Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

If you said you were going to the Trail O Champs to beat all the LVO heads pipping no less than Wilbert Hollinger on the timed sections, I don't doubt that there would be some who would mutter into their beards and express doubts about your sanity.

Cian O'Reilly can take a great deal of satisfaction in having done precisely that at the championships two weeks ago.
If you look at the results on the link below you will see Cian's name at the top of the list having beaten all the LVO gang.
http://nio.jeit.biz/lvo/trailo-2008/

The Ajax team took fourth position in the relay but also played a hand in the winning team.  Niall Ewen, pictured below, led out the race at the 7am start, guesting for the CNOC winning team.

Mike Long put in a strong finish over the long last leg over Lugnaquilla to pull back two positions for the fourth slot.   Ajax team was Peter Kernan, Andrew McCarthy, Mike Long.

Photo: Gerry Brady IMRA

Report:   http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/528/

Paul Smyth, Ajax ,won race 2, went into the 22Km final needing to finish ahead to win the Series.     Both Paul and Moira made errors in the early stages and with the race splintered by route choice options, who would get back first wasn't clear.
In the end Moire's relentless pushing on saw her cut back across from Corrig directly to the Lough Brae finish well clear of Paul.
Aonghus O'Cleirigh(Ajax)'s time of 3hrs 17mins gave him the win on the day but Moire came in second to take the series.
Organiser, Joe Lalor, has put together a brand that works well.   Pushes to the limit physically and punishes you if you let your brain slip.   Well worth getting to next year.

Photos: http://www.imra.ie

http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/525/

Peter Kernan

Roisin Long  (Ajax, Loreto Grange Road) has run almost 20 events this season. But the most satisfying ones must be the 3 Primary Schools Events in which she won every event.
The last one, the Leinster Championships, at St Anne's Park she won in a time 10 mins ahead of 2nd place.
Definitely a big  "Well done" from all the club.
Here she is on a bright April Sunday at Carlingford.

Colm Rothery led in the field on the 9 km Brown course 37 seconds ahead of John Casey making it an Ajax one, two on Sunday.   

Off the back of a hard cross country the day before in which he beat rival Gerry Brady (Setanta) he was well pleased given it was his first outing on the map.   Reckoning the time could have been pushed into the low 50s his approach of navigating off larger features and isolated vegetation lost him time when the intricate contour detail of Aonghus O'Cleirigh's map was the way to go.

A rise in form may see him mount a challenge at the upcoming Leinster championships at Fair mountain but he will face stiff competition from some of the younger contingent absent on Sunday.
The Quinns, Laurence M14 and Jonathan M12 made it a double for GEN (Great Eastern Navigators) with Laurence taking first place on Light Green, Jonathan first on Orange.   Both won against large strong fields.

Una May (3ROC) showed her experience and put two mins between herself and Maritta Kymalainen (Setanta) at the top of the Green course.

James Millar, M10, LVO (Lagan Valley) was the winner for the Millar clan taking a clean win on the Yellow course.

Denis Reidy (Organiser), Donal Wickham (Controller) and Aonghus O'Cleirigh (Planner/Mapper) of the organising club Ajax produced a faultless, high quality event which must rank as a leading League event if not championship standard.

Two maps were used, the original Bull Island map and a new section, north of the original, the latter as technical as the first and deemed by some more so because of less large features.

http://orienteering.ie/results/FullSIResults.php?528

Peter Kernan

Fiona O'Brien (AJAX) at the beach.   Photo: Martin Flynn

Spring Cup Event Four:  The next Spring Cup competition, organized by Ajax, will be held on 24-Feb-2008 on Bull Island, Dublin.  (Grid Reference: O 233 370). 
 
Event Directions and Parking:  The event is signposted from the coast road (James Larkin Road).  Use the Causeway road to reach Bull Island.  Please park on the causeway and not on the beach - high tide is at 13:30.
 
Map:  The previously mapped area has been extended by 1.3 km North-Eastward along the coast.  Maps are pre-marked and printed at a scale of 1:5,000 on water resistant material.   Contour interval is 2.5 meters.
 
Terrain: For anyone not familiar with Bull Island, the terrain consists of grass-covered sand dunes with many small paths.  Power lines are not marked on the map. 
 
Orienteering hint:  Use the distinct lone trees dotted around the map to simplify navigation!
 
Start-times:  11:00   – 13:00. 
Courses close:  15:00. 
 
Timing:  SportIdent (SI) timing will be used.  Either bring your own SI card or hire one at event registration.  All participants must download their SI cards, whether they complete the course or not.
 
Event officials:          
Organiser:  Denis Reidy
Planner:  Aonghus O'Cleirigh
Controller:  Donal Wickham.
 
Course Details:
Brown, 9.1 k, 50 m, 28 controls, map exchange
Blue, 7.1 k, 40 m, 27 controls, map exchange
Green, 4.6 k, 25 m, 23 controls,
Light Green, 3.2 k, 20 m, 20 controls,
Orange, 2.2 k, 15 m, 16 controls,
Yellow, 1.6 k, 10 m, 13 controls,
 
Crossing Points:  Use the crossing points marked on the map.  For safety reasons please do not cross public roads or race on them. 
 
Important:  Bull Island is an EU designated Special Area of Conservation.  Please do not cause damage or litter.