Happy Christmas from 3ROC

Happy Christmas, everyone, from 3ROC! We hope you have all bought your O-suits, compasses, shoes, GPS and everything, ready for the St. Stephen’s Day event on Three Rock Mountain, Ticknock, Dundrum.

This annual Christmas Score Event will start between 10.30 and 12.00 and courses will close at 1 pm sharp. At the moment the plan is for a 50-minute event, maybe with a shorter time limit for Juniors – check the 3ROC Facebook page here for the latest details.

We’ll have the usual festive features: extra points for fancy dress; hot drinks at the finish; lots of orienteers we don’t see from one end of the year to the other out stretching their legs and their brains!

How does a “score” event work? You visit as many controls as you can, in any order, within the time limit allowed. Every control has a points value (maybe 10, 20, 30 or even 50) and the further away controls are worth the most. The time limit will be 50 minutes (check this before you run!) and there is a penalty of maybe 10 points per minute or part of a minute if you are over the time. You can come back early if you like – the important thing is not to stay out too long! (The organisers need to take in the controls and go to the Lamb Doyle’s for soup!). Remember: start times are only until 12.00 and courses close at 1 pm. SportIdent timing will be used. Be prepared for the weather – last year it was pretty bad up there – just because you can see your house doesn’t mean you’re out in your back garden … but if it’s clear we might see Slieve Gullion, Carlingford Mountain and The Mournes.

If you’re elsewhere in the country over Christmas, there are events at Fota, Co. Cork on the 27th; Hoddersfield, Co. Cork on the 27th; Haulbowline, Co. Cork and Portglenone, Co. Antrim on the 28th.

If you’re not doing the Goal Mile on Christmas Day you might like to join us for the 3ROC Christmas Day run from Ticknock, now in (we think!) its 39th year. If you are doing the Goal Mile, see details here.

So – we hope to see you all at Three Rock on Saturday 26th, St Stephen’s Day.

The first race at Leopardstown is at 12.15 so you could manage them both: See here for details.

After the New Year, our next event is Dublin by Night #1 in the Phoenix Park on Friday 8th January (for insurance reasons night orienteering is only for M/W16 and above). See you there!