Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

Event Location: The next Leinster League event will be held on Sunday 10 November 2019 at the Vale of Clara, Co. Wicklow. (Grid Reference: T 201 909).

Event Directions and Parking: Signposted from the eastern side of Rathdrum on the R752 road to Glenealy. Parking and registration are in Ballinastraw Coillte land. 

https://goo.gl/maps/Rzvr4swkSUP7Qtik8

There will be a 20 minute walk from the registration to the start and a 20 minute walk from the finish back to registration where download will be available. The start and finish are close to one another so jackets can be left at the start for collection after the finish.  Please note that you will have to cross a road to reach the start and again after the finish.  There will be signs warning the oncoming cars but please take care. Do not park near the start as it is too narrow and would be unsafe.

Photo: Paul Smyth

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, billberry bushes can impede running speed. Where running speed is significantly impacted by billberry growth the ‘undergrowth – slow running’ screen is used to indicate this. Where billberry 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. The longer courses are contained in a relatively small area so competitors are advised to carefully check that they are navigating to the correct next control.

Control descriptions: There will be no loose control descriptions at the event. Either use the descriptions that are printed on the front of your map, or download them from the link below and print them yourself.

VoCNR LL 10-Nov-19 V5 Descriptions.pdf

Registration and Entry Fees:  Enter at the event. If you are new to orienteering, please let the organisers know and they will show you what to do. Please get in touch beforehand if you are bringing a large group so we can arrange maps and especially if you are bringing a bus.

Adult: €8

Junior/Full-time Student/OAP/Concession: €5

Family: €20

There will be a €2 surcharge for anyone not already a member of an orienteering club. The surcharge will be waived if the participant registers with Ajax Orienteers at the event. (Membership is free for the first year).

Timing: SportIdent (SI) timing will be used. SI cards are available for hire at event registration for €2. You must download your SI card after orienteering, whether you complete the course or not. Otherwise, we will not know if you have finished.

Start-times: 11:00 – 13:00.

Courses close: 15:00.

Event Officials:

Controller: Mike Long

Planner: Marcus Geoghegan

Organiser: John O’Donovan

Course Details:

Brown – 7.6 k, 275m climb

Blue – 5.9 k, 200m climb

Green – 4.5 k, 150m climb

Light Green – 3.3 k, 90m climb

Red – 5.3 k, 75m climb

Orange - 2.4 k, 70m climb

Yellow – 2.1 k, 50m climb

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 Coillte for granting permission to park in their land. Please bring reusable cups if you can to cut down on waste.

Fermanagh Orienteers and Lagan Valley Orienteers were the organisers of this years IOC, held over the May holiday weekend. The weather was perfect for racing, not cold and wet, and not so warm that dehydration became a factor.  

The sprint race (day 1) was held on the Florencecourt Estate, Fermanagh.  The terrain used was a mixture of urban detail, parkland and forest.  This was a departure from most sprint events where urban terrain is predominantly used.  It was a fine event, and a good orienteering experience.

The middle distance race (day 2) was on the shore of Lough Erne, at Castle Archdale.  The courses were fast and offered plenty of route choice.  The arena was in the impressive castle courtyard where competitors raced up and down flights of steps to reach the finish kite.

Day 3, the classic distance race was held in the Cavan Burren Park, in the area first used for IOC 1994.  The complex mixture of forest and open land provided plenty of technical challenge.  The courses had everything - fine navigation in complex forest with undergrowth and low visibility, fast running on intricate open limestone terrain and myriad route-choice.

The relay (day 4), organised by LVO, was held in Parkanaur, a recreational forest park near Dungannon.  The terrain allowed for fast running with interesting vegetation details which influenced route choice.  

Ajax podium finishers

(Roisin and Ruairi Long competed for their university club (UCDO) at the championships, but we are still claiming them as our own!!!)

Sprint (Day 1) – Florencecourt, Fermanagh

First: M20E Ruairi Long

Second: W21E Roisin Long

Middle Distance (Day 2) – Castle Archdale, Fermanagh

First: M20E Ruairi Long, M55 Aonghus O'Cleirigh

Second: M12 Cian Wickham

Third: W21E Roisin Long

Classic Distance (Day 3) – Burren Park, Cavan

First: M20E Ruairi Long, M55 Aonghus O'Cleirigh

Third: W21E Roisin Long

Relay (Day 4) – Parkanaur, Tyrone

First: H12 Aonghus O'Cleirigh, Paul Smyth, Mike Long

Roisin Long finished in the winning Premier Women's Open Class team representing UCDO, a fantastic result! Ruairi Long finished in the third placed Premier Men's Open Class team representing UCDO, again a great result.

