difficulty finding a boulder near the top of the far ridge. Maybe the additional extraction rides were confusing and should have put a control on the end of the path...I put the control out that morning in the opposite direction, coming down off the hill.

Start to run out of red course maps...manage to recycle a few at the end....never know how many to print! Download problems...computer starts to decide it is not going to recognise the Com Port...cannot download information from SI cards...at the last minute it decides to work...phew!

Despite the long course times, the climb were to blame, most competitors finished their respective courses and there was no complaint of any controls in the wrong place just some grumbles about mapping standards. The weather turned rather damp and misty so early entrants had an advantage.

Full results are up on the IOA website. Current standings after 3 South east league events can also be found here. A big thanks to Angela and Jana Cox for all their hard work on the start, upload and download.

From a learning perspective, this weeks chosen control sites (excuse the quality of the pix, it was getting dark when I was taking them in) are displayed below.that darned boulder!a crag deep in the forestthe selected earthbank or is it a ruined stonewall from when this was agricultural land?Just how misty it became...so much for the spectacular views of the river Suir and the Comergh mountains!

Tower Hill results

2009-10-05T21:56:00.001+01:00

Results for Tower Hill are on the IOA website.

Report to follow from Con.

National Trails Day

2009-09-28T19:43:00.002+01:00

October 4th is National Trails Day. We will be hosting a SE league event on that day at Tower Hill woods in Portlaw. Starts between 11 and 1 as usual.
For more information about National Trails Day.

Please come out and support the event...there are freebies available for those who come early ...pens,stickers,etc coutesy of Coillte.

South east schools relays

2009-09-24T22:08:00.007+01:00

The South east schools relays event took place at Kennedy Arboretum with the kind permission of the OPW on Wednesday 23rd September.
Thanks to all the club members who gave up their time to help run the event: Pat, Veronica, Paul, Norman, Alan, Jana and Hugh. Thanks to the schools and their teachers who took part.
A list of corrected results are below. 160 Primary pupils and 90 Secondary participated. The Primary schools had a standard cross country course.

Senior Boys
1. Niall McEvoy, Ben Cross, Ruadhan Treacy (Newtown) 116.15
Ben Turner, Luke Bailey, Joe Dixon (Newtown) mp

Senior Girls
1. Nicola Power, Laura Cullen, Laura Cox (Ursuline) 129.36
2. Ciara Murray, Evelyn O'Regan, Tara Walsh (Ursuline) 206.56
Megan Lonergan, Jessica Gleeson, Jana Cox (dns) dnf
Sara Galloway, Andrea Hemmingway, Hannah Hermon (Newtown) mp
Junior Boys
1. Geoffrey Graham. Dahnan Spurling, Diarmuid Wingfield (Newtown) 82.05
2. Liam Landy, Neil Dunne, Ben O'Neill (Newtown) 132.05
Simon Quigley, Luke Ryan, Michael Vos (Newtown) mp
John Mullins, Barog Kennedy, Xavier Walsh (Newtown) mp
Junior Girls
1. Catherine McGrory, Mia Falkanthal, Phoebe Moore (Newtown) 135.02
2. Shona Murray, Elizabeth Kinsella-Kent, Evelyn Farrell (Ursuline) 139.50
3. Ciara Murphy, Niamh Maher, Rachel Moore (Ursuline) 172.20
Holly Wells, Gillian Bond, Melanie Fitzgerald (Newtown) mp
Minor Boys
1. Jonathan, Jacob, Robert (Dunhill) 30.00
2. Ted, Ian, Evan, Christian (Newtown) 108.23
James, Devon and Stuart mp
Minor Girls
1. Kayleigh, Ciara, Roberta, Atlanta (Newtown) 72.27
2. Sarah Ann, Grace, Lucy, Eve (Newtown) 74.32
3. Triona, Nikki, Kate, Chris (Newtown) 80.33
4. Rachel, Orla, Laoise, Nicola (Ursuline) 90.25
5. Rachel, Eimear, Rebecca, Doireann (Ursuline) 100.28
6. Doireann, Aoife, Grainne, Rhea (Ursuline) 140.07
7. Amy and Aoife (Ursuline) 140.51
Primary Boys 6th/5th class
1. Daryl and John (Christchurch NS) 32.57
2. Luke and Shane (Faithlegg NS) 34.05
3. Zack and Conor (FNS) 36.57
4. Alex and Danny (FNS) 40.40
5. Jonni and Conor (FNS) 42.17
6. Sam and John (CNS) 53.45
7. Kevin and Nathanial (CNS) 55.21
8. Anthony and Sam (CNS) 59.25
9. Sam and Joe (FNS) 95.10
Eoin, Philip and Nicholas mp

Primary Girls 6th class
1. Mai and Martha (CNS) 35.52
2. Alex, Bevin and Freya (CNS) 37.06
3. August and Katie (CNS) 38.01
4. Rebecca and Emily (FNS) 38.38
5. Sophie and Kirsten (CNS) 39.16
6. Kayleigh and Megan (Mercy) 40.16
7. Megan and Laura (St John of Gods, JOG) 40.48
8. Caoillinn and Lauren (CNS) 40.54
9. Shannon and Chloe (Mercy) 41.25
10. Sarah and Carrie (JOG) 41.29
11. Clodagh and Katie (CNS) 41.30
12. Katie and Lauren (JOG) 42.51
13. Jennifer and Chloe (JOG) 43.34
14. Niamh and Ellen (JOG) 44.37
15. Sinead and Orla (Mercy) 44.53
16. Claire and Alana (CNS) 45.00
17. Sophie and Lauren (Mercy) 45.25
18. Chloe and Jenny (Mercy) 45.48
19. Rachel and Clodagh (JOG) 46.18
20. Erika and Emma (CNS) 52.35
21. Claire and Emma (JOG) 53.37
22. Kelly and Catherine (FNS) 54.36
23. Hannah and Kate (Mercy) 54.48
24. Sarah and Kayla (Mercy) 55.34
25, Shanifa and Paulina (Mercy) 56.47
26. Claire and Leah (Mercy) 59.58
27. Megan and Katie (JOG) 60.56
28. Lauren and Ciara (JOG) 61.18
29. Chantelle and Kayleigh (JOG) 61.57
30. Bridget and Monika (Mercy) 62.18
31. Jan and Jessica (JOG) 64.03
32. Carragh and Orlaith (Mercy) 64.08
33. Ann Marie and Ciara (Mercy) 64.55
34. Jane and Abbie (JOG) 66.07
35. Laura and Kayleigh (JOG) 67.06
36, Lauren and Valeriya (Mercy) 67.32
37. Ellen and Jennifer (Mercy) 67.38
38. Hanna and Jessica (Mercy) 68.51
39. Tina and Mary (Mercy) 69.00
40. Kinga and Lauren (Mercy) 74.19
41. Sarah jane and Megan (Mercy) 76.46
42. Chloe and Jadine (Mercy) 78.28
43. Aoife and Damilola (Mercy) 79.00
44. Alexandra and Mia (JOG) 93.53

