Friday, April 30, 2010

Summer O-Hols

For those planning summer hols or those looking to take in some international orienteering over the next couple of months, see below:
See earlier post re the Irish 3-day in Donegal. Last day for cheaper entries is today!
International: (Info from Event Websites)
Lakes 5-day:
The North West Orienteering Association invites you to take part in a holiday week of quality orienteering in and around the English Lake District, home of some of the country's most dramatic scenery and finest orienteering areas. The overall competition will incorporate five individual regional events between Sunday 22nd and Friday 27th August 2010, with one rest day. The last day for early entries is also today.
The focus of the event will be the small town of Coniston at the north end of Coniston Water. Camping will be at the Coniston Hall campsite on the lake side and two of the events will be within a cycle ride.
Day 1 - Sunday 22 August 2010 - Swindale North
Situated at the north end of Haweswater - a reservoir supplying water to the city of Manchester - Swindale North is a fast and intricate open fell requiring accurate navigation at all times. The area has hosted a number of major orienteering events in the past.

Day 2 - Monday 23 August 2010 - Tarn Hows South & Guards Wood
This event is within walking distance of the camp site and the centre of Coniston. It consists of two areas of mixed complex woodland. The lake (Coniston Water) is on one side and there are views of The Old Man of Coniston mountain to the south west.

Day 3 - Tuesday 24 August 2010 - Harrop Tarn
Harrop Tarn is an intricate forest with an adjacent complex open fell situated on the west side of Thirlmere - another reservoir supplying water to the city of Manchester. The mapped area of fell includes a new extension which has not previously been used for orienteering. This area is generally highly detailed, with some wetter areas and expanses of mostly runnable heather. Across the reservoir there are views of Helvellyn, one of the highest mountains in the Lake District.

Rest day - Wednesday 25 August 2010
Wednesday is a rest day when you can enjoy the many outdoor and tourist attractions of the Lake District National Park.

Day 4 - Thursday 26 August 2010 - Caw
Caw is an area of very complex open fell, requiring careful navigation at all times. It is situated high above the valley on the Dunnerdale Fells and reaches over 500m at its highest point. The car park is a 9km cycle ride from the camp site.

Day 5 - Friday 27 August 2010 - Helsington Barrows
Helsington Barrows is a fast open limestone area with many rock features. The challenge will be to keep up the concentration whilst running hard.

The White Rose Event
The White Rose Multi Day Orienteering Event in North Yorkshire will directly follow the Lakes 5 event. It is based near Helmsley and will run from the 28th to the 30th August. It is 140km from Helsington Barrows to the White Rose campsite at Baxton’s Strip – 2 hours 25 minutes drive (courtesy of Google maps!). For more information visit the White rose website.
Tyrol 6-day:
There are a number of CorkO, BOC, WatO, AJAX and FIN orienteers heading to all or part of this event.
The hosting clubs Laufklub Kompass Innsbruck (Austria) and Terlaner Orientierungsläufer (Italy) warmly welcome you to the six days of North and South Tyrol 2010, a multiday orienteering competition in the heart of the Alps. The races are held in areas close to the border between Austria and Italy. While the first three stages are held in the South Tyrolean Dolomites (Italy), approximately 30 km from Bolzano/Bozen, the second half will take place in Wipptal valley in Northern Tyrol (Austria), not far from the olympic city of Innsbruck.
Both North and South Tyrol are famous all over the world for their outstanding beauty, where breathtaking mountains tower above the valleys. It is a paradise for every kind of outdoor activities both in summer and winter.
Events:
Saturday 26th JuneOpening and Prologue in Deutschnofen

Sunday 27th JuneStage 1 - Long distance at Karersee

Monday 28th JuneStage 2 - Middle distance at Karersee

Tuesday 29th JuneStage 3 - Long distance in Deutschnofen

Wednesday 30th JuneRest day, training possibilities and sightseeingEvening sprint race in Fulpmes (North Tyrol): Invitation sprint orienteering (PDF)

Thursday 1st JulyRest day, training possibilities and sightseeing

Friday 2nd JulyStage 4 - Long distance

Saturday 3rd July - WRE Stage 5 - Middle distance (valid as Austrian Cup)

Sunday 4th July - WRE Stage 6 - Long distance at Obernbergersee (valid as Austrian long distance Championships).
Baltic Cup 2010

21-24 May 2010

E1 –Friday 21. 05. 2010
E2 –Saturday 22. 05. 2010
E3 –Sunday 23. 05. 2010
E4 –Monday 24. 05. 2010

21-24 May 2010
Two-days, individual, ranking after two stages. 21.05 and 24.05 with classification after every
Wejherowski.

