Taking aim for orienteering masterclass
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With the World Orienteering Championships being hosted in the Highlands this summer, put her map-reading skills to the test alongside some of the sport’s more experienced athletesJenny Gillies
There are three things I notice immediately upon arriving at my first orienteering event. It’s well organised, it’s welcoming, and there is a surprising range of people taking part.
The buzz around orienteering in the area is being driven by the upcoming World Orienteering Championships, due to be staged around Inverness in the first week of August. More than 5000 international athletes are expected to compete in what are regarded as some of the best orienteering venues in the UK.
As a runner I know the aim in orienteering is to navigate around a set course in the quickest possible time using a map and compass, but I wanted to learn more about the sport.
I’ve been invited to join Inverness Orienteering Club at its recent event in Ardersier and I arrive among a mixture of svelte athletes, recreational runners and families. At registration I notice that my course has entries ranging from under 10 to over 65. Chatting to the marshals at the finish, I learn that Inverness Orienteering Club’s oldest runner turned 86 this year.
I’m being guided round my first ever orienteering course by Johannes Felter, a development officer for Scottish Orienteering. He’s signed me up for an entry level 3km course that sounds short to my running mind-set but, he warns, this distance is as the crow flies. Factors such as the terrain and the accuracy of my navigation will make it feel much longer.
Events are designed for all abilities with a number of separate courses being run through the forest at the same time. These are colour coded and range from high-level courses designed for testing top athletes to short courses on tracks that are aimed at families with young children.
You don’t get to see the route on the provided map until after you punch an electronic card to start your time and the first thing I notice is that the map looks very odd compared to a standard Ordnance Survey one. Forested areas are white, clear areas are yellow and, at a scale of 1:10,000, the detail on it is bewildering.
I quickly realise that running, reading a map, route planning and keeping track of where you are going is much harder than it looks.
With some gentle prompting I find the first checkpoint in the woods and it’s then back out onto a handy track to find the next one. This one throws me, as it’s placed out of direct sight behind some gorse bushes.
As I stop to consult the map, one of the under-10 competitors shoots decisively past and makes a beeline for a location that looks suspiciously like the description of the marker.
“Don’t worry,” Johannes says, “he’s probably been doing this since he could walk”. I take this as something to keep my spirits up, but soon notice that he could well be right. We meet a family halfway round who have stopped for the toddlers to have lunch before tackling the second half of their easy course.
But the family-friendly, all-inclusive nature of the sport is just part of it. This is no walk in the park or, more accurately, woods. Running a much harder course than mine was the Scottish junior squad, facing tricky navigational and fitness challenges. There were also plenty of adults progressing through the grades and learning the skills, and the camaraderie rose briefly above the competition while tracking down an elusive control point.
The course zigzags through the wood and, eight checkpoints in, things are starting to come together. The way the map relates to the ground begins to make sense, although there’s still an overriding fear of going head first into the undergrowth while my mind’s focused on the map and compass.
The next few checkpoints are located swiftly with one small hiccup as I get into a good stride along an easy section of track and completely miss a checkpoint, heading sheepishly back past more careful competitors to find the marker.
Suddenly all 14 checkpoints have been found and there’s just the final sprint (apparently it’s the done thing to finish in style) along the last 100m to the end.
With a feeling of great satisfaction I check back into the race control tent and receive the results, which include a placing out of the current finishers on your course – a big tick for the competitive runner!
It’s been a great morning learning a new and testing sport, one that excellently combines fitness and skill, and I have a feeling the orienteers I met may well see me stumbling around local woods again sometime soon.
The local orienteering scene, focused around the Moravian, Inverness and Badenoch and Strathspey clubs, is very active and well supported by hard-working volunteers.
Moravian Orienteering Club already has an exceptionally strong schools programme and Inverness schools league has just started its first season, attracting more than 200 children to the first event.
Whatever your age, the best way to find out more about orienteering is to contact your local club. Visit www.invoc.org.uk (Inverness), www.moravianorienteering.org (Moray) or www.basoc.org.uk (Badenoch and Strathspey).
* The World Orienteering Championships take place from July 31st to August 7th in areas across Moray, Inverness-shire and Ross-shire. For more information visit www.woc2015.org