Primary girls 5th class
1. Ella and Aisling (FNS) 36.14
2. Molly and Laura (FNS) 37.25
3. Emma and Rebecca (FNS) 38.38
4. Eimear and Jennifer (FNS) 41.17
5. Emma and Orla (JOG) 48.31
6. Alison and Clodagh (JOG) 56.07
7. Catherine, Erinn and Emma (FNS) 59.06
8. Lorna and Isa (JOG) 63.05
9. Alicia and Katie (JOG) 63.49
10. Kate and Emily Jane (JOG) 64.18
11. Aoibh and Niamh (JOG) 112.10
12. Maeve and Katie (JOG) 117.27
13. Abbie, Abbie and Rachel (JOG) 132.00
Kate and Michelle, Leah and Aoife, Rachel and Clodagh, Louise and Eleanor, Rachel and Kaya, Nicola and Ellie, Natalie and Rebecca all mp

Sun,sea and surf

2009-09-20T19:53:00.003+01:00

Well the sun arrived...it being Sunday but as is usual when it is sunny there is often very little wind and therefore little surf.
From an orienteering point of view it was something of a catch 22 situation..if we had been right at the seafront, we would have had a bigger audience/entry. Being at the end of the carpark was too far for most people to walk!
Anyway, 25 of our regulars and a few new participants turned up to complete what proved to be a rather wet course!! Recent tides had flooded the usually dry flat area.
Full results are posted to the IOA website
I hope it was a useful training event for the younger children. Thanks to John Casey for putting out the controls and to Laura Cox on upload and Angela Cox on registration.

Updated Colligan results

2009-09-20T19:37:00.004+01:00

Nobody spotted the deliberate mistake...the map was titled Colligan East...it should have been Colligan West!!!
Honour of the day goes to Ian Heggs who found the sport ident unit I mislaid when putting out the controls. Thanks.
General concensus was that some of the contours were missing on the map and that the climb was more than advertised. I have altered the heights accordingly.
There is no doubt that the damp summer resulted in heavy growth of ferns and brambles. Tracks used previously for the Munster schools event in May required clearance. Hopefully the addition of taped sections improved the courses for everybody. Times were correspondingly long for the length of course.
Full splits/results are posted on the IOA website.

Silva Orienteering Camp

2009-09-08T20:03:00.009+01:00

Silva Orienteering Camp took place in Vidnava in the Czech Republic the last week of August. It's a camp for 8-18 year olds, mostly Czech children, but there were people from Israel, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland and Spain too. Really my experience can be summed up in an A-Z!

Andrea - my friend from the Irish Squad who acted as a translator for a lot of the camp

Bikes - we went on bike trips as well as cycling to and from events

Challenge - as well as the maps being complex, our fitness levels were challenged
Dancing- everybody in camp had great fun dancing the macerena at the Spanish evening!

Entertainment - every evening there was cultural evenings or discos to keep us amused

Frogs - they were everywhere in the forests we were in!

Great experience - a chance to learn from top Czech orienteers

Heat - most days it was over 20 degrees celcius which was different to what the Irish orienteer is used to!

Israelis - they were interested in finding out about different cultures and in sharing their own

Jokes - they gave us a control on a rock in the middle of a river...why???

Kangaroos - Sagi from Israel supposedly saw kangaroos whilst out orienteering but we hunted and found none

Late night cards - our team had a tendency to play 'DONKEY' every night until quite late ...

Mosquitos - too many bites, my only complaint!

New friends - I hope to meet up with all my friends at orienteering events next summer :)

Orienteering of course but also organisation. Silva O camp is impecably organised

Playing games - we had our own olympics with crazy madeup games like throwing the control as opposed to a javelin!

Queen - when a girl on our team entered the miss vidnava contest, we all helped her with her free performance by dancing in the background the dancing queen

Rain - it rained all morning for the score event

Slovakians and Slovenians - pretty much all the friends I made at O Camp where one or the other

Terrain - very complex forested areas which were quite different from Irish terrain

Uphill race - we had to run 800m of steep uphill

Vidnava - we were 4km from the town

Wasps - lots of them, especially at breakfast

X(cross) - the first day we had laps to run in the heat, a bit like the time trials except steeper.

Yellow - the colour of the girls tshirts, the boys got blue

Zdrahal, Robert - the guy in charge, usually known as Brko

I'm looking forward to going back next year to this excellent camp!! See you there in 2010?

W35s success

2009-08-18T18:03:00.002+01:00

Well done to Nuala Callery who finished 2nd overall at the Scottish 6 day event in the W35 short class.
Other Wato results were: Thomas Callery 25th on M40 short; Jana Cox 19th on W16B; Laura Cox 30th on W18 Long.
Congratulations to Laura Cox who has been selected to represent Ireland at the forthcoming Junior Home Internationals in Wales in the W18 class. We look forward to heaing about experiences.

Tayside experiences

2009-08-18T15:48:00.007+01:00

The Scottish 6 day event took place in Tayside during the first week in August. Despite the abysmal summer weather, we were lucky! Here are some reflections on the M50 competition. For the thoughts and analysis of one of the top orienteers, Martin Dean (finished 2nd overall) check out his blog.
Day 1 was at Dalruzion in coniferous forest with some intricate contour detail. It took some time to get used to what the mapper had decided to include and which clearings and rides, he had decided to leave out. Control 1 on the M50 course (134 competitors!!) proved a very challenging start after a summer of no orienteering. I got into it by the 4th control when I was caught by another Irish runner. In my rush to get away from him, I made a massive error and lost a lot of time (81st). The mind plays funny games and you can make the map fit the terrain even if you are in completely the wrong place.
Day 2 was nearer to base at Kinnoull with much nicer runnable forest. However one particular control proved to be a lottery. There were two obvious route choices. However one proved to be much faster and straightforward than the other. More time and places lost (65th).
On M50, there were 6 Irish competitors and as always there was a competition within a competition to be the best placed on the day and then finally overall. By Day 3, I was ready to drop the first two days places. The best 4 days count overall.
Day 3 was a typical West Cork day with rain sweeping in over the moorland and soggy underfoot at Tullochroisk. Despite losing time at control 2 and small errors within the forest, I picked up plenty of places out on the open as people tired (56th).
The next day was rest day but there was the option of doing the Sprint O around Scone Palace and the Perth racecourse. The Palace area was not that well mapped with odd rides and colour usage, the race course area was simply long legs through fields. Despite finishing 94th out of 194, I was a little disappointed wih simple small errors. Was however 2nd Irish and 7th best M50.
Day 4 was at the forested dunes of Tentsmuir. In reality only the first section was interesting when there was lots of short legs in the technical dune area. A long leg then to rejoin the shorter courses in some uninteresting forest. There was even a crazy leg into a completely felled area...we would not even do this in local events. The pressure of other Irish runners hit again as I caught up with a runner just before a control and we both managed to punch the wrong one in our hurry to get away! The time would have put me in a respectable 58th place. Now the pressure was on because I had to drop this day!
Day 5 was in the military training sand dune area of Barry Buddon, near Dundee. Once again one big error cost me time but finished 66th place.
Day 6 was the big one. Our start block had begun on the first day near 10 and ended on the last day near 2. Out on the moorlands near Loch Ordie with plenty of heather the omens were good.
The start was anything but! I had lost 4 minutes by the time I relocated the first control. From then on, I probably had my best run for a long time in 43rd position. This was enough to achieve my goals of being the best Irish runner in the class, to be in the top half overall (65th out of 134) and to finish one day in the top 50. What a great way to finish.

