Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

Event Location: The next Spring Cup competition, organized by Ajax , will be held on 25 March 2012 on Bull Island , Dublin. The start/finish will be at the South end of the island (Grid Reference: O 220 354).
 
Event Directions and Parking: The event is signposted from the coast road (Clontarf Road). Use the wooden bridge to reach Bull Island, and not the causeway. Parking is on the the beach. Registration, start and finish are nearby.

Registration: In order to minimise manual data input on competition day please pre-enter for the event by following this link: http://www.formstack.com/forms/ajax-BullIsland .   You pay the entry fee upon arrival to the event.  It will also be possible to enter on-the-day at the event in the usual way, but you are encouraged to pre-enter if possible.

Map: The map has been partially updated, with newly formed dunes and paths added. Maps are printed on water resistant material at a scale of 1:5,000 for longer courses, and scales of 1:4,000 and 1:3,500 for Orange and Yellow courses. Contour interval is 2.5 meters. Power lines are not displayed and the magnetic grid lines run 45 degrees to the edge of the map. For longer courses the map shows the island in two sections laid out side-by-side on an A3 sheet. Shorter courses are printed on an A4 extract. The Brown course uses a modified map with only contour, marsh and path detail shown. Control descriptions for all courses will be available at registration and will also be printed on the map.

Terrain: For anyone unfamiliar with Bull Island , the terrain consists of grass-covered sand dunes with many small paths, isolated trees and man-made features. Marshes are crossable.

Timing: SportIdent (SI) timing will be used. SI cards are available for hire at event registration for €2. All participants must download their SI cards after orienteering, whether they complete the course or not.  Otherwise the event organisers will not know whether participants have finished or not.

Start-times: 11:00 – 13:00.
Courses close: 15:00.

Note that Summer Time begins on Sunday 25 March. Clocks go forward by 1 hour.

 
Event Officials:
 Planner: Mike Long
 Controller:  Donal Wickham
 Organiser:  Aonghus O’Cleirigh

Course and Map Details:
 Brown (A3), 10.9 k, 70 m, 28 controls, 1:5000, (contours/marsh/paths only)
 Blue (A3), 8.4 k, 50 m, 22 controls, 1:5000
 Green (A3), 6.6 k, 40 m, 17 controls, 1:5000
 Light Green (A3), 4.3 k, 30 m, 15 controls, 1:5000
 Orange (A4), 2.6 k, 15 m, 16 controls, 1:4000
 Yellow (A4), 1.8 k, 10 m, 11 controls, 1:3500

Entry Fees:
 Adult: €8 (IOA club member), €10 (non-member).
 Junior/Full-time Student: €5 (IOA club member), €7 (non-member).
 Family: €20 (IOA club member), €25 (non-member).
 
Important: Bull Island is an EU designated Special Area of Conservation. Please do not cause damage or litter.

LOC 2012, organised by AJAX, takes place on 30 Sep 2012 on 'Carraig Na Seabhac' ('Rock of the Hawks').  The competition area was to have been used for the Irish Championships last year, but in the end could not because of breeding Peregrine falcons and Merlins.

The terrain is a mixture of open mountain and dense thickets, with a wealth of rock features.  The area is generally quite runnable but in places vegetation underfoot impedes progress. The map was surveyed in 2010/11 by Pat Healy.

The competiton area is bounded to the east by the Military road, to the south by the Glenmacnass waterfall, to the west by the Barnacullian ridge, and to the North by Carrigshouk mountain.

An LOC competition website will be setup before long.

The penultimate event of the 2011/2012 Dublin-by-Night league takes place this Saturday, February 4th, in Slade Valley Woods, County Dublin.

Location: Slade Valley Woods is the Northern part of the old Saggart Woods orienteering map that was used for many years for Leinster league events. It was last used for an orienteering event for a night-O in February 2008.

Directions: Drive south from Saggart Village (near Citywest Business Park) and pick up the signs for Slade Valley Golf Club. The route will NOT BE SIGNPOSTED, please follow the golf club signs - the event is very close to the golf club entrance. There is an alternative route via the N81 Blessington road, but again this will not be signposted.

