Championships Approaching

Four regional Championships are coming up between now and the end of November and closing dates are approaching fast.

Northern Ireland Championships
The Northern ireland Championships on October 3rd/4th have a latest entry date on next Monday, September 28th. Looking at the entry list (see here) shows numbers so far to be small enough.

The event is combined with the Senior Home International, the Ireland v England v Scotland v Wales competition for classes M and W 20 and 21. The areas being used, the Burren on the Cavann/Fermanagh border and neighbouring Crossmurrin, are largely limestone-based open ground with plenty of pits and depressions, but fairly dry underfoot.

Details of the events are on the Fermanagh Orienteers web site. FermO are a small club who have put a big effort into running these events and need our support. Saturday's race is the classic (normal distance) championships and includes the SHI Individual. The area was used for the 1994 Irish Championships where we crossed a fence marking the border between Fermanagh and Cavan on the way to the start - amid jokes like "Have you got your compass? Whistle? Passport?". You can see the map here.

Crosmurrin, featuring the spectacular Marble Arch Caves, was used for the Irish Championships and Trail-O Champs in 2007. This time it will host the SHI Relays and the NIOC Middle Distance event.

Entry for each day is separate and you can enter vis the SportIdent web site here.

Munster Championships
Cork Orienteers are staging the 2009 Munster Championships on Sunday 1st November at Toureen Wood, Bansha, Co. Tipperary, on what CorkO Chairman John Scannell describes as "... perhaps one of the last remaining mature forests on the Northern slopes of the Galtees. To run in this forest will be an experience and will demand both physical fitness and good navigational skills. The area selected has mature coniferous forest with good visibility and is free of brambles except for parts where long grass and stones will impede running. The forest has a good road track network with steep sided ravines and dry gulleys which run down the slopes which are
characteristic of Galtee maps."
The area is new to orienteering and was mapped this year by Brian Corbett and Pat Healy.
On line entries are open now here. Entries close on 14th October.

Connacht Championships
The Connacht Championships are being run by Western Eagles Galway Orienteers on Sunday 29th November. More details will be available later. Keep an eye on the WEGO web site here.

NI MTB-O Championships
If mountain bike orienteering is your personal addiction, don't forget the Northern Ireland MTBO Championships at Castlewellan, Co. Down on Saturday November 10th, run by Ivan Millar. Watch the LVO website for details here.

Coaching Ideas
On a different note, David Healy has proposed an exciting training initiative for Dublin orienteers, adding more technical training every week to supplement the physical training many are already doing. He plans a meeting at the Scarr event this Sunday: details are on the O-Group here.
He also alerts us to lots of ideas from a coaching conference in Austria. It looks great - read it here.