Draft fixtures for Autumn 2009

2009-08-18T15:04:00.002+01:00

South East League Fixtures
September 13th: Colligan Wood, Dungarvan
October 4th: Tower Hill, Portlaw (National Trails Day)
October 25th: Kilbunny, Portlaw
November 8th: Davmore, Comeraghs (Munster league)
November 22nd: Knockanaffrin

Other dates for your diary!
September 20th: Oceanic Surf and Sea festival in Tramore (help needed to run some simple orienteering on the beach)
September 23rd: South east schools relays at Kennedy park, County Wexford (deferred from May...lots of help needed on the day)
September 27th: Cliona Callnan Memorial event at Doneraile park, county Cork

October 3rd: Northern Ireland Championships
November 1st: Munster Championships, Ballydavid, Co Tipperary.
November 29th: Connacht Championships
Other Munster League events on 20th September (BOC); 18th October (Kerry O); 6th December (DFO)

Neil at WOC in Hungary

2009-08-18T14:59:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to Neil Dobbs who is representing Ireland at the World orienteering Championships in Hungary.
Check out his blog for a flavour of the efforts he is putting in!

Windy Tramore

2009-06-07T20:06:00.004+01:00

A big thanks to John Casey for organising the Munster League event held at Tramore on Sunday 7th June. Full results are posted on the IOA website. There was a small but elite turnout for the event. Thanks also to Laura for looking after Upload and Download.

Shamrock O Ringen

2009-06-06T22:35:00.004+01:00

The June Bank Holiday was a busy one for club members in the sunshine of Killarney.

The Irish Sprint Championships were held at Ross Castle. It proved to more of a Short O than a Sprint O... more technical than expected in places. Well done to Laura Cox who finished 2nd in W18 and Ian McHardy who finished 3rd on M35. I was pleased with 5th on the highly competitive M45 class despite some early errors.

The full 3 day event started with Black Lakes on Saturday. The most notable performance was Brid Casey who won the W35 class by over 8 minutes. There was an excellent 2nd place for Sue Pim (W65).

Day 2 was at Crohane Mountain where Sue Pim (2nd) and John Casey (2nd in M40) were the best Wato finishers.

The final day was a Chasing Start at Torc, Muckross. The handicap was worked out so that the order of finishing was the final finishing order... i.e first past the line!
Robert Pim won the M12 class as he was the only finisher. Well done for completing all three days in a variety of terrain. Sue slipped to 5th in very hot weather conditions.

Thomas Callery (5th) and Ian McHardy (6th) competed for the honour of best Wato M21s entrant. Nigel Pim put behind some tough days to finish 3rd on the final day in M35.

On a personal front, I was delighted to finish 6th on the M50 class. At Black Lakes, I was close to giving up on the first control and finished 17th. Day 2 was an improvement with 9th place, 2nd of the Irish. At Muckross, I had a steady run to finish 1st of the Irish over the line, an improvement of 11 places.

SE Spring League results from JFK

2009-04-27T20:13:00.004+01:00

Rhododendron in full blossom...the summer is on it's way.

A family day out...you are never too young!

Thanks to Angela and Laura for help with registration and download.
Full results are loaded to the IOA website

The Sprint O format at the JK

2009-04-16T23:13:00.004+01:00

The most obvious feature of this map at the 2009 JK Sprint held in the centre of Newcastle is that the main road, the A1 runs right through it.

Even when I had finished, I am not certain that I took the right route choices over and under the roads. The key though is to make the decision and stick to it. You cannot afford to change your mind or stop and think.

The scale is 1:4,000 which means that 1cm on the map represents 40 metres on the ground.

3 controls...just under 2 minutes, not bad....next 5 controls in the top 30, just under 8 minutes gone...no time to look at the pretty flowers...quickest leg 10 to 11 in 5th fastest time...slight pause in decision making, 58th on the short leg around the tennis courts to 16...another half minute error by taking the wrong way over the motorway to 17 (78th place on the leg)...steady in the next few legs around the university buildings....final flourish, 9th fastest 22 to 23 and 3rd fastest on final sprint to the finish line. They always say that if you are fast at the end, you have left something out on the course!!!

End result: 3 minutes 33 seconds behind the leader in 37th place (out of 105 competitors) in the M50 course.

Permanent Orienteering Courses, Part 2

2009-04-08T12:06:00.013+01:00

In drawing up a template for the setting up and use of POC's (Permanent orienteering courses) I visited and evaluated one the exisiting POC's in Ireland. Sean Cotter has done excellent work in producing maps of 4 parks in Cork City. Maps can be downloaded in pdf format with or without control sites marked on them from the Cork City Council website. The parks that have been mapped are Clashduv, Glen Amenity park, Marina and Murphy's farm.

I looked at Marina which was mapped in 2006 to see what we could learn from it. Our understanding of POC's has moved on since this map was made.

I visited all of the control sites.

What marking is used to indicate the control site?

In this case red and white paint with two letters and the number corresponding to the control marked on the map. The problem is that these weather and in many cases I found it hard to distinguish the letters and number.
What constitutes a good feature to use?

The feature has to be permanent yet allow the user to identify a range of standard features used in orienteering.

Fence corner

Park bench

Metal Post

Concrete post

A tree number sign...a red and white equivalent may be the easiest to maintain and replace.

Who will maintain the control sites?

I spoke with the new Sports Development Officer with Cork City Council who stated that it was the responsibility of the Council worker in that park. I found 3 control sites missing.

A new bridge but the original marker is missing (or else I could not find it)

What features can be highlighted?

The line of the old railway is an attractive feature of this map.

Steps are another which are useful especially in Street O events.

What possible dangers are there?

This is not a great location for a control site...look at the second step...this is just beside the river Lee!

This is an interesting placement on a metal box attached to a bridge.

Another thing to look out for...are there any roads (no matter how small) to cross? This one beside the river Lee was crossed several times.

Munster Schools results

2009-04-08T12:04:00.001+01:00

Full detail of all schools events will be found on the Irish Schools Orienteering Blog

The mind plays funny tricks

2009-04-06T21:06:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Eddie from CNOC for the photo

Last weekend, Laura and I competed in the Leinster Championships in Rossmore forest, close to Monaghan town. This is an excellent map with plenty of intricate detail.

Running in the M50 category, I started confidently, taking the first 7 controls without any great difficulty. Contouring around a small drumlin to the 8th control I made a 2 minute error of judgement as I misidentified the track I was seeking. Picked up speed again to hit 9 to 13 without too much difficulty. The next leg gave a route choice to the east or west of a lake. I chose the eastern route as the person ahead of me had gone for the western route. Along a fence in an area of small deciduous trees, crossed the fence at the corner, small area of low brambles, out on to the path. Headed north along the path, past the end of the lake and then blip....! I reached the edge of an open area where I had planned to head into the forest...but what's that in the distance? Tents, people running, Irish flag....oh no, I have somehow got back to the finish!?

