3ROC News 9 September 2020

Carrick Mountain event on 20th September postponed.

Unfortunately, due to increased travel restrictions on Co. Dublin due to Covid-19, we have reluctantly decided to postpone the event at Carrick Mountain. Most of the organisers and most of the competitors are based in Dublin and there are strong recommendations not to do any unnecessary travel (we know that many of you will consider orienteering as necessary!). If the situation escalates to Level 3 then it seems that virtually all sports activity in Co. Dublin will stop in any case, although this does require some clarification.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

We have also had to cancel the replacement event at Griffeen Park on the 20th due to Dublin being raised to Level-3 on the Covid scale (not to be confused with the Scoville scale – look it up if you don’t know what it is!).

We hope to be able to run a local event at Griffeen Park, Lucan, on Sunday instead. Anyone who entered Carrick will get a refund of the entry fee and a free run at Griffeen. You can still enter online Griffeen until 6 pm on Saturday 19th – see the IOA Fixtures page here. Ironically, the Griffeen event was ready to run on 15th March and was mothballed when the Covid restrictions were introduced.

We are very grateful to South Dublin County Council for allowing us to go ahead with Griffeen at such short notice. However, if Dublin goes to Level 3 then the SDCC permit for Griffeen will be withdrawn so we won’t be able to go ahead with Plan B. We should know about this on Friday 18th.

In any case, there is plenty of DIY orienteering available and details are on the IOA website here.

Orienteering continues as normal elsewhere in the country, although there may be a question mark over the Leinster Championships on September 27th, However, Fingal have more members outside Co. Dublin so it may not be an issue.

A reminder also that entries for the Northern Ireland Championships at the Burren on the Cavan/Fermanagh border on Saturday 3rd October close on Thursday 24th. See details here and enter online here.

Three Two One Leinster event this month

Come to Carrick Mountain on 20th September

Update on 19th September: Sadly, both our event at Carrick on the 20th and the Leinster Championships on the 27th have been postponed because of Covid-19 and Dublin going to Level 3.

We’re gearing up for the first Leinster League event of the autumn, our event at Carrick Mountain on 20th September. (This event has now been postponed) This event will be pre-entry only, with entries opening the previous Sunday (13th) and closing at midnight on Thursday 17th to allow us to print maps on the Friday. The forest is very varied, with a touch of Scotland (heather, rock, deer), Scandinavia (bare rock and blueberries) and even Australia (eucalyptus trees) and it’s your last chance for a run before the Leinster Championships on the 27th. Details of courses will be here, on the IOA Fixtures page, with the pre-entry details in a day or two, but the provisional course lengths range from about 2 km for the Yellow course to about 7.5 km for the Brown, and there will be plenty of climb, particularly on the Brown and Blue courses, so don’t be deceived by the distance!

Forest at Carrick Mountain

Kevin O’Kelly is organising and he’ll be looking for volunteer helpers. John McCullough is planning and Trina Cleary is controlling. (Thanks again to all who helped at our lest three events in the Phoenix Park in August). If you haven’t been to Carrick Mountain before, it’s beside Glenealy in Co. Wicklow. We’ll be parking in the forest so the entrance we’re using is on the north west side of the mountain: see the location here. You’ll have a drive of about 2 km on forest roads to the parking area.

We’ll be applying the usual Covid precautions and you’ll have to complete a simple Covid health declaration as part of the entry process. We need to avoid having more than 15 people together at any one time so please keep your distance at registration, start and download. We hope to have live results available on your smartphone so there will be no split printouts. In line with current policies there will be no toilets or refreshments.

Speaking of the Leinster Championships, entries are still open until midnight on Friday 11th but spaces are limited as there is a cap of 200 people. Remember, the event (postponed from April) is at Carnawaddy on the Cooley Peninsula in Co. Louth, across the road from our map of Carlingford Mountain, and is being run by Fingal. See entry details here.

This Sunday (13th) there’s a chance to run on a totally new area, with the GEN local event on Bray Head. Again, due to Covid-19, this is a pre-entry event only: see details here. Entries close at 9 pm on Friday 11th. Courses of 2 km, 3.3 km and 6.6 km with lots of climb!

See you in the forest!