 Event Location: The next Leinster League event will be held on Sunday 10 March 2019 on Bull Island, Dublin. (Grid Reference: O 234 370).

This is an extremely late race report on the 10^th Leinster League Event Ajax organised. We were very lucky with the weather in Carraig na Seabhac that Sunday and even the rain stayed away until the event had finished.

This Year we decided to run two courses, yellow and orange on Carrigeenduff Wood, which is in the end of CNOC’s Scar map. All other courses run on Carraig na Seabhac map.

A total of 85 participants were orienteering that day. Congratulations to everyone, who despite of the event fame, seen as being difficult technically and in rough terrain were brave enough to participate!

Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers for all the hard work!

Results: http://www.orienteering.ie/result2?oaction=fullSIResult&a... 

Route Gadget: http://www.orienteering.ie/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=...

Out next event is Dublin by Nigh on 2^nd February 2019 in Rockbrook. Have a look here for more details. We hope to see you there!

Event Location: The next Leinster League event (#10) is being organised by Ajax Orienteering Club, and will take place on Sunday, Nov. 4th. at Carraig Na Sebhac and Carrigeenduff on the Old Military Road in Co. Wicklow. (Grid Reference: O 105 055).

Event Directions and Parking: The event will be sign-posted from the Sally Gap and Laragh (see https://maps.google.com/?q=53.088364,-6.347627 for details). 

Parking is on a forest road. Please car-share if possible as there is a limited amount of parking.

Competition Area: The Orange and Yellow courses will use the north end of CNOC's Scarr Map (Carrigeenduff Wood) with their start close to registration and the Military Road. Ajax are very grateful to CNOC for permission to use their map.

All other courses will use the Carraig Na Seabhac map.

Terrain: Carraig Na Seabhac lies in the upper Glenmacnass river valley. One side of the valley is forested with thickets of young pine and scattered pine trees; the other is open hillside. There is considerable rock feature throughout. The valley is divided by a stream (the upper section of the Glenmacnass River) which is crossable by foot. The terrain underfoot varies from rough heather to grass. There are some paths in the wooded part of the competition area, but no paths in the open hillside. The valley sides are moderately steep.

Carrigeenduff lies at the North end of the CNOC map of Scarr. It is an area of mixed coniferous forest with numerous clearings, rides and tracks.

Map: The Carraig Na Seabhac map for the senior courses was surveyed in 2010-2011 by Pat Healy and partially updated in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Maps will be printed on A4 size water resistant paper at a scale of 1:10,000. Contour interval is 5 meters.

Generally boulders less than 2m in height are marked on the map with the small boulder symbol. The large boulder symbol is used for boulders larger than 2m in height. The rock pillar symbol (black area symbol) is used for very large boulders. In areas of pervasive rock detail boulders which seem small in relation to neighbouring boulders are not generally mapped. Crags are mapped both with, and without tags. The dark green screen (fight) is used to mark pine thickets and young plantation. The semi-open screen is used to map scattered trees. Lone trees are marked with a green dot symbol.

Registration and Entry Fees: Enter at the event. If you are new to orienteering please let the organisers know and they will show you what to do.

There is a €2 surcharge for any participant who is not already a member of an orienteering club which will be waived if the participant register as a member of Ajax Orienteering Club at the event. (Membership is free for the first year).

Timing: SportIdent (SI) timing will be used. SI cards will be available for hire at registration for €2. Participants must download their SI card at the download station after orienteering, whether they complete the course or not, otherwise the event organisers will not know if you have finished. Remember to return your rented SI card when you finish.

Course Details:

The Yellow and Orange courses are not suitable for buggies. There are taped routes on both the Yellow and Orange courses. These are indicated in the control descriptions. All other courses cross the Glenmacnass river.

Start & Finish: The start and finish for the Yellow and Orange courses are beside registration. For all other courses the start is approx. 1 Km. from the entrance to Carrigeenduff with the route along the Military Road. Please take care when walking on, or crossing this road, as it is usually very busy. The route to the start passes the finish.

Control Descriptions: Text descriptions are printed on the Yellow and Orange course maps. All other courses have IOF Control descriptions printed on the map. Loose control descriptions will also be available for all courses at registration.

Safety: Because of the nature of the terrain whistles must be carried by all competitors regardless of the weather. This rule will be strictly enforced with checks at the Start. In the event of bad weather the rain jackets may be compulsory. If required this will be posted at registration. Please check requirements before you leave for the start. Whistles will be on sale at registration. Full leg covering is required on all courses.

Event Officials:
Planner: Anna Musial
Controller: Marcus Geoghegan
Organiser: Marcus Geoghegan

If you are bringing a large group please let us know in advance so we can ensure we have adequate maps available.

Orienteering is an adventure sport.  You take part at your own risk.