Retraced my steps to where I had left the forest and met the track...15 minutes later I decided to continue on and try the route I had intended all along...I had been right...the mind plays silly tricks! Annoyed, I ran fast to make up time...16 to 21 and the finish no problem. Then, second place by 9 seconds! Oh, what might have been.
Full results on the IOA website

Laura and I in a group photo for runners up.

Results, results and more pix

2009-03-23T22:30:00.003Z

A big thank you to Norman, John and Kevin (and anybody else who lent a hand) for running the event at Glenpatrick. The picnic afterwards was the highlight for some in the pleasant spring weather. We even have a volunteer to map the area to include the recent changes!
Click here to get detailed results.
Another excellent event was hosted by CNOC on the new map produced by Pat Healy at Kilmore Quay. The club was well represented at this Leinster League event as the results and photos show. Have a look.
Brid Casey (representing the club for the first time!) was placed 2nd on the Green course with Nigel Pim in 9th place. Liisa Honkasaari and Laura Cox made it a 1,2 on the Light Green Course with support from Angela Cox (6th) and Sue Pim (7th). Jonathan Pim came a close 2nd on the Orange course while Robert Pim had the misfortune to mispunch. Yours truly found the 11km Brown course enjoyable but a tad long!

The Munster Secondary schools has been changed to April 2nd to facilitate schools in Junior Certificate exams.
The next Munster League event is due to be held at Breeda wood south, near Tallow on Sunday 29th March.
Our next club event down for 26th April will be at Kennedy Park instead of Glenpatrick.
The short break is due to Easter, the Munster league event and the schools events.

POC's

2009-02-21T11:48:00.005Z

POC's refer to Permanent Orienteering Courses not to Pat O'Connor! On a recent trip to Aberdeen, I visited Duthrie Park to see how they had set up a POC. This set of photos is to give people the idea of POC's. They can be set up in any park or local woodland and can be used at any time by schools, families,etc.

They may need to be chained to a tree if there is a risk of vandalism...
Markers can be screwed to a gate or fence

Markers can be up a tree or at ground level....

Sample of map available from the Aberdeen City Council

May be on a short post

A plaque that is being proposed for Irish POC's and which would be easy to replace. May not be suitable for all locations. Used in Cork City.

And another one from Sweden (thanks to DH)

Knockanaffrin Results

2009-02-21T11:36:00.001Z

Waterford Orienteers hosted a very successful orienteering event at Clondonnell woods at Knockanaffrin in the Comeragh Mountains on Sunday 15th February.
The numbers were boosted to 120 participants by members of the Irish Junior Squad and their mentors plus a contingent of Defence Forces orienteers.
Full results and splits can be found on the IOA website

Thank you in particular to Norman and Elizabeth Storey, Jana and Angela Cox who helped organise the event.

Brown Course 7.9 km, 340 metre climb.
1. Darren Burke (Cork O) 57.24
2. Colm Hill (CNOC) 59.28
3. Conor Short (CNOC) 67.58
4. Dermot O’Sullivan (BOC) 69.04
5. Hugh Cashell (CNOC) 73.33
6. Paul Hourihan (DFO) 76.41

Blue Course 6.9km, 280 metres of climb.
1. Cillian Corbett (Cork O) 67.19
2. Willie Fitzgerald (Cork O) 68,21
3. Liam Gahan (Wato) 69.09
4. John McCullough (3 Roc) 70.48
5. Kevin Grant (Wato) 71.09
6. Brian Flannelly (Cork ) 74.09

Green Course 5.2 km, 190 metres climb
1. David Healy (GEN) 31.25
2. Eoin McCullough (3Roc) 44.27
3. Alex Simonin (BOC) 46.16
4. Brian Hill (CNOC) 47.21
5. Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (BOC) 49.13
6. Ruth Lynam (CNOC) 51.46

Light Green 4.4km, 125 metre climb
1. Frank O’Brien (Cork O) 46.46
2. Leslie Coughlin (MCBS) 47.24
3. Norman Storey (Wato) 52.54
4. Brendan Wall (MCBS) 52.59
5. Cliona McCullough (3 Roc) 54.09
6. Peter O’Brien (MCBS) 54.19
7. Jim Hoare (FIN) 59.10

Red Course 4.8 km, 145 metre climb
1. Darragh Lane (MCBS) 48.29
2. Eddie Hogan (FIN) 61.35
3. Mark Hoare (FIN) 61.43
4. Clodagh and Niamh (St Pauls Scouts) 67.19
5. Paddy and Donal Walsh (Fethard Scouts) 71.04
6. Tommy Gahan and Ryan Hammond (Fethard) 88.56
7. Caoillinn Brady (Wato) 93.44

Yellow Course 3.2km, 80 metre climb
1. Sean (St Pauls Scouts) 42.22
2. Jerry Sullivan 44.11
3. Aidan McCullough (3Roc) 47.10
4. Ciara Fitzgerald (Cork O) 47.52
5. Norah O’Brien (Cork O) 47.53
6. Emma Pim (Wato) 50.09
7. Sinead and Aoife (St Pauls Scouts) 52.54

SE League 5 at Knockanaffrin

2009-02-09T21:44:00.005Z

..............Start times between 11 and 1.
Follow signs from Rathgormuck to Clonmel road...see map below.

..................Thanks to the Con (troller)for the Pix.

The Big Weekend

2009-01-31T13:45:00.006Z

An early Ryanair flight to Edinburgh for the Burns Weekend and two days of interesting orienteering. Airport to accommodation very easy...Premier Inn at Haymarket...bus from airport stops nearby. Check in early and change for short journey to the Commonwealth pool to check in for the first event. A Street O, part of the Scottish Urban League. For those who have never tried it...you should....looks easy but mistakes can cost a lot of places.

Entered for M40+ class on the Long course. Start at one of the entrances to Holyrood park...the course winds its way through Edinburgh Southside....along streets, into courtyards, up and down stairs, around monuments and even up a spiral staircase...trying to avoid high walls that impede progress and running into pedestrians out shopping around the street corner. Local knowledge and previous experience in previous years were an obvious advantage to those who had it. Laura and I were less fortunate. I was pleased to finish the 6.3 km in 56.24 which was only 9 minutes behind the winner, 23rd out of 54 entrants in the class. Laura was happy to finish the 4.7km in 68 minutes as she is only just getting used to running the longer distances. The finish was up the steps at the Pool!

Day 2...another clear sunny cold day as we headed off to Arthur's Seat in the heart of Edinburgh. Reached the start and found a long line of people queueing to start on all the courses except the Brown. Instant decision to get my moneys worth. Certainly 1 hour and 54 minutes later I was wondering if I had made the right decision. 8 km and 750 metres of climb (320 metres more than the Blue) told the story. Some of the controls were technically quite easy but mixed in with some difficult and long legs plus the climb, this was a challenge. Looking at the results at the finish I was depressed, having been beaten by an M60. Wait, not so bad...he was the mapper! He only beat me by 6 seconds. The winning time for the record was 1 hour and 10 minutes. Once again local knowledge would have been a big help...this is an area used by people living in Edinburgh. Also used last year and for the World Schools championship recently.

