This week’s Orienteering – September 30th

Thanks to everyone who helped at last weekend’s mountain bike orienteering on Saturday and at the first Leinster League event on Sunday, both on Three Rock Mountain, particularly to planners Justin May and Ger Butler, organisers Una May and Máire Walsh, and Sunday’s Controller Gerry Cunningham.

We hope the competitors enjoyed the extension of the map into new forest sections to the east and south east of the old area – unfortunately only the longer courses really got in there. The results are at the bottom of our results page here.

This weekend the Northern Ireland Championships are at Castle Saunderson near Belturbet, Co. Cavan, on Saturday, just across the border from the organising club, Fermanagh Orienteers. Entries have closed but there should be entry on the day courses available too. See details here. It’s a new map by Pat Healy of a big scouting centre on an old estate.

Closer to home, Ajax are running a come-and-try-it event at Marlay Park on Sunday, aimed at newcomers and novices to the sport. It’s a nice little area, mapped by Laurence Quinn, and there’s plento to do after the orienteering there – visit the craft courtyard and have a coffee. There will be 3 courses, from 2 to 5.5 km. See more information from Ajax here.

Best of luck to our M20 Eoin McCullough this weekend, one of the four-person Irish team running at the Junior European Cup in Belgium.  There’s a sprint race in Lommel on Friday, a classic distance on Saturday and a relay on Sunday,  both on forested sandy contoured areas – the Relay area “De Sahara” gives some kind of clue to the terrain (thar’s it on the left). See event details here. The other team members are M18 Paul Pruzina (LVO), W20 Niamh Corbett (CorkO) and W18 Róisin Long (AJAX).

Other activities this week include fitness training at Belfield on Monday and Thursday at 6.30, gym circuits in Stillorgan (for all orienteers) on Wednesday and Parkruns at 09.30 on Saturday.