Leinster Championships 2022 – looking back!

Sunday morning – where is the mountain gone?

Congratulations to the winners at the Leinster Championships yesterday, but also to anyone who went out on very challenging courses in very challenging conditions. On Saturday the weather was perfect and even at 8.30 on Sunday morning it was OK – mild and breezy – but by the time the competitors were arriving, things had changed. Rain, cloud, wind, mist, drizzle, cold – the one thing we had no control over had us in its grip.

We had about 180 entries, about 85 finishers and about 65 non-finishers, but even the non-finishers seem to have enjoyed the courses, or at least as far as they got on the courses.

The results are on the orienteering.ie website here and the Routegadget routes are going up one by one.

Niamh O’Boyle and Ruairí Short, both from CNOC, won the W21Elite and M21Elite classes – congratulations! We didn’t manage to get the M21E perpetual trophy back because Ruairí’s brother, Conor, still has it after last year’s Leinster Champs, but I’m sure they’ll work something out.

Thanks to the team from 3ROC who put the event on, to course planner Aidan McCullough, to the volunteers on the day and, as always, particularly to the control collectors afterwards. Special thanks to Controller Shane Lynch (CorkO).

            Saturday afternoon – what a contrast!

Niamh O’Boyle, who won the W21E class yesterday, found some results from the 1995 Leinster Championships on the same area, using the same field, and in similar weather conditions – I’ll try to attach them here for you to read: very interesting! Niamh won the W12 course that day.

The prizes incorporate the Brown Bull of Cooley, designed by the late John Creagh for the 1993 Irish Championships.