I would recommend a Club trip to the event next year. It has something for everybody and oh, yes the shopping on Princes Street, the Art Galleries and Edinburgh Castle can all be squeezed in.

Results and pictures from the Minaun

2009-01-18T21:55:00.003Z

Roddy lost again!

Norman slip sliding away!

Robert finds it at last!

Thanks to all those who turned out today at the Minaun.
Thanks to Laura and Angela for helping with registration and Download. Also to Norman, Hugh and Ray for helping with instruction.
Please note that I had problems uploading the last few results where I had to reuse the SI cards. If you have a query, email me.
For full results use this link on the IOA website:
http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-1189

SE Winter /Autumn League

2008-12-15T12:02:00.002Z

The League results are as follows after yesterday's event. Best 3 of 4 events to count.

Blue Course
1. Andrew Pim
2. Brian Flannelly (CorkO)

Green Course
1. Roger Johnson
2. Laura Cox
3. Norman Storey

Red Course
1. Jonathan Pim
2. Jana Cox
3. Robert Pim

Prizes on the way shortly.

Carrickbyrne pix and results

2008-12-14T21:25:00.006Z

Thanks Laura for the photos

The results for the SE League 4 event held at Carrickbyrne on December 14th are now on the IOA website.

A big thanks to Paul Allen for all his hard work in putting on the event.

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

2008-12-12T21:38:00.003Z

The Waterford Region Secondary Schools event took place at Tower Hill, Portlaw today, December 12th in torrential downpours. Well done to all who showed great endurance to complete a multiplicity of courses. 189 started (220 pupils) with only 64 not finishing. Well done.

The full results can be found by following this link to the IOA website. You can even find out your splits.

Please note that I was able to make all corrections except one. Sam Butler took 61 minutes on the Junior Boys course which placed him second.

The Girls Shield was retained by the Ursuline (743 minutes) from Newtown (773 minutes).
The Boys Shield was retained by Newtown.

Senior Girls
1. Ursuline (Laura Cox, Laura Cullen, Shirley Fan, Nicola Power)
2. Newtown (Camilla Driver, Andrea Hemmingway, Sarah Galloway, Heidi McIlvenny)
Junior Girls
1. Newtown 1 (Andrea Harvey, Georgia Doorley, Becky Barr, Nicola Fennell)
2. Ursuline (Laura Breen, Ruth Breen, Lydia Hearne, Fiona Tyndall)
3. Newtown 2 (Anna White, Rebecca Hoban, Phoebe Moore, Emma Prendergast)
First Year Girls
1. Ursuline 1 (Maggie Doolan, Evelyn Farrell, Louisa Barry, Laura O'Hare)
2. Newtown (Mia Falkenthal, Ruth Cusack, Charlotte Hackett, Gillian Bond)
3. Ursuline 2 (Aisling O'Kennedy, Colleen O'Sullivan,Alice Roche, Saoirse Walsh)
Senior Boys
1. Newtown (Niall McEvoy, Callum Chambers, Joe Dixon, Peter Keogh)
2. Good Counsel (Eoin Bardon, Thomas Aylward, Bill Phelan, David Stebbing)
Junior Boys
1. Newtown 1 (Gareth Molloy, Sam Butler, Dahnan Spurling, Diarmuid Windfield)
2. Newtown 2 (Luke Ryan, Ronan Kelly, Ben Slevin, Hunter MacLachlan)
First year boys
1. Newtown 1 (Barog Kennedy, Neil Dunne, Liam Landy, Dylan Henry)
2. Newtown 2 (David Hatton, Will Troy, Leo Creighton, Marcus Walsh)
Transition Year Course
1. Ger Foxe and Richard Kumar (Good Counsel)
2. Shane Doyle and Kevin Burke (Good Counsel)
3. John Keane and Paul Power (CBS Tramore)

Pix from the Primary schools

2008-12-05T10:41:00.004Z

Faithlegg regain the Primary Schools Shield

2008-12-04T22:16:00.003Z

The Waterford regional Primary schools event was held at Newtown School on December 4th with a total of 9 schools participating. There 74 teams of 4 (and sometimes 5) entered. The weather held off and eveything went off smoothly. A big thanks to all the teachers who supported the event; to Transition year students from Newtown school who put out and collected controls and acted as stewards on the courses; to club members Hugh Dobbs, Veronica Purcell and Jana Cox who looked after registration and download; to my fellow staff who lent a hand when they were not teaching and to thePrincipal of Newtown who allowed the event to go ahead.
The overall shield was recaptured by Faithlegg National School. Full results can be found on the IOA website
The following teams will receive prizes. This constitutes the first 3 teams in each category plus the leading team from each school. Teachers should contact me next week to arrange to get the prizes. Pictures will be uploaded at the weekend. If anybody has some nice pix, please send them to me.

Boys
1. Dunhill (Jonathan,Robert,Chris, Dillon) 19.36
2. Butlerstown (Mark,Daniel,Martin,Jack,Corey) 19.45
3. Faithlegg (Stephen,Simon,Luke,Shannon) 19.59
4. Faithlegg (Jamie,Darragh,Ruari,Jack) 20.42
5. Christchurch (Kyle, Jake, Ciaran,Fiachra) 23.53
7. Grangemockler (Phelim,Padraic,Patrick,Aisling) 28.06
8. Waterpark (David,Patrick,Brian,Valdrin) 29.07
14. Gaelscoil (Florian,Harry,Devin,Oisin) 52.16

Girls
1. Faithegg (Niamh,Annie,Emily,Amy) 23.47
2. John of Gods (Hayley,Hope,Jessica, Sarah) 30.32
3. John of Gods (Abresa, Susan,Aoife,Doireann) 31.41
7. Grangemockler (Caoimhe,Aine,Maria, Shauna) 34.22
10. Mercy (Ciara,Ciara,Sally,CJ) 38.53
12. Christchurch (Claire,Sophie,August,Bevin,Martha) 40.04
14. Waterpark (Catherine,Alimerl,Urte) 41.09
18. Butlerstown (Doireann,Sarah,Orla,Emily) 46.06
21. Gaelscoil (Jessica,Ciara,Emma,Aoife) 49.40

Overall results
1. Faithlegg: 18 points (Shield winners)
2. John of Gods: 49 points
3. Grangemockler: 52 points
4. Waterpark: 69 points
5. Mercy: 100 points
6. Christchurch: 104 points
7. Butlerstown: 116 points
8. Gaelscoil: 143 points

Davmore event, November 16th, 2008

2008-11-16T20:00:00.003Z

Full results can be found on the IOA website
Thank you to Pat O'Connor (Planner), Norman Storey (Controller and Start), Elizabeth Storey (registration), Jana and Laura Cox (Computer download)

Yellow course results (punching)
Zach O'Sullivan Hourihan 46.30
Hannah O'Mahony 68.00
Isabella O'Mahony 68.00Hannah Roche 68.00

Tower Hill results

2008-11-03T19:55:00.004Z

Planner: Andrew Cox; Controls out/in: Con Murphy

Download: Laura Cox; Registration: Jana Cox, Con Murphy; Start: Andrew Cox

Apologies to everyone on the Green course for the missing control (201). I have adjusted the times below...not quite sure how to do it on the IOA website. I have allowed 10 minutes as an average time between control 1 and 3. I have deducted any time spent over this (for instance Niall took over 57 minutes!).

