Intervarsities 2014 Belfast

 Last weekend, a 13-strong group of DUO runners made the trip up to Belfast for the 2014/15 Irish Student Orienteering Championships which were held on a technically and physically tough sand dune area at Tyrella.

Our team for the Intervarsities this year!

Preparing for the sprint....

Pre-run socialising 

          Despite the miserable conditions and the early morning, the group was in high spirits on departure from Dublin at 8:30 on Saturday morning. A few stops and wrong turns later, everyone had arrived at the army base on which the Tyrella dunes are situated with minutes to spare before the first start.

It's all fun and games...                                    Until you have to get out of the car.....

The courses on the day proved to be very challenging with the intricate contour detail in the dunes catching many out on more than a few occasions.

 

Jana up at the start.                                                     The terrain...     

In the Mens' Long, Conor Short was the best Trinity runner in a time of 54:51 to take 2^nd place, just over 90 seconds behind UCD's Colm Moran. Eoin McCullough was the 2^nd Trinity runner in 5^th place, with Kyle Heron in 10^th and Henrik Pettersson in 12^th. Unfortunately, this was not enough to retain the Intervarsity title with UCD proving to be too strong on the day and we were left to rue our mistakes out on the course.

         

          In the Women's Long class, DUO was represented by Laura and Jana Cox and Rebecca Ni Chonchubhair. The girls, although unaccustomed to courses of this length and difficulty, took one for the team and made the step up to try to gain some valuable points for the team. The girls put in resilient performances to get round the course with Laura and Jana finishing, while unfortunately, Rebecca did not complete the very demanding course.

          In the Men's Short, beginner Tim Ryan was the first Trinity runner home to take a well-earned 6^th place in a very strong field dominated by Queen's, with Julien Beuken and Conor Dolan finishing in 8^th and 9^th positions respectively. 

                       

         Tim Ryan                                                                            Julien Bueken                               Conor Dolan  

    In the women's Short, DUO were represented by Laoise Doyle and Michelle Wong, who put in good performances to finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

 Laoise Doyle (left) and Michelle Wong (above)

          Although results-wise it was a disappointing day, with both the men's and women's teams relinquishing their Intervarsity titles to UCD, that didn't stop us enjoying ourselves that night when all of the colleges went out for dinner and some light refreshments ;)  as a group.

Eibhlin (organiser and captain of QUBOC) with Tim, Conor, Jana, Laoise & Rebecca

          The following day, after a leisurely morning and once everyone had gotten their morning coffee fix, it was time to go to Queen's Elms for a fun sprint around the college accommodation, part of which was used in the sprint when the JK came to Northern Ireland in 2011.

Everybody preparing for the sprint

QUBOC start us all off

The girls getting their games faces on!

Eoin discusses the course with UCCO captain James and last year's captain Kyle

 The courses were very tricky with many uncrossable features and controls on different levels which did their job and caught lots of people out. On the day, it was another UCD runner who took the win on the Long course, this time Cilín Corbett, with Conor Short again DUO's best runner finishing in 3^rd, only 28 seconds behind.

  Conor Short - top DUO runner 

    

As this was just a fun, extra event, courses were simply split between Long and Short. As mentioned already, Conor Short finished an excellent 3^rd, with Kyle Heron in 12^th, Henrik Pettersson in 19^th, Tim Ryan in 25^th, Clíona McCullough in 26^th (and 4^th woman), Julien Beuken in 38^th, Conor Dolan in 45^th, Rebecca Ni Chonchubhair in 46^th and Laoise Doyle in 50^th. 

 Kyle (above) and Henrik (right) proudly representing DUO

 

Tim (above) and Julien (right) exploring Queens

Rebecca and Conor enjoy their course!

Laoise sprints around

On the Short, Laura Cox finished 3^rd, while Michelle Wong finished in 5^th position.

Michelle's run shocks Conor!

Laura's accurate run!

          Despite the cold weather, and although some of the results didn't go our way, it was still a very enjoyable weekend for everyone. Congratulations to everyone who ran, especially the beginners who performed excellently in such tough conditions. 

Laoise, Conor and Michelle get their prizes for Saturday!

Post course discussion

Big thanks go to QUBOC for organising the weekend, especially Eibhlin Largey and Katarina Stefkova for all their work in making sure everything ran smoothly. Thanks to the drivers, the committee and to everyone who came! We'll be back next year!!

Munster Championships in Muckross

This year the Munster Championships took place in Muckross, near Killarney
Co. Kerry. DUO members Amy, Jana, Conor S, Eoin, Henrik and Clíona
 travelled down south to compete, along with surrogate members Roar and Regina.

Andrew, Jana, Amy and Clíona off to a wet start

Andrew coaching the DUO members

Ruth, Henrik and Clíona finish in style!

