What is Orienteering?
Orienteering is a sport for everyone, whatever their age or experience. Elite and recreational orienteers, young children and over 90-year-olds can enjoy the sport together. Orienteering is a sport for the whole family.
It is easy to learn the basics, but the challenges provided can be endless. Orienteering provides an exercise activity which is both physical and intellectual in nature; hence its other name – “cunning running”.
Orienteering is a family of sports that involves competitors using detailed maps to navigate their way round unfamiliar terrain. Usually this involves visiting a number of designated control (or way) points.
Foot Orienteering
On the course, orange and white flagged control markers are set in the places that correspond to the points marked on the map. The winner of the competition is the participant who has completed the course by visiting all the control points, in numerical order, in the shortest time. Fast running alone will not make you a winner. You must also choose the best route between the control points and find the markers without wasting unnecessary time.
Do I need to be fit?
You may walk, jog or run, alone or in a group – your choice. Fitness is not a necessity, although it does help, particularly in serious competitive orienteering. You may treat the event as a race or simply as a stroll, with the search for controls providing an extra element of interest.
What do I wear?
Just wear clothes suited to walking or running in farmland or city parks. Any kind of walking or running shoe will be OK. At some events where there is thick vegetation, full body protection may be required but we will let you know prior to the event.
How long does it take?
This depends entirely on your ability, level of fitness and the course you choose to run.
White: Easy Navigation. Mostly on tracks. Best for beginners and younger children.
Yellow: Slightly more complicated navigation. Mainly along tracks but with opportunities to short cut across country. Better for older children and adults.
Orange: Mostly off road, navigating on features like hills and vegetation. Better after trying a couple of yellows.
Red: Described as ‘as hard as the map can make it’ Reds usually have three different lengths: Short; about 3-4km, Medium; about 4-6km, Long; about 6-7+km. Should only be attempted when you are confident with orange courses.
If you are unsure as to your skill level try the White course first and, if you find it easy, follow up with a Yellow course.
The Orienteering Map
Orienteering maps are different from other maps in many ways, for example their north lines point to Magnetic North, and the scale of the map is usually much larger than other kinds of map, so a lot more detail can be shown. When you first see an orienteering map, take a good look at the legend, which tells you what the symbols on the map mean. They generally appear in only five colours:
Black symbols are the most important for a novice orienteer. They show man-made features like roads, tracks, fences and walls, as well as rock features like boulders and cliffs.
Blue shows water features, either larger obstacles like lakes, rivers, sea and marshes, or smaller details like ditches, water troughs and streams.
Brown shows the shape of the land, mainly by use of contours. A contour is an imaginary line connecting points of the same height. When you are going up or down hill you will be crossing contours. Contours may initially be difficult to understand, because they’re not actually painted onto the ground! So you have to imagine them. As your orienteering improves, the information in the contour shapes will become both easier to understand and more important to you. Don’t worry if they look like meaningless squiggles at first.
White - One peculiar feature about orienteering maps is that trees which you can run through or under are shown as white; only denser bush or undergrowth is shown as green, in different shades. The darker the green, the more difficult the vegetation is to get through.
Yellow is used to denote open areas.
What do I do at the event?
You will need to register on the day, at the registration desk, usually located in our black tent. Most events will be ‘Sport ident’ events (an electronic timing system, more info here). Let us know at registration if you are new to orienteering and need some instruction. There is usually a friendly and experienced orienteer floating around to help anyone who needs it, just ask!
At registration you will need to fill out a form which gathers some important safety information, and sign a Health & Safety and Publicity statement. Then, to the person on the computer, you will provide your name, which course you will do and how many people in your group. Cash will be needed on the day to pay for the event fee. You will then be allocated an e-stick and a map. Grab your compass (if needed) and a whistle as well, and you're ready to start.
You can start anytime you like in between the allocated start time (usually 11.30am-1pm). Make sure you, or your team, will start at a separate time from everyone else on your course.
You will need to CLEAR and CHECK (further explained here) then, make your way to the START flag, where there will be a Start control you need to punch when you are ready to start. Navigate the marked course taking any route between controls, but in the correct numerical order, and clip/ ‘bip’ your e-stick at each control (including the START and FINISH).
Before punching confirm that you are at the correct control – there are other controls out there that may not be on your course.
After finishing ALWAYS go to the finish, even if you don’t complete the course, so we know that you’re not lost in the forest!
Safety
Health and Safety guidelines are completed and on display at each event.
Sit tight if you get completely lost
If you get lost, try to retrace your tracks to a recognisable position on the map. Never wander aimlessly without a plan, because you may leave the potential search area. Listen and wait for another orienteer. Find a control or a major track, or landmark, then sit and wait for searchers. They will check these areas first.
Please no smoking, no fires, no litter, dogs only when permitted.
Adapted from PAPO website, with permission.
Further resources