Full results for all courses can be found at : http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-662

Green Course (amended results)
1: Lisa Honkasaari, W40: 100.44
2: Niall McEvoy, M16: 104.12
3: Roger Johnson: M65: 105.14
4: Laura Cox: W16: 126:20
5: Ray McEvoy: M45: 136.35
6: Ian Heggs: M55: 140.08

There was a wood, a rare wood, a rattling wood...

2008-10-30T21:08:00.004Z

Members of the De La Salle Scout troop took part in orienteering training at the Minaun, Faithlegg. Part 1 was a Trail O course where they had to choose the feature at each control site. Part 2 was a normal timed cross country event.

The main thing that most of the Scouts learned was that the feature shown is in the centre of the circle on the map!

Results:
1st : Matthew Carrick; 120 points; 25.42 minutes
2nd: Jana Cox; 120 points; 34.17 minutes
2nd: Kathia O’Rourke; 120 points; 34.17 minutes
2nd: Shauna Kavanagh; 120 points;34.17 minutes
5th ; Mark Duffy; 110 points; 25.42 minutes
6th: Ciara Murphy; 110 points; 38.56 minutes
7th: Cathal Ryan; 100 points; 25.42 minutes
8th: Jessica Carrick; 100 points; 38.56 minutes
9th: Bill Power; 100 points; 41.01 minutes
9th ; Darryl Drohan; 100 points; 41.01 minutes
11th: Jack Power; 100 points; 44.38 minutes
12th: Ben Murphy; 100 points; 44.38 minutes
13th: Eoin Falconer; 80 points; 40.01 minutes
14th: Ciaran Kelly; 70 points; 40.01 minutes
Michael Simpson: 110 points:Mp
Ryan Hennessey: 110 points; Mp
Tom Deegan: 110 points; Mp
Emily Costello: 100 points;Mp
Sarah Lawrence: 100 points; Mp
Aaron Mooney: 100 points; Mp
Robert Jacob: 100 points; Mp
Ross Phelan: 80 points ; Mp
Robert Parle: 70 points;Mp

BOC (Brambles on Course)

2008-10-30T20:37:00.003Z

A small number of Wato members headed up to Curragh chase Forest park for this years Munster Championships. The event was hosted by BOC...the amount of brambles in the forest gave rise to a new nickname....Brambles on course.

One of the controls in particular gave rise to problems....the crag feature was not in the centre of the circle and many competitors searched up and down the appropriate vegetation change without immediate success.

Vincent Morgan was runner up on the M21s and I managed to blitz the M50 field (for a change!) to end up as 2008 champion.

Full results can be found on the IOA website: http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-659

Munster League 2 results

2008-10-21T19:22:00.003+01:00

Well done to Wato members who performed admirably in difficult weather conditions and some bingo controls.
http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-655

Brown Course: Andrew Cox, 2nd
Blue Course: Andrew Pim, 2nd
Green Course: Norman Storey, 1st

Training Answers

2008-10-16T09:25:00.017+01:00

Control 1: Turning Circle (widening of path, where cut logs may be stored)
Control 2: Clearing (where there is a gap in the forest plantation)
Control 3: Path/Wall junctionControl 4: Boulder (large rock in the forest)
Control 5: Earthbank end (look for the linear feature with trees on it)
Control 6: BenchControl 7: Pit (large hole in the forest, not as large as a depression)Control 8: Crag (rocky linear feature, somewhere between a loose boulder and a cliff)
Control 9: Between 2 boulders Control 10: Boulder cluster (group of large stones)Control 11: Path/track junction
Control 12: Depression (a hole, larger than a pit)
Control 13: Boulder Cluster