Grid Ref = O 022 242

Lat/Lon = 53.25895 (north), -6.46729 (west)

Lat/Lan = 53°15'32" (north), 6°28'2" (west)

Loc8 = NT2-08-KT7

Parking: please only park on one side of the road and only park downhill from the registration car. Car pooling is encouraged.

Map: 1:7,500 with 5m contours, bagged in polypockets, A4 portrait, minor updates January 2012.

Terrain: Typical Irish plantation forestry. There has been extensive felling in the area although some pockets of nice forest remain. There is some bramble and a lot of paths/roads. Due to recent rain some parts of the area are very muddy, especially forest roads used by nearby stables. In horse-racing parlance, the going in some places is “heavy”. 

Timing: Sportident electronic timing will be used. Please make sure your sportident card is properly registered - it makes things a lot easier for the organisers. If you do not have a Sportident card, they will be available for hire for €2 each and you will be required to leave a deposit.

The start will not be manned, please organise yourselves and leave a reasonable time gap after the previous starter. The start and finish are in the same place.

Start Times & Course Closure: starts are from dark to 7PM. Control collection will commence at 8:15PM. You MUST report back to the download car even if you retire and do not finish the course. Failure to download might lead to an unnecessary search and you will be unwelcome at future Ajax Orienteering events.

Batteries: not included.

Moon Phase: waxing gibbous, high in the eastern sky.

Safety & Cancellation: This orienteering event does not visit open mountainside. However it is February and inclement weather should be expected - a rain jacket/cagoule might be mandatory. All competitors must carry a whistle. If you get hopelessly lost walk WEST along the forest roads until you reach the start/finish. If the weather on the day is severe there is always the possibility of the event being cancelled - if you are in doubt please check this website before travelling.

Under-16s: for insurance reasons under-16s are not permitted.

Novices: this event is not suitable for novice orienteers, instead you should plan on going to the orienteering event in Hellfire Wood on the morning of Sunday 5th, see the Setanta website for details.

Entry Form: please download the entry form and fill it in before travelling.

Control Descriptions: these will be printed on the front of the maps in IOF pictorial format. Loose control descriptions will NOT be available at the event - they are on the entry form (see link above). You can print them yourself or you can use the descriptions on the map. There will be no little bits of paper at the event! 

Results: Live results will be available online - bookmark this page on your mobile phone so that you can see the results as they come in. 

Long:  3.6km, 120m, 17 controls : experienced orienteers only

Short: 2km, 70m, 9 controls : experienced orienteers only

Planner: Marcus Geoghegan, Ajax

Event Location:  Autumn Series event number 5, organized by Ajax, will be held on 20-Nov-2011 on Glendoo Ridge West, Co. Dublin.  (Grid Reference: O 131 198).

Event Directions and Parking:  The event is signposted from Killakee.  Travel approx. 2.5 km from Killakee on the road towards Glencree.  Parking is off-road on tracks, and is close to the event start and finish.

Map:  The area was previously used for the IOC relays this year.  Maps are pre-marked and printed at a scale of 1:7,500 on water resistant material.  Contour interval is 5 meters.  Control descriptions for all courses will be available at registration and are also printed on the map. The Brown course has a map exchange with each course printed on opposite sides of the same sheet.

Terrain: The terrain consists of open bog-land with numerous peat cuttings, and is moderately hilly.  The ground is quite runnable, and there are some paths.  There are a number of water filled holes not marked on the map. Care should be taken, especially by children, when running near water filled holes.  No course is buggy friendly. 

Start-times:  11:00 am – 1:00 pm.
Courses close:  3:00 pm.

