Thursday, January 7, 2010

Portugal O Meeting 2010

It is that time of year again when people are beginning to plan some international trips. First up this year is the Portugal Orienteering Meeting (POM) 2010. Last year ten senior orienteers from various IOA/NIOA clubs attended the event, including 2 BOC members, Donncha Cuttriss and Sharon Lucey. This year's event takes place 12-16th Feb, approx 100km north of Lisbon. There is also the option of tying in with NAOM 2010 the following weekend.
The event is made up multiple events including:

Fri 12Feb: Model Event POM 2010
Sat 13Feb: Day1 - Long
POM 2010 and Evening Night Sprint
Sun 14Feb: Day2 - Middle WRE
POM 2010 + Official Dinner
Mon 15Feb: Day3 - Long
POM 2010 + Orientshow
Tue 16Feb: Day4 - Middle POM 2010
Wed-Thu 17-18Feb: : Training in Figueira/Mira/Cantanhede area
Thu 18Feb: Travel to Crato (Alentejo)
Fri 19Feb: Model Event NAOM 2010

Sat 20Feb: Day1 - Long NAOM 2010
+ Evening Night Sprint
Sun 21Feb: Day2 - Middle Distance NAOM 2010


Last year the group travelled with a company called SunO, who specialise in orienteering holidays in Spain and Portugal. This year we are looking at alternative options that may work out cheaper. This is dependent on numbers, travel dates etc. Most people are availing of the AerLingus option of flying Dublin-Lisbon on either Thursday 11th or Friday 12th of Feb and returning on Wednesday 17th. Two people are also staying on to participate in NAOM the following weekend. This is an excellently organised and highly competitive event that provides a category for every level of ability and age category. It is also a very good option for families, though it does not tie into mid-term breaks for most schools. At present there are 8 confirmed people travelling with a number of others still deciding. As the deadline for entries is fast approaching (6th Feb) it is recommended that people start thinking and planning. Flights are working out at around €100.

If anyone is interested in attending please contact me (sharonlucey at gmail dot com) for details of accommodation and prices and an idea of what is happening! Full details for POM are available here and for NAOM. Price options for SunO can be found here. You can also check out last year's report in this Blog under March 2009.