Primary Training Results

2008-10-15T16:38:00.004+01:00

			School	Time
Place/Points
1/120	Catherine	Mason	Faithlegg	34
1/120	Rebecca	Power	Faithlegg	34
3/110	Kelly	Goodey	Faithlegg	32
3/110	Emily	Quane	Faithlegg	32
5/110	Emily	Lalor	Butlerstown	34
5/110	Alice	Costello	Butlerstown	34
7/110	Shane	Walsh	Holy Cross	53
7/110	John	Harte	Holy Cross	53
9/100	Ciaran	Joyce	Faithlegg	17
9/100	Christopher	Connolly	Faithlegg	17
9/100	Darragh	Lynch	Faithlegg	17
12/100	Eimear	Duggan	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Aoife	Horan	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Megan	Taheny	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Martin	Costello	Butlerstown	28
12/100	David	Payne	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Jack	Tyrell	Butlerstown	28
18/100	Jack	Murphy	Holy Cross	40
18/100	Dylan	Sawyer	Holy Cross	40
20/100	Sophie	Rudi Kent	Holy Cross	59
20/100	Steffi	Brennan	Holy Cross	59
22/90	Ruari	O'Dwyer	Passage East	20
22/90	Sean	Darcy	Passage East	20
22/90	Michael	Flynn	Passage East	20
25/90	Annie	McCarthy	Faithlegg NS	23
25/90	Niamh	O'Donnell	Faithlegg NS	23
27/90	Zack	Daly	Faithlegg NS	26
27/90	Shane	Doherey	Faithlegg NS	26
29/90	Daniel	Pender	Butlerstown	31
29/90	Mark	Shanahan	Butlerstown	31
31/90	Adam	James	Butlerstown	54
31/90	Michael	Nugent	Butlerstown	54
33/90	Orla	Lacey	Butlerstown	55
33/90	Doireann	Hannigan	Butlerstown	55
35/80	Stephen	Lynch	Faithlegg NS	16
35/80	Jack	Doherty	Faithlegg NS	16
37/80	Adam	Duffin	Passage East	29
37/80	Michael	McG	Passage East	29
37/80	Cathal	Walsh	Passage East	29
40/80	Johnny	Lefter	Faithlegg NS	30
40/80	Conor	O'Brien	Faithlegg NS	30
42/80	Grainne	Kavanagh	Butlerstown	33
42/80	Sarah	Jordan	Butlerstown	33
44/80	Ellen	Conway	Butlerstown	36
44/80	Emily	Cox	Butlerstown	36
46/80	Peter	O'Neill	Passage East	37
46/80	Sean	Hayes	Passage East	37
48/80	Calum	Bolger	Passage East	65
48/80	Joshua	O'Brien	Passage East	65
50/80	Emma	McGee	Holy Cross	80
50/80	Samantha	Coffey	Holy Cross	80
52/70	Simon	Molloy	Faithlegg NS	28
52/70	Luke	Nolan	Faithlegg NS	28
54/70	Corey	Doyle	Faithlegg NS	28
54/70	Tom	O'Brien	Butlerstown	30
54/70	Nico	Clarke	Butlerstown	30
57/70	Conor	Walsh	Faithlegg NS	35
57/70	John	Phelan	Faithlegg NS	35
59/70	Craig	Hoban	Passage East	36
59/70	Kean	Kervick	Passage East	36
61/70	Emmet	Kelly	Holy Cross	53
61/70	Will	Butler	Holy Cross	53
63/70	Darren	O'Neill	Holy Cross	54
63/70	Emmet	Bergin	Holy Cross	54
63/70	Sam	O'Shea	Holy Cross	54
63/70	David	Doyle	Holy Cross	54
67/70	Ella	Fleming	Holy Cross	69
67/70	Aoife	Sludds	Holy Cross	69
67/70	Niamh	Conway	Holy Cross	69
70/70	Rachel	Heffernan	Holy Cross	??
70/70	Niamh	McGivney	Holy Cross	??
72/60	Jack	Bolger	Faithlegg NS	23
72/60	Ruari		Faithlegg NS	23
74/60	Abbie	Kennedy	Faithlegg NS	26
74/60	Amy	Orpen	Faithlegg NS	26
74/60	Emily	Unsworth	Faithlegg NS	26
77/60	John Joe	Flynn	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Rob	O'Connor	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Ingar		Holy Cross	52
77/60	Aisling	Dillon	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Nicola	Quilty	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Rachel	Pierce	Holy Cross	52
83/60	Shane	Rellis	Holy Cross	65
83/60	David	Hartery	Holy Cross	65
85/50	Anna	Pollard	Holy Cross	54
85/50	Molly	Smyth	Holy Cross	54
87/50	Ciara	Hayes	Holy Cross	62
87/50	Rebecca	Stone	Holy Cross	62
89/50	Chloe	McCarthy	Holy Cross	68
89/50	Emma	Rockett	Holy Cross	68
89/50	Lisa	Church Ward	Holy Cross	68
92/40	Colm	Kelly	Holy Cross	66
92/40	Luke	Cummins	Holy Cross	66
92/40	Luke	McNamara	Holy Cross	66
95/40	Alex	MacSweeney	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Alex	Purnell	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Shibeal		Holy Cross	68
95/40	Darragh	Stone	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Ryan	Flaven	Holy Cross	68
100/40	Lorraine	Connolly	Holy Cross	69
100/40	Erica	Collins	Holy Cross	69
100/40	Roisin	Finnegan	Holy Cross	69
103/40	Dean	Maher	Holy Cross	77
103/40	Sam	O'Sullivan	Holy Cross	77
103/40		Jordan	Holy Cross	77
106/40	Karen	Flanagan	Passage East	94
106/40	Emma	Walsh	Passage East	94
108/40	Kellie	Meade	Passage East	97
108/40	April	Roche	Passage East	97
108/40	Niall	Walsh	Passage East	97
111/30	Tabi	Roche	Holy Cross	44
111/30	Ciana	Butler	Holy Cross	44
113/30	Jenny	Morrison	Holy Cross	62
113/30	Katie	Kelly	Holy Cross	62
113/30	Mollie	Pamler	Holy Cross	62
116/30	Jamie	Savage	Holy Cross	70
116/30	Seanie	Martin	Holy Cross	70
118/30	Aoife	Fitzgerald	Holy Cross	79
118/30	C	Walsh	Holy Cross	79
120/30	Kristen	Elliott	Passage East	92
120/30	Ultan	Duggan	Passage East	92
122/30	Rachael	Croke	Passage East	94
122/30	Katie	Raferty	Passage East	94
124/30	Nicole	Hutchinson	Passage East	97
124/30	Aisling	Dower	Passage East	97

Sunny Southeast lives up to it's name!

2008-09-21T21:00:00.000+01:00

Results for the event at Slievecoilltia can be found at the IOA website

http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-635

Family fun in Uslar, Germany

2008-09-02T21:07:00.000+01:00

The Cox family headed off to Germany to compete in the Uslar 5 day event from July 28th to August 2nd. This was a return visit after great memories of 2004, the last time the region held this event.

A family event with some 18 countries represented. Local knowledge proved a big advantage to the German contingent. Trying to complete 5 days without injury and mispunching is a challenge in itself. On a personal basis I had a disaster on one control on the first day and was playing catch up after that. I managed to pull up over 20 minutes on the competitor ahead of me to finish 8th out of 16 on the M40 course. I reckoned if I was travelling that far, I would prefer to attempt courses between 7 and 8 km rather than around 6km which was on offer for the M50's.
Angela was 5th out of 10 on the W50, Jana 6th out of 9 on W14 and Laura 5th out of 8 behind 5 Germans on the W16! None of us had reckoned on the steep climbs on some of the days and heat!

Fitting Conclusion to National Heritage Week

2008-08-31T21:59:00.000+01:00

Sunny weather, at least one wheelchair and some enthusiastic families took part in a Trail O event at JFK Arboretum amongst the fuschia, budhlia and butterflies. A further 11 experienced the joys of a Score event.

Please see map and results below

Trail O = maximum score 100 points; Score O = maximum of 250 points
Andrew Pim 100+250 = 350 (42 minutes)
Ed Niland 100+250 = 350 (42 minutes)
John Casey 90+240= 330 (36 minutes)
Niall McEvoy 90+ 240 = 330 (56 minutes)
Ray McEvoy 90+ 230=320 (53 minutes)
Laura Cox (90, planner of Trail O) + 200 = 290 (58 minutes)
Angela Cox 90+ 100=190 (60 minutes)
Con Murphy 80 +120-10 =190 (63 minutes)
Ronan Kelly n/c + 250-150=100 (110 minutes)
Lisa Larkin 50+30=80 (60 minutes)
Nicola Reville 50+30=80 (60 minutes)

Trail O only (max 100)
Ian McHardy 100
Liisa Honkasaari 90
Brid Casey 90
Jana Cox 90
Hugh McEvoy 90

Eileen McEvoy 90
Ita McEvoy 90
Jacob Pim 90
Jonathan Pim 90
Emma Pim 90
Cathy McEvoy 70
Mick McEvoy 70
Richard Roche and Rachael 40
Pat and Ellen Carroll 30
Johnson extended family (8) 30
Joan and Jack Hanafin 30

Answers for Trail O event.
1= B; 2=C; 3=B; 4=B; 5=C;6=A;7=B; 8=A (on corrected version) B (on original version); 9= B; 10 = C (or B on appeal!)

Use Orienteering to discover your Natural Heritage

2008-08-20T20:46:00.000+01:00

We are looking for all our regulars to join many people new to the sport on Sunday 31st August at the end of National Heritage Week. We have even organised a sunny day at Kennedy Arboretum.
Starts between 11 and 2. Full explanation of Trail O is posted below.
For regular orienteers, there will also be a Sprint Orienteering event.There will be a mass start for this at 2 p.m. The only stipulation is that you must have first completed the Trail O course. Participants will have a maximum of one hour to get all the controls. Each control will be worth points and time penalties will incur for this event for those who take longer.
Note the full Autumn fixture list is posted on the right side of the Blog.

What is Trail O?

2008-06-25T13:06:00.001+01:00

For a full description of Trail O check out the Trail Org website.

Conventional orienteering combines fast running with precise navigation, typically through forests or over moorland. Trail Orienteering (Trail O) is a discipline of the sport designed so that people with disabilities could have meaningful orienteering competitions. It completely eliminates the element of speed over the ground, but makes the map-interpretation element much harder. Able-bodied people can compete on equal terms with the disabled.

