Blog: johnloguk

ORIENTEERING - RUNNING WITH YOUR BRAIN ON!

My favourite sport of orienteering is much maligned. Most people haven't heard of it, and and those who have are probably haunted by bizarre experiences with Scout Groups involving men with beards, rucsacs and big boots! Like most things these dodgy stereotypes are perpetuated by the media, but the reality is somewhat different.

Let's get one thing straight, although I will make much of the fact that anyone of any shape, size, age and ability can orienteer, at the top level it is a serious adventure sport. There are many purely recreational orienteers, who walk round courses with friends and who haven't got a competitive bone in their body (and that is perfectly OK), but for the rest of us it is an eye balls out, full-on thrash to get round as fast as possible. So what is all the fuss about and why should you be remotely interested dear reader?

Well for me orienteering is the ultimate sport, combining mental and physical ability, generally taking place in beautiful countryside. "But it involves reading a map" I hear you cry, "I love walking, even running, but trying to do either while reading a map is beyond me". Oh no it isn't I say, in my best pantomime voice, literally anyone can do it, the whole sport is structured to break you in gently, don't be a wimp!

So orienteering involves finding your way round a set course as fast as possible, using a special map. The map is special because it is far more detailed than any maps you will be used to, and once you get used to the symbols it will be your best friend. I love orienteering maps, they are works of art, I can sit down and read one just like a book, the whole area unfolds right there infront of you, usually mocking your poor route choice and making you wonder why you took so long. There are many levels of event, all open to the general public, from small informal local ones to major championships attracting thousands of competitors. You just have to know where they are, and the best place to start is the main national website at
www.britishorienteering.org.uk which will direct you to fixture lists, local clubs and much much more.

Every event will have a range of courses to suit everyone, from short and simple entirely on paths, up to long and difficult for experienced orienteers. Help is always on hand for beginners, just make yourself known when you turn up. Often you can phone a contact number before an event, which is a good idea too.

You don't need a compass to take part on the easiest courses, but the sooner you get used to using one the better. It is much simpler than most people think, and there is none of this allowing for magnetic variation because all orienteering maps are already aligned to magnetic north. Like most sports, orienteering has its own language and jargon, but the finer details will become apparent once you get there, you'll soon get the hang of it.

You pick up the map when you start, and it will already have the course of your choice marked on it. The red triangle shows the start, then there will be a series of numbered circles joined by lines, leading to the finish. You have to visit each "control", an orange and white kite hanging from a stake, in turn as fast as you can. You will have a set of control descriptions for your course, describing where the control is situated (eg ditch bend) and giving the unique code for each control (usually a number), these confirm whether or not you have found the right kite! In the past each control also had a unique pin punch that you used to mark a card to prove you had been there, but these days most events have progressed to electronic timing using a small dibber that you carry. Work your way round the course as fast as you can, matching the features on the map with what you see on the ground. You will often have the choice of a safer long way round on paths, or risking a shorter route where you might go wrong, its all part of the fun.

Then when you finish you download the information picked up in your dibber into a computer, which then spits out the results. Serious orienteering anoraks can spend hours examining their split times for each leg, comparing them with friends, desperately trying to work out where they could have saved a few seconds, or joining in the unofficial club competition for the fastest run-in to the finish etc! There are now all sorts of fancy pieces of software on the internet that allow you to see your run expressed as a graph compared to everyone else. You can even watch yourself racing round a map of the area, represented by multicoloured dots (eg http://www.halo-orienteering.org.uk/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi), the end is listless as they say! Big events also have GPS trackers on the competitors so they can be followed on a giant screen at the event, or even in real time via the internet thousands of miles away.

But the main fun is out in the forests and parks, or up on the moors during the event itself. There is no experience quite like running at speed through a beautiful sunlit forest, maybe a hint of morning mist amongst the trees. Right on the edge between perfection and losing map contact and slipping into headless chicken mode. The exhilaration at spotting the kite just where you expected it as you drop over a small crag is fantastic. The despair when it isn't there and you realise that you have gone wrong can be desperate! Then you have to relocate as fast as you can and get back into your rhythm, it is a fine art, but well worth trying to perfect.

There are many different orienteering disciplines, it isn't all in forests on foot either. There is mountain bike orienteering, ski-O, canoe-O etc. But perhaps the most exciting new style of orienteering is City Racing. Using even more detailed maps you can trade in the forests for the urban jungle. Old towns, such as York and Lincoln, with their hidden alleyways and narrow streets are perfect for it, the essence remains complex navigation at speed. 2007 sees the inaugural UK Cities Cup Series, details here www.citiescup.nopesport.com

Maps are also an international language, the standard is the same wherever you go, so you can orienteer in almost any country in the world. I've often picked my main holiday to include a multi-day orienteering competition, it is a fine way to see the world and meet like minded people.

So next time you are out pounding the tarmac and your joints are starting to creak, just consider taking to the forests occasionally, maybe with a map and a compass in your hand, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Some orienteering videos for you to enjoy:-

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9JUyul6fGU Lincoln City Race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4SkYTY1ek4&feature=related Oxford City Race 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD3isIbHrGY&feature=related Oxford City Race 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFShNJCPogQ&feature=related  JK Sprint 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuwnfFIWeZ8&feature=related Swiss Cup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ULVUyvRSpQ&feature=related  Scottish Sprint Champs 2005

by johnloguk on 22:11 on 3rd June 2007