Big well done to Roar and Conor for coming 2nd and 3rd place
respectively on the M21E course and to our coach Andrew Cox
for coming 2nd on the M40 course and to Clíona for coming
 2nd on W21L! Great results everyone!

Conor looking speedy!

He's just a blur!

Henrik and Jana out on the course

2nd place Clíona!

Some very challenging courses both physically and technically and well
done to everybody for competing. Thanks to Kerry Orienteers for
hosting the event and thanks to Eoin and Andrew for their photos!

Waterford Weekend/ Déise Days /Viking 1100 race

What a great weekend! Three days of wonderful orienteering in the Sunny South East!

The beginners trying to decide where to go

A group of both experienced orienteers and complete beginners
made the arduous journey down South, thanks again to our
drivers: Conor D, Conor S, Eoin & Roar.

Map discussion post the urban race

Well done to all our beginners for completing such a tough weekend:
Ciara, Fiona, Michelle, Amy, Tim, Elisabeth, Conor and Julien
(and our surrogate DUO/UCCO member Megan)

Our beginners complete their first urban race

Julien completes his urban race

And thanks to committee members and friends for helping out:
Rebecca, Laoise, Eoin, Conor, Jana, Roar, Regina and Laura

Helpers and committee members enjoy their social time

 Thanks yet again to Andrew Cox and
his wonderful team from Waterford Orienteers for putting on
such a great weekend. And also to Nigel, Mike and all the others
who helped out with our training on Saturday in Tramore.

Megan completes a bucket list challenge and high fives
 Andrew to say thank you for the weekend

Day 1: Training in Tramore 
Wonderful new maps and wonderful new orienteers set of on
a series of challenging technical and compass work exercises in
Tramore aided by coaches Laura and Jana and organised
by the Irish Junior Squad. Everyone learnt a lot
and great fun was had by everyone. This was followed by a
great night out in Waterford city.

Jana mentors Lizzie, Fiona, Ciara, Tim & Michelle

Laura shows her group of Rebecca,  Conor, Laoise, Megan and Amy what's what

Amy and Julien practice their compasswork
  

Laoise has a dramatic finish, followed by Laura & photographer Daniel

Michelle finishing a tough training exercise

#orienteeringBANTER

So guys, this is how we orienteer...

Julien loving the SI equipment...

Map analysis by Ciara and Fiona after the event

Our lovely new ladies at our social evening on Saturday

Hanging out with UCDO and UCCO

Day 2: Munster and Leinster League Event in Castlecomer 
Well done to everybody for completing some nice technical courses in the Castlecomer Discovery Park County Kilkenny. A particular well done to Tim for coming 3rd on a very tough light green course.

The girls preparing to start their course

Roar off to a flying start

Conor, Megan & Laoise begin their courses

Rebecca making sure she stands out in the forest

 Regina, Eoin and Tim finishing strongly

                     Amy finishes her course                                                 Regina and Jana help Andrew at the start

Tim and Julien finish dramatically

Ruth our president shows us how it's done

                                       
                                                                        Michelle poses for the camera

Julien, Jana, Laoise, Tim, Eoin, Amy & Conor enjoy their scrumptious dinner

Conor, Ciara and Fiona enjoy socialising with the other universities

Day 3: The Urban Race: Viking 1100

The Urban Race was held in Waterford city to commemorate its 1100th birthday. Thanks Ken McCormack to Saint Patricks church for hosting us and giving us tea, coffee and cake. Such a unique and fun race seeing all the nooks and crannies in Waterford including all the old parts of the Viking City. Well done to Conor S for winning the Long course and to Jana for coming 2nd on the Short course.

Laoise, Michelle and Ciara sprint through the city

Roar, Megan, Rebecca and Jana enjoy the city streets

Michelle and Ciara finishing and starting respectively

Strong finish from Megan from UCCO

Julien enjoys the setting up and running as a test runner

Regina runs along the Quay

Conor passes the old viking tower and viking boat while the girls sprint along the river

The girls explore the old viking boat

Roar runs through the Bishop's Palace

Rebecca and Megan pass by Waterford Crystal

Rebecca and Megan power up the steps near Theatre Royal!

Regina and Conor finish strongly in the centre of Waterford City

Rebecca sports her DUO top 

Michelle punches in!

Where am I?

You go girls!

Roar punches speedily

Next is Rebecca

And up comes Conor!

Then Tim!

And Conor near Ireland's oldest Cathedral!

Thanks to everybody who took part, and an extra special thanks to Daniel Kelly our photographer, and his aides, Julien Beuken, Laura Cox and Jana Cox.

ALREADY EXCITED FOR NEXT YEAR!!!!