About Orienteering ... |
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| Contents : |  The
British Orienteering Federation (emblem to the left) is the national
body of orienteering in the UK. Their website
contains many useful links and information about orienteering, orienteering
clubs and fixtures. |
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What is orienteering?
Orienteering is an outdoor sport and recreational activity where a map is used to navigate a course consisting of a number of checkpoints.
Who is is suitable for?
Whether you are highly competitive runner, someone wishing to improve their fitness or a person or family looking for some enjoyable outdoor exercise, there are courses for you.
Orienteering events in the United Kingdom are run at four different standards (explained separately):
For adults and families competind together, the cost is around £3.00. Children competing on their own have entry fees of about £1.50 Entry costs include a large scale, coloured map.
When does orienteering take place?
Events are held almost every Sunday morning throughout the year. There are often informal Saturday events to be found as well. Harlequins organises a Sunday event each month. There are also night-time events on winter evenings. In addition, occasional low key events are held in the evening in the summer and some training events are held on Saturday mornings during the winter. A comprehensive events list is held by BOF, the British Orienteering Federation, also the governing body of the sport in the UK.
Where does orienteering take place?
Events are held on most large open spaces in the region: Clent Hills, Wyre Forest, Clee Hills and Cannock Chase to name but a few.
How can I find out more?
If you wish to find out more about the sport of orienteering in the West Midlands and Harlequins Orienteering Club in particular, please contact one of their members in your area. They will be only too pleased to help you. For other areas, refer to the British Orienteering Federation to find out who your local club contact is.
It's a sport, in which competitors run, (or walk if they feel like it), around a course with the aid of a map and compass. a number of control points, the amount depending upon the length of the course, are marked on the map, at each of which is a marker flag, and a pin punch. the punch is used to mark a control card which is carried by the runner, and proves that each control has been visited.
Orienteering generally takes place in forest and woodland areas, although events also take place on fell and moorland areas, or even on sand dunes. Small local events can be found on commons and parkland. Some areas are quite flat, but at others you'll find yourself having to run, (or walk :-) ), up and down steep slopes.
How long are the courses?
There is a large range of course lengths available, which depend both on the type of event and the terrain on which it is run. a beginner might start with an yellow or orange color coded course between ~1.5 and 3.5km long, while a long badge course might be 9-12km for men, and 7-9km for women. These lengths may sound short if you are used to road or cross-country running, but they are measured in a straight line between controls, which is often not the fastest route, and do not allow for getting lost!
These are the most common types of events. colour coded events are smaller, and have a series of six or seven courses, classified by colours. these range from white (extremely short and easy) through yellow, orange, red, and green to blue or brown (long and hard). runners of any age can enter whatever course they like on the day. You often have to mark your own course from a master map after the start.
Badge events are larger, and attract competitors from further away. they must usually be entered at least two weeks in advance, although limited EOD, (entry on the day), is often available depending on what maps are left spare. here you'll find yourself entering courses by age class, so that you compete directly against your peers. the classes are in 2 year steps for juniors, (e.g. m/w [men/women] 16, m/w 18, with the number denoting the oldest person eligible to run that class), and 5 year steps for those over 35, (e.g m/w 40, here the number denotes the youngest person eligilbe for that class), the anomaly to this system is the m/w 21 age class which runs from ages 21 to 35. within each class there are long and short courses, the short being about two thirds the length of the long. maps are usually pre-marked and sealed in plastic bags.
Below colour coded events are local and fun events, which take place on small areas, often on weekday evenings or saturdays. there are often different rules to make small areas more challenging, such as having to remember your route and complete the course without a map.
At the top level, there are about six 'national' events a year, which attract competitors from all over the country, and have separate 'elite' longer and harder courses for the very best orienteers. there is also the two-day Jan Kjellstrom event at easter, and the British championships in late spring. over the summer there is a multi-day event in either Scotland, Wales or the Lake District, and there are many similar summer events all around Europe if you're feeling adventurous.
There are also variations on the usual competition types, such as mass-start relays, night events (in case you think navigation is too easy when you can see), and score events (at which you have to visit as many controls as you can in any order in a fixed time, usually 1 hour.)
You don't need special clothes to start with, but you will need trousers rather than shorts, and often a long-sleeved top. unless the weather is cold, you will want thin clothes so you don't get too hot. trainers are fine for shoes, but don't wear anything too nice as they will probably suffer from undergrowth in the forest, as well as getting wet and muddy - this applies to clothes as well. once you become a regular, you will probably want to buy some special orienteering kit, and some hard-wearing o-shoes.
For colour coded events, you'll need a red pen to draw the course, and a map case in anything other than very good weather. the only fairly expensive equipment you need is a compass, but you might be able to borrow one if you don't have one. a whistle is advisable in steep or exposed areas to call for help if you fall over and injure yourself, and safety pins are useful for all sorts of things. If you come to larger events you'll soon get used to seeing the Ultrasport and Compass Point vans, both sell a large range of orienteering kit and equipment.
You'll probably start with a colour coded event, where you will need to register for your chosen course, usually at a car window, and buy your map, either from the same person or from another car. as well as the map, you'll have a control card and some control descriptions, which tell you what feature each control is on, (e.g. boulder, path junction etc). Your control card generally has a stub attached to it, which you will need to complete to hand in at the start. having changed and got your pen and compass ready, make your way to the start, leaving plenty of time to watch what everyone else does.
You will be called up a couple of minutes before your start time, and kept waiting in a taped box. a minute before your start time, you will move into the final box, and you will be told where to find the master maps. with ten seconds to go, you are allowed to step over the front line, and you are started either by a whistle or electronic bleep. run, (or walk), to your master map, then copy down your course, being very careful to draw the circles in the right place!
At a badge event, the procedure is slightly different, as you don't get the map until after the start, and the course is already marked on so you can start straight away. On the way round the course, each control is marked on the ground by a red and white marker, and has a punch attached with which you must mark your control card. each control is identified by a three-figure or two-letter code so you can't, (shouldn't), punch the wrong one by mistake. once you've visited all of the controls in order there's just the short, (usually), sprint to the finish, giving you a chance to show just how fast you really are...
How can I find out more?
You can find out more by contacting your local club, their website should be on BOFs handy club finder, or if you want to contact NATO, see the contacts page