Waterford Orienteers in association with the Office of Public Works will host a Trail Orienteering event as part of National Heritage Week on Sunday August 31st. The come and try it event will take place at Kennedy Arboretum with start times planned between 11 and 2. The event is open to all.

There will be 10 control sites in easy view of the main tracks so access is not an issue. There is no restriction on wheelchairs being pushed although the park is fairly flat. At each stopping point, the competitor will be given 3 choices (a, b, or c) to decide where the flag or kite should be correctly placed. There will be no timed control. The idea is to get all 10 controls correctly located. There is no time limit.

For details about the Arboretum check out the Heritage Ireland website.

More information will be posted later in the Summer on this Blog and also on the Disability section of Waterford Sports Partnership.

EMIT in Oak Vale

2008-06-21T19:21:00.000+01:00

By kind invitation, I travelled up to Stradbally in the early hours of Thursday morning to observe the workings of the DFO All-Army Championships. As newly appointed Development Officer with the IOA, I was interested to see how the DFO organise their events.

On arrival at Oak Vale Forest, I was relieved to find there were Portaloos.

At the JK in Bristol, I had experienced the EMIT system but this was a chance to look at the alternative more closely. The photo shows how the tablet that you carry around with you instead of an SI card is placed on the control. It gives a reading of the control number which is always a help but it does not beep. For me it is another thing to read with my wonky eyesight and I prefer the beep on the Sport Ident system which I can hear.

At 9.15, I headed off on Course 4, a lengthy 7.5 km with almost 300 metres climb. Oak Vale forest has some nice deciduous blocks and is largely runnable. Some of the later craggy areas had a bingo feel due to the variability of ground cover. An enjoyable run even though there was sometimes more navigation in the circle than between controls!!

Download and then a welcome cup of coffee and roll and chat over the courses with other early runners who were doing a little bit of checking in return for the run. The early sun gave way to some heavy showers but as ever the army were prepared with their tents for shelter.

Back out with a camera to surprise a few runners. Settled into a depression and almost witnessed Ruairi Short taking his eye out with a branch.

Thanks to Pat Farrelly for his invitation and to all his team for their excellent organisation.

Results can be found on the DFO website.

Portlaw score event refixed

2008-06-21T19:18:00.000+01:00

Please note that the Score event due to take place last Wednesday was postponed due to the awful weather. It has been refixed for Wednesday 25th June at Tower Hill, Portlaw.
We look forward to you being there. Scouts up to 7.30, everyone else mass start at 7.45.

Summertime on Bofin

2008-06-06T19:42:00.000+01:00

The Irish 3-day event returned to Inishbofin after a two year absence. Once again the sun split the rocks. The lengthy car journey from Waterford up the river Suir to Cahir castle via Carrick and Clonmel is the easy bit. Heading onward to Limerick via ,that blink it and you miss it, Limerick junction, the road gets twistier. Limerick to Galway is not bad after all the investment on the infrastructure around Shannon airport and the need to whizz coachloads of Americans off to Connemara. Galway city to Clifden along the N59 has seen major improvements in recent years but is still slow through Moycullen and Oughterard. Reaching Maam Cross, you get the feeling of being in the real Connemara with peat bogs and spectacular scenery. Last sign of civilisation at Clifden before the islands. Take the ferry at Cleggan for the 45 minute trip to Inishbofin. You arrive in past Cromwells fort which guards the entrance to the harbour. Busy weekend, two weddings (and no funeral) has booked out the island. Negative effect in that it reduces the number of orienteers that can get non-tent accommodation and makes the ferry very busy. On to our accommodation at the excellent Galley B and B/cafe on the east end of the island. Do not mention the Corncrake to those bleary eyed residents who in the interests of preserving the habitat of the bird under the REP's scheme have to listen to that blasted noise all night. What does the east end have that the west does not?...the best two sandy beaches.

On to the orienteering...day 1, short and not too technical but very steep in places on the west end of the island. Day 2 in the Middle Quarter close to the new runway was the long day with the most difficult part being navigating the new tracks close to the runway. Day 3 was close to the harbour and mixed fast running around the fort peninsula with tricky open terrain further east.
All round an excellent weekend brought to a fine conclusion by the playful antics of a school of dolphins as we docked in Cleggan.

If you get the chance next time round, I would give it 1o out of 10 for fun (oh and some orienteering!)

Where did the Summer go?

2008-05-18T22:44:00.000+01:00

Thanks to John and Brid Casey for organising the final South East League event at Tramore Sand dunes today. Where did the Summer weather go?
Full results of the event and the SE league can be found at www.orienteering.ie

The SE League finishing places are as follows:

Blue Course
1. Andrew Pim; 2. Thomas Callery
Green Course
1. Pat O'Connor; 2. Liam O'Brien
Light Green Course
1. Mark Duffy; 2. Jana Cox
There were no Orange and Yellow competitors who competed in enough events.

Please contact me to get your prize.

Thank you to all those who Planned, controlled and organised events throughout the year.

Irish Schools Relays

2008-05-14T21:19:00.000+01:00

Well done to all who competed at the Irish Schools Relay competition held in the beautiful setting of Kennedy Arboretum.
Midleton CBS dominated the Boys section winning the Senior and Minor classes with their Juniors coming in 2nd place.
Nagle Rice, Doneraile won the Minor Boys and Junior Girls with 2nd place in the Senior Girls and Junior Boys.
Ursuline, Waterford took the Senior Girls and the Minor Girls sections.
Newtown, Waterford managed runners up spot in Junior and Minor Girls.
Full results can be found in the results section of the Irish Orienteering website.

Leinster Championships

2008-05-10T21:07:00.000+01:00

A belated report on the Leinster Championships which took place at a snowbound Fair Mountain in Wicklow on April 6th.

Andrew Pim led the way with an excellent 2nd on the M40 course. Liisa Honkasaari (W40) and Laura Cox (W16) both took 3rd place on their respective courses. Pride of place goes to Jonathan Pim who braved the elements to win the M12B course. Well done!

Irish Championships

2008-05-10T20:50:00.000+01:00

Waterford based orienteers dominated in the M40 class in the Classic Race at the Irish Championships on Bere Island, County Cork with John Casey in 1st place and Andrew Pim in 3rd. Tom Callery came a respectable 6th. Neil Dobbs flew in to take an excellent 6th place on the Mens Elite race. Laura Cox missed out by 30 seconds on 2nd place, helping her injured sister to the finish. In the Short course race on Monday, Laura took the 2nd place over Cliona Gallwey who had performed well in the World Schools event.

John Casey came 2nd behind Brendan O'Brien in the short course M40 class. I managed to drop two places on the last control to finish 5th on the M50 short course...who moved that crag!!! Never listen to the people near the finish who offer helpful instructions! Neil Dobbs finished another creditable 7th on the M21 elite course.

John, Neil and I joined forces for the Open Mens Relays...Neil finished the 1st leg in 4th, John pulled the team up to 3rd after leg 2 but I made a big error on the 7th control out on the course and ended up in 6th. Nice to see a Wato team competing.