Timing:  SportIdent (SI) timing will be used.  SI cards are available for hire (€2) at event registration.  You must report to the finish officials even if you decide not to complete your course. If you fail to do this, the organizers have no way of knowing where you are.  At the finish, please make sure you download your SI card

Event officials:         
Controller:  Denis Reidy.
Organizer:  Donal Wickham
Planner:  Aonghus O’Cleirigh

Course Details:
Brown - 10.2 k, 255 m, 29 controls, (map exchange)
Blue - 7.4 k, 170 m, 24 controls,
Green - 5.1 k, 105 m, 19 controls,
Light Green – 3.3 k, 100 m, 19 controls,
Orange - 2.5 k, 75 m, 12 controls,
Yellow - 1.6 k, 20 m, 10 controls,

Entry Fees:
Club Members: Adult - 8 Euros, Junior / Full-time Student - 5 Euros, Family - 20 Euros.

Non-Club Members: 10 Euros.

Out-of-Bounds: For safety reasons the public road to the South-West is out-of-bounds.

Routegadget of the 2011 Irish Relay Orienteering Championships

Important:  Please do not cause damage or litter.

Nothing to see here, the whole club is focussed on organising the 2011 Irish Orienteering Championships on the May bank holiday weekend.

Are you looking for the IOC2011 Satnav PoI file? 

Leinster Autumn Series 2010 #4
Sunday November 21st 2010
Vale of Clara Nature Reserve, County Wicklow
Grid Reference T 185 923
Loc8 Code: SNQ-79-CX9

The Vale of Clara Nature Reserve is the area formerly known to orienteers as Cronybyrne. The new 2009 map is a part of the larger Cronybyrne/Ballinastraw area initially surveyed in the early 1980s, incorporated into the Claravale map for the 1987 World Military Championships (CISM) and used for the 1993 Leinster championships as well as numerous Leinster League events.

Organised by: Ajax Orienteering Club, ajax.orienteering.ie

Online Check-In: This orienteering event is using an online check-in system - please use it as it will make things much easier for the hard-pressed organisers if they know in advance that you are coming to the event. However you will also be welcome even if you just turn up and enter on the day. The online check-in system will close at 10PM on Saturday November 20th. You can see who has already checked-in here.

Newcomers: This orienteering event is suitable for beginners and experienced orienteers alike. Bring clothing that is suitable for a day out in the woods, e.g. raincoat, boots/old runners and clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. It is best to arrive by about 11AM.

Groups: if you plan to bring a group to the event please email ajax@orienteering.ie as soon as possible so that we will have enough pre-printed maps.

Directions: There will be signposts from Laragh, County Wicklow. In Laragh turn south at Lynham's pub onto the Rathdrum road; after about 400m you will reach a junction where a small road goes straight ahead and the main road veers right across a narrow stone bridge. Take the small road straight ahead and drive for about 6.5km to the event. Parking will be in a Coillte forest north of the nature reserve - please follow the marshals' parking directions. For orienteers living near the N11/M11 there is a viable route via exit 15 for Ashford and onwards to Garryduff crossroads. This route will not be signposted.

Map: 1:10,000 with 5m contours, printed on waterproof paper, A4 landscape, updated Summer 2009 by Marcus Geoghegan, minor revisions Autumn 2010.

Terrain: Mature Oak woodland with occasional Scots Pine and Birch.  Visibility is nearly always good but runnability varies - underfoot you will find sedge grass, Fraochán bushes (bilberry) and bracken fern. In some areas runnability is impeded by high bracken - these areas have been mapped with widely spaced green hatching. There are a few small areas of bramble which have been mapped with closely spaced hatching. During the 1990s a long-term project was started to return the Reserve to native woodland so most non-native trees (plantation conifer & hemlock) have been removed. Here are some photos of the terrain. The Irish Farmer's Journal has written a good article about the area's wonderful flora and fauna.

Sportident electronic timing will be used. Please make sure your sportident card is properly registered - it makes things a lot easier for the organisers. If you do not have a Sportident card, they will be available for hire for €2 each and you will be required to leave a deposit.

Registration will be at the car park entrance.

Start Times & Course Closure: starts are between 11AM and 1PM. Courses close at 3PM promptly and the controls will be collected at this time, so please make sure that you have reported to the download tent before 3PM.

