DONADEA Forest Park basked in sunshine from daybreak on Sunday, 22 January for the first event of the year. The event was organised by CNOC, the orienteering club serving Kildare and surrounding counties.
The map of Donadea Forest Park was updated by Pat Healy from Cutbush, The Curragh. Pat is skilled cartographer and is the foremost orienteering map maker in Ireland. The courses were planned by Eileen Loughman. Each course comprises a set of control points set out through the forest which must be visited in order.
The Long Course 8.4kms with 24 control points brought experienced competitors the length and breath of the forest park, through beautiful clear runable forest skirting tough terrain making use of the new pathways.
The course had plenty of route choice challenges which gave rise to lots of interesting comparison and discussion later.Angus Tyner M40 3Roc was the winner in an impressive 55.30mins. Laurence Quinn M18 GEN was second in 57.13 with Gerard Butler M21 3Roc in third place with a time of 57.40. Justin Maye from Celbridge was fourth in 58.41 just ahead of Aonghus O’Cleirigh Ajax M50 in 58.43. Jonathan Quinn M16 GEN was sixth at 63.30, a very good time for a junior. Ray Holohan M21 CNOC/DFO who finished in 68.16 made a good return after a serious leg injury.The fastest lady on the course was Eileen Walsh from Celbridge timed at 83.13 just ahead of Ruth Lynam CNOC in 84.16mins.
The Medium Course was 5.5kms with 22 control points and used the more interesting and the less physically tough areas of the forest. Tony Joyce M45 CNOC from Newbridge was first in 43.40mins. Oliver Clear from Nurney was second in 45.41 ahead of Padraig Higgins in 48.27. Pat Farrelly from Naas M50 CNOC/DFO was timed at 48.41. The star performance of the day in my opinion was Aoife McCavana W16 GEN the fastest lady in 47.56. Aoife is just sixteen and said that she made no navigational mistakes. Roisin Long another promising sixteen year old was second in 59.54. Heather Wood W50 was third lady in 63.29.
The Short Course was 3.4kms with 9 control points and was set out using the path and track network. Lots of families enjoyed this course having a good wander through the forest and not concerned with time. First in the competitive juniors was Oliver Davies in 40.17.Caoimhe May from Celbridge was second and first girl in 44.03.David and Conor Walsh 45.48 mins were third in the juniors with Oisin May fourth in 47.49.
The Adventure Trail Run was 4.7 kms.This new type of orienteering is designed to make trail runs/walks more interesting and to introduce road runners and others to the variety available in the forest.The controls are more visible from the paths and the navigation is easier with no special equipment is needed.This course was very popular with a lot enthusiastic feed back.The winner on this course was Ruairi Long M14 in 42.31 just ahead of Cian May M12 from Celbridge in 43.13.Newcomers to the sport Francis Shortt, Aubrey Dunne and Sinead Hunt also ran very well on this course.
Next CNOC Event:The Curragh11th FebruaryStart 4 to 4.30pm at Sunnyhill part of the Curragh.An Adventure Trail/Run will precede the night orienteering event.