3ROC Orienteering News 8th February 2018
The WWI trenches at the Curragh will be challenging at night!
Things are starting to hot up in the orienteering world after a bit of a break at the start of the year. This weekend we have the final Dublin by Night event on the Curragh on Saturday evening and a Leinster League event at the Pine Forest on Sunday; next week there’s an urban orienteering mapmaking symposium run by NIOA in Portadown on Tuesday and an urban race in Lisburn on Sunday 18th plus a local Setanta event at Djouce Woods the same day. (Update 13th February – the Lisburn event has been cancelled because there weren’t enough volunteers to help. What a shame. All clubs have probably had near-misses due to lack of volunteers, but it is very rare to have a cancellation for that reason. What can we as a sport do about lack of volunteers?)
See details of the Curragh event here and the Pine Forest here. Rumour has it that the Curragh event will include a furze maze!
The upper reaches of the Owendoher River at the Pine Forest
Entries for the Leinster Championships on February 25th have closed as the limit of 200 has been reached before tomorrow’s closing date, and the results of last weekend’s night event in Bushy Park and Sunday’s urban race in Kilkenny have been published on the IOA website here.
For 3ROC members it will be a treat to be able to run at the Pine Forest without having to plan and organise the event. UCDO and DUO have taken on the job, using our map. Have a look at last year’s league event, courses and routes on Routegadget here.
For those of ad adventurous disposition, the ZipIt zip-line course at Tibradden (on the eastern part of the map) is opening on Saturday 10th after the winter break: see details here.
You should also take note that the normal route from the city to the Pine Forest via Ballyboden and Rockbrook on the R116 is closed so you need to take an alternative route. Details of the road closure will be on the IOA Forum with the event details here.
Have you tried urban orienteering yet?
Good news about the Irish Championships in Sligo and Donegal on the May Bank Holiday weekend: there will be a full range of four events, from a sprint at Sligo Institute of Technology on Friday 4th May, middle distance and long distance near Lough Eske, Co. Donegal on Saturday and Sunday and relay at Finner sand dunes near Ballyshannon on Monday 7th May. See details here. Entries are now open at Fabian 4.
The website for the 2008 Shamrock O-Ringen in Kerry and Cork on the June Bank Holiday weekend has also gone live here. It’s a great three days of orienteering in fantastic terrain but isn’t always as well supported by Irish orienteers as it deserves to be. Entries are also open for the Shamrock at Fabian 4.
Reminder 1: annual subscriptions are now open: join up online here. Details on the Join 3ROC page.
Reminder 2: Remember the 3ROC social at the Dropping Well on Friday 16th. Let Nadya know if you’re coming.
Reminder 3: If you are a 3ROC member who was selected on an Irish international team in 2017, remember to let us have the details so we can give you a club support grant. This takes place at the AGM every year.
See all kinds of orienteering O-stuff and like 3ROC on Facebook here.
Reminder 4: Shrove Tuesday is next week, and that means one thing – just over 6 weeks to the JK! Entries to the Jan Kjellstrom O-Festival, this year in Stafford in England, close on 25th February. It’s one of the biggest competitions in the UK and if you haven’t yet been, it’s time to try it. See details here.
In the meantime, see you in the forest and on the streets!