Scottish Champs 2010
Rannoch Forest: for more info see here
Entries for Seniors increase from £13 to £15 on the 1st May.Individual (World Ranking Event) - Saturday 29th MayRelays (Round of the UK Relay League) - Sunday 30th MayOnline Individual entries at oentriesOnline Relay entries at oentries

Trondheim Open
Sprint: Friday 11th of June
Arena Friday: Nissekollen, Nardo
Middle distance: Saturday 12th of June
Arena Saturday: Tømmerholt
Chasing start: Sunday 13th of June
Arena Saturday: Tømmerholt
Event Website. This is a good event in the lead up to WOC 2010
North American Orienteering Champs
Thu July 1 NAOC Model Event Cranbrook, BC
Thu July 1 Thomass Event Kimberley,
July 2 NAOC Middle (WRE) * Cranbrook,
Sat July 3 NAOC Long (WRE) * Cranbrook,
Sun July 4 NAOC Sprint (WRE) * Cranbrook,
July 5 - 6 Junior Training Camp Cranbrook,
July 5 - 6 IOF Event Advisors Clinic Kimberley,
Tue July 6 Sage Sprint Kamloops,
Wed July 7 Sage Middle Kamloops,
Following Week: Whistler Barebones event
Fri July 9 Long ** Whistler, BC
Sat July 10 Sprint ** Whistler, BC
Sun July 11 Middle (WRE) ** Whistler, BC
Mon July 12 Middle Whistler, BC
Tue July 13 Long Vancouver, BC
Wed July 14 Sprint Vancouver, BC
See event website for more info
O-Ringen
O-Ringen is the world's greatest orienteering event. It is held annually, during July, in a different location each year in Sweden. The competition, which started in 1965, was originally called the "5-Days". As the name suggests, it takes place over a five day period, with an individual race on each day.

Wednesday 21st July
O-Ringen town opens
O-Ringen Academy starts
Junior Camp in Knottebo starts
Veteran Camp in Annaboda starts

Friday 23rd July
Training race at Annaboda

Saturday 24th July
Opening ceremony and youth relay
at the city centre of Orebro.

Sunday 25th July
Day 1. Arena – Kilsbergen.
Long distance.

Monday 26th July
Day 2. Arena – Dovra sjoar.
Middle distance.

Tuesday 27th July
Day 3. Arena – Dovra sjoar.
Long distance.
Day 3 – Elite series.
Arena – Stadsparken. Sprint.

Wednesday 28th July
Activity day.

Thursday 29th July
Day 4. Arena – Kagelborg.
Long distance.

Friday 30th July
Day 5. Arena – Orebro University.
Long distance.
This is one event not to be missed!
WOC Tour 2010
Fancy running alongside the greatest orienteers in the world for one week?? 9-14th August
The WOC Tour 2010 is a 5-day public orienteering event organized by WOC 2010. All races will be held in the same terrain as the WOC. Challenging courses will be offered in relatively fast terrain typical for the area. In addition to the races, we will create a fantastic setting around the fight for the WOC medals. On the same days as events 2 and 3, Hovedløpet (Norway’s youth championship for 14-16 year old orienteerers) will be organized. Everybody will have the possibility to be a spectator at these races. Junior athletes will fight for Craft-cup points at events 1 and 3.
WOC 2010 starts with a spectacular Sprint Final in the centre of Trondheim on Sunday 8th August (afternoon). There will be entertainment and a general get together at the Town Square – not to be missed! Also be sure and cheer on your fellow Irish orienteers, who will be battling it out for hot places in the A and B finals. Final team selection is being made soon. Congrats and best of luck to BOC's Nick Simonin who received automatic selection after a fantastic weekend at the Irish Championships last weekend in Derry. (I hope to put up details of the live tracking from WOC closer to the time!)
This is only a sample of upcoming orienteering festivals. If anyone hears of any other events or is heading to any, let us know. Would love to see some reports from international events anyone will be heading to. I (Sharon) will be heading to the Tyrol event so will report back on that. All reports/articles greatly appreciated!!
I hope you will all try out the Norweigan style event in Farran Forest Park on Sunday. This is a map memory type event.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Irish 3-day 2010 Donegal