Start: Approx 15 minutes walk from the parking/registration. The first 250m of this walk is along the road you travel to the event on. The remainder of the walk is along a quieter road that leads down to Clara bridge. Please accompany juniors.

Finish: Adjacent to the parking and registration area.

Download: when you return to the car park you MUST download your sportident card - the place to do this will be clearly signposted. You must download even if you retire and do not finish the course. Failure to download might lead to an unnecessary search and you will be unwelcome at future Ajax Orienteering events.

Clothing transfer: There will be no clothing transfer system in operation.

Safety & Cancellation: This orienteering event does not visit open mountainside. However it is November and inclement weather should be expected - a rain jacket/cagoule might be mandatory. All competitors must carry a whistle. If you get hopelessly lost walk north (usually uphill) along the forest roads until you reach the tarmac road where the car parking is located. The brown course crosses Cronybyrne Brook - please use the bridges and do not attempt to wade across. If the weather on the day is severe there is always the possibility of the event being cancelled - if you are in doubt please check the Ajax website (ajax.orienteering.ie) before travelling. The quarry in the centre of the map is dangerous and should not be approached from above; however no course is planned in the vicinity of the quarry. Horses occasionally use the Reserve - please watch out for them as a startled horse can be dangerous.

Control Descriptions will be printed on the front of the maps in IOF pictorial format, except for the yellow course which will have text descriptions. CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE EVENT. You can download the control descriptions and print them yourself, or you can use the descriptions on the map. There will be no little bits of paper at the event!

Results: weather permitting, live results will be displayed on a computer screen beside registration. Live results will also be available online - bookmark this page on your mobile phone so that you can see the results as they come in. Full results, including splitsbrowser, routegadget and winsplits will be available on www.orienteering.ie on the evening of the event.

Leinster Autumn Series: this event is the fourth of five in the 2010 Leinster Autumn Series - you can see the automatically updated current league standings in the results section of www.orienteering.ie. Best 3 of 5 to count.

Refreshments: tea/coffee/biscuits will be available near the registration.

Course: Length, Climb, #Controls : Suitability
Brown:  7.5km, 325m, 26 : very experienced orienteers only
Blue: 5.8km, 245m, 19 : experienced orienteers only
Green: 4.7km, 170m, 16 : experienced orienteers only
Light Green: 3.6km, 120m, 13 : improvers
Orange: 2.3km, 100m, 12 : "off the paths"
Yellow: 2.2km, 90m, 12 : novices/young juniors/families

Buggies: the yellow course is not suitable for buggies, however there are nice buggy-friendly marked trails in the nature reserve.

Acknowledgements: Ajax thanks the National Parks and Wildlife Service for permission to use the reserve and Coillte for permission to park in Glenwood.

Planner : Marcus Geoghegan, Ajax
Controller: Peter Kernan, Ajax
Assistant Controller: Mike Long, Ajax
Organiser: Denis Reidy, Ajax

Orienteering is an adventure sport, all competitors take part at their own risk.

Ajax are running a non-league orienteering event in Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, South Dublin on Sunday October 17th, 2010. Start times are between 11AM and 1PM. Courses close at 3PM. There will be three courses: Long, Medium and Short. The event is suitable for beginners and experienced orienteers alike. Beginners do not need to bring anything other than a pair of runners and a rain jacket. You do not need to pre-enter, just turn up and enter at the event. It is best to arrive at about 11AM.

Motorists should enter the park via College Road which runs parallel to the M50 at the park's southern end.

Many buses go to the northern end of the park - go to the route planner on dublinbus.ie and select "Grange Road, Three Rock Hockey Club, Stop 2980" as your destination, and then walk south through the park to the event start in the southern carpark.

Sportident electronic punching will be used. If you have an SI card please make sure it is properly registered in the database.

Maps are pre-printed with control descriptions on the back. If you want loose control descriptions then download them here, they will not be available at the event.

Bookmark http://orienteering.ie/live/view.php?marlay to get live results from about 10:30 onwards.

Planner: Denis Reidy, Ajax

More information about Marlay Park is available on wikipedia.