This week’s orienteering: February 24-March 2

We had a small turnout for our navigation training on Three Rock last Saturday, on a bitterly cold and windy day. Next time we’ll choose a nicer location and give you more information about precisely what techniques we’ll be focusing on so you can decide what to work on.

A poorly supported Leinster Spring Cup run by Fingal at Rossmore, Co. Monaghan on Sunday saw only 60 competitors attending, with no outstanding performances from 3ROC. Maybe Monaghan in February isn’t to everyone’s liking, even though it’s a nice and varied area.

Next week, though, sees some great action close to home: DUO are running a Campus Sprint in Trinity College on Saturday, starting from 2 to 4 pm. This is a fund-raiser for the Irish Junior Squad, so come along and support it, and in the process discover the parts of Trinity that the tourists never see! This was a great little event last year and remember that it’s sprint for the mind as much as for the body!

Sunday’s Leinster Spring Cup on our map of Clarabeg will include the Irish Student Championships hosted by UCDO. This will give us all a chance to run on Clara/Trooperstown without having to actually put on the event and take in the controls afterwards (though I’m sure the students wouldn’t turn down any offers of help). Clarabeg is SE of Laragh and should be signposted from there. See the map and courses from our event last spring here. If you can help UCDO to put out controls on Saturday morning, e-mail ucdorienteering@gmail.com and offer.

If Sprint-O is not your thing and you’d like to head North, LVO are running a competition at Belvoir Park in Belfast, a surprisingly good mix of hills, open and forest, on Saturday: details here. Three courses, starts from 12 to 1 pm. (TripAdvisor: if you have to ask for directions, remember it’s pronounced “Beever Park”!.  See the map and courses from an earlier event here.

For those of you still at school, the Leinster Secondary Schools  Championships are on Wednesday 12th March at Djouce Woods.

Details of all these events on the IOA Fixtures page here.

If you’re looking for some other outlet for your energy, try one of the free 5 km Park Runs  like the one at Marlay Park on Saturday morning or join us at Belfield for running on Monday and Thursday evenings.