Organisers: Galway Orienteers “The Western Eagles” (WEGO)

Dates:
Day 1 Sat 5th June Starts 4-6pm
Day 2 Sun 6th June Starts 11am-1pm
Day 3 Mon 7th June Chasing Start 10am

Venue: East of Lough Eske, Co. Donegal Grid Ref. G 985 841 Signposted from N15 about 6k South West of Barnesmore Gap and about 4k from the roundabout East of Donegal Town

Parking:
The assembly area and parking for all three days is the local Community Centre and Sports Pitch across the road. Parking Fees are €5 for weekend. Please have coins and park as directed

Entries: Online entries

Fees Per Day:
Early Fees up to Fri 30th April: Adult (€12) Junior/Student (€6) Families (€30) Over 65 (€10)
Late Fees up to Fri 21st May: Adult (€15) Junior/Student (€7.50) Families (€37.50) Over 65 (€12)


Course Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
1 M21L 5.1k 250m 9.2k 365m 8.2k 370m
2 W21L M35, M20 4.2k 225m 8.5k 300m 7.6k 355m
3 M18, W20 M40/45 W35 3.9k 200m 7.2k 275m 6.3k 305m
4 M16, W18 M21S/50/55 W40/45 3.1k 140m 6.0k 240m 5.5k 280m
5 M60, W50 W55, W21S 2.8k 110m 5.2k 215m 4.9k 230m
6 M65/70/75, W16/60/65/70 2.6k 120m 3.2k 140m 3.5k 155m
7 M14, W14 2.0k 80m 1.9k 75m 2.3k 80m
8 M12, W12, M10, W10 1.9k 70m 1.9k 70m 2.3k 80m

Terrain: Open undulating moorland, with intricate contour detail and few tracks and paths. Ground cover varies from bare rock to low heather. Most of the re-entrants contain marsh with some uncrossable. All rock features are not mapped; the black line symbol without tags will be used for most crags. All rough open land is shown as 20% yellow.

Maps: Scale 1:10,000 with 5 Metre Contours, Size A4
Surveyed 2008 by Pat Healy, Curragh Naas Orienteering Club (CNOC) and Padraig Higgins, Midland Navigators (MNAV)

Start List: Published on O groups

Timing: Sportident electronic punching

Travel and Accommodation Information: here

BOC on Top at Irish Champs

The Irish Orienteering Championships took place at the weekend in Magilligan Strand in Co. Derry. A small number of BOC members travelled up to the three-day event.

Day One, Friday was a tempo and Sprint event around the Coleraine Campus of the University of Ulster. This was a fantastically fast and not to be under estimated event with attention to detail and speed the key to success here. Some upsets were seen in both the M and W 21E with some key performers mis punching. Not a kind mistake as this was to be a selection race for WOC 2010. The men's title was taken by our very own Nicholas Simonin who stormed home in a highly impressive time for the 2.3km course. The women's title was nabbed by LVO's Susan Lambe. Congrats to both on automatic selection for WOC.

Mens sprint:
1st Nicolas Simonin 15:35
2nd Seamus O'Boyle 16:03
3rd Bill Edwards 16:19

Womens sprint:
1st Susan Lambe 18:43
2nd Rosalind Hussey 19:07
3rd Ciara Largey 19:28

Saturday was the Classic Distance Irish Champs with perfect conditions allowing for some great runs on the day. The event was held in Magilligan Strand, where the NIOC and BOC events were held in previous years. The courses were fast and demanded full concentration. The dunes were highly runnable with good visibility, meaning that speed was the key to success once more. Course lengths for some courses were shorter than in previous years meaning the winning times were much faster than the usual 60mins estimate. Once more, Nick stormed home to an impressive victory, proving he was the man to beat at the weekend. CNOC's Niamh O'Boyle also ran an impressive race, finishing 8 mins ahead of her next rival.

