Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

Event Location: Leinster League No.2 of 2022 will be held on Sunday 27 February 2022 at the Vale of Clara Nature Reserve, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow..

Event Directions and Parking: Parking and registration are in Ballygannon Wood (Grid Reference: T 184 896).  Ballygannon Wood is 1k north of Rathdrum village on the R755 (Rathdrum to Laragh road).

Parking in Ballygannon Wood is limited and single occupant cars will be asked to park in Rathdrum and either carpool and return to Ballygannon or park and walk.  The recommended walking route from Rathdrum to Ballygannon is by following the Jubilee Loop walk.  On street parking is available around the junction of Poundbrook Lane and The Woods in Rathdrum.  Access to the Jubilee Loop walk is off Poundbrook Lane at Grid Reference T 18330 88741 and the walking route will be taped from the entry point to Ballygannon Wood to the parking. The walk from the Poundbrook Lane/The Woods junction is 1.5k (15-20 minutes walking) to the parking.

Start/Finish: There is a 10 minute walk (700m) from the registration to the start and a 10 minute walk from the finish back to registration where download will be available. The start and finish are reasonably close to one another so jackets could be left at the start for collection after the finish if required.  The route to the start and back from the finish involves crossing the new pedestrian bridge across the Avonmore River – please do not let children shake or bounce on the bridge.

Terrain: The Vale of Clara Nature Reserve contains one of the largest stands of semi-natural native hardwoods in the country. The area has many paths and is rich in rock and contour detail. The nature reserve is bisected by a tributary of the Avonmore river. The stream has a steep slope on the southern side. The terrain and path network give many route-choice options. Runability underfoot in ‘white’ forest is generally fast. In places, bilberry bushes can impede running speed. Where running speed is significantly impacted by bilberry growth the ‘undergrowth – slow running’ screen is used to indicate this. Where bilberry growth is particularly dense the ‘undergrowth – walk’ screen is used. There are virtually no brambles in the forest.

Map: Maps are printed on water-resistant material at a scale of 1:10,000 for all courses on A4 paper. Contour interval is 5 meters. 

Control descriptions: Control descriptions are printed on the front of your map or can be downloaded here. They will be not be available at the start.

Registration and Entry Fees:  Entry is via the IOA pre-entry system only – there will be no entry on the day.

Adult: €8
Junior/Full-time Student/OAP/Concession: €5
Family: €20

Timing: SportIdent (SI) timing will be used. Hired SI cards can be collected at event registration. You must download your SI card after orienteering, whether you complete the course or not. Otherwise, we will not know if you have finished.  The event will not use SIAC punching.

Start-times: 10:30 – 12:30.

Courses close: 14:30.

Event Officials:
Planner: John O’Donovan
Organiser: Donal Wickham
Controller: Marcus Geoghegan

Brown – 10.9k, 435m climb, 26 Controls
Blue – 7.5k, 260m climb, 19 Controls
Green – 5.0k, 175m climb, 19 Controls
Light Green – 3.8k, 105m climb, 13 Controls
Red – 4.1k, 85m climb, 13 Controls
Orange - 3.5k, 75m climb, 12 Controls
Yellow – 2.4k, 40m climb, 11 Controls

Refreshments (Tea/Coffee) will be available at the Registration area – please bring your own cup as none will be available on the day.

Important: Please follow the country code and leave no trace principles. Please bring all of your rubbish home with you – don’t leave it to the organisers to dispose of full rubbish bags.

Thanks to the National Parks and Wildlife Service for permission to use the Vale of Clara Nature Reserve and to Coillte for granting permission to park on their land.