1st Nicolas Simonin BOC 71:55
2nd Andrew Quin 3ROC 73:42
3rd Bill Edwards CorkO 75:40

Women's Elite:
1st Niamh O'Boyle CNOC 46:29
2nd Ciara Largey FermO 53:09
3rd Rosalind Hussey FermO 56:00

Other BOC results from the weekend were:
Classic:
4th M12 Zac O'Sullivan-Hourihan
4th M18 Josh O'Sullivan-Hourihan
6th M45L Paul O'Sullivan-Hourihan
7th W21E Sharon Lucey

Full results can be found here for all events. Full Sprint results are currently unavailable. The weekend was incredibly well organised and NWOC and LVO put on a great weekend, turning everyone's attentions to this time next year when JK2011 comes to Northern Ireland.

The next couple of months will have some more big events.
  • Leinster Champs are on in two weeks time in Carlingford, 15th May. Visit here to get yourself entered in the next couple of days.
  • Irish 3-day is on the June Bank Holiday, 5th - 7th June at Tamhan a Fhuile, Loch Eske, Co Donegal. Full details on the event on the WEGO website.
  • Northern Irish Orienteering Championships are this year being held in June, away from its usual spot in September/October. This will be held on 19th June (Sat) by LVO in Tollymore. Keep an eye out on the LVO website for further info on the event.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

IOA AGM 2010

The venue for the 2010 AGM is Limavady Recreation Club, close to Day 2 and Relays of the Irish Orienteering Championships. There will be food available and a bar. The Limavady Recreation Club is a Tennis and Bowling club, there are only 2 showers available but there are large changing rooms we can use. The schedule is;

5.30 pm Food
6.15 pm winners route/route gadget
6.30 pm AGM
7.30 pm IOA Annual Awards
7.40 pm JK 2011 Update
7.45 pm Juniors Quiz

Food will be Irish Stew with Fresh bread rolls and Apple Pie with Fresh Cream for dessert at a cost of stg£6.50 per head.

AGM Agenda:

1. Opening and Welcome
2. Apologies
3. Minutes of 2009 AGM
4. Chairman’s address
5. Officer’s reports
a. Treasurer
b. Mapping Registrar
c. Fixtures Secretary
d. Junior Affairs Officer
e. Orienteering Education
f. Development
g. High Performance
h. Communications
i. Technical
6. Motions (if any)
7. Nominations for election of officers
8. Election of Officers
9. Any other business

Please find all other info here

Thursday, April 8, 2010

JK Successes

BOC's Nicholas Simonin was among the top ten senior orienteers at the JK in Devon this Easter, finishing strongly in 7th place overall in M21E. The best Irish result of the event came from CNOC's Niamh O'Boyle, with a fantastic 4th place overall finish in the W21E.

A good number of BOC members headed to the event and some good results were seen. In the junior categories, Alex Simonin 23rd (M16), Zac O'Sullivan Hourihan 23rd (M12), Josh O'Sullivan-Hourihan 28th (M18) and Christine O'Donovan 12th in the W20.

In the M45 category there were three club mates competing against each other, with Paul O'Sullivan-Hourihan finishing strongly in 61st place ahead of John O'Donovan (85th) and Pat O'Donovan just a few minutes behind (88th). Pat Murphy was 108th in the M50L.

A full set of JK results can be found here. Don't forget next year's JK will be closer to home and is being run by the NIOA, so be sure and note it in your diaries. This is the largest orienteering event in the UK every year and attracts hundreds and hundreds of competitors from all over the UK, Ireland and Europe. Details on the JK 2011 can be found here. Anyone who was at this year's JK and wants to write a short report on the event, please feel free to send it on. Would be interesting to hear how people found the Classic distance on the sand dunes. Maps are available for most courses on Route Gadget. Day 3's map is available here.

And don't forget, last date for cheaper entries for the IOC is Monday!