A Newcomer's Guide to Foot Orienteering

Getting started in the world of orienteering can appear complicated to newcomers; it is not. This guide aims to tell you everything you need to know about starting orienteering. Why not view the DVD footage to see what it's all about.

Getting Started

"What is Orienteering" DVD Footage

Types of Events

Going to an Event

Registration

Age Classes

National Badge Scheme

Equipment

Starting the Course

Orienteering Maps

Route Choice

Top Tips

Getting Started

Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport which takes place in varying terrain over various distances. The aim is to navigate in sequence between a set of control points marked on a unique orienteering map and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time. The standard orienteering distance is known as a ‘classic or long distance’ race however modernisation of the sport has introduced the ‘middle distance’ race and ‘sprint distance’ race.

Pictured: An Orienteering Control

A good way to get started would be to try a local permanent orienteering course. These courses can be located in a forest, local town or country park. To find out where your nearest course is, go to the ‘Permanent Courses’ section of this website.

To experience the full excitement of orienteering you will need to attend an orienteering event, which usually take place on a Sunday morning. Here you will find lots of experienced orienteers who will be able to help you get started.

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What is Orienteering DVD Footage

To view the DVD introduction footage click the link below:

Please note the first time you open this file it may take a couple of minutes.

DVD Footage

You can order and find out more about the complete DVD on the Publicity pages.

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Types of Events

The Events structure is currently under review and will change during 2009.

There are three types of orienteering events; Local, Regional and National events.  There are also Night Events, Relays and Score Events.  Young children can also take part in string courses where they have their own map and follow a line of string which takes them around a set of controls marked by fun characters. Clubs also club training, summer evening events, Saturday morning events or come-and-try-it events. These can be a little less frequent than district events depending on how active the club is. All different types of local events are ideal for newcomers.

Colour Coded Courses

The most common type of event put on by clubs is called a district event which offers a range of courses which vary in length and technical difficulty rating. The courses are colour-coded from White, which is for children, including parents with pushchairs, through to Brown, which is for people who can run at speed over long distances, through tough terrain and are able to navigate at the same time. Courses are graded according to their technical difficulty (TD) and length.  The TD scale runs from:

TD1 = Very easy

TD5 = Very difficult

The Course Structure is under review

White (TD1) White courses are very easy with all controls on paths.  They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups. Length of course 1.0 – 1.5km

Yellow (TD2) Yellow courses use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams.  They are mainly used by under 12’s and families. Length of course 1.5 – 2.5km

Orange (TD3) Orange courses progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice Orienteers.  Length of course 2.5 – 3.5km

Red (TD3) Red courses are technically similar to an orange course.  They are used by beginners wanting a longer run. Length of course 3.5 – 7.5km

Light Green (TD4) Light green courses are ideal for improvers as the technical difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and ‘point’ features. Length of course 2.5 – 3.5km

Green (TD5) Green courses are technically difficult and use contour and point features. They are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course. Length of course 3.5 – 5.0km

Blue (TD5) Blue courses are technically difficult and are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are also more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced Orienteers. Length of course 5.0 – 7.5km

Brown (TD5) Brown courses are physically demanding and technically difficult. They are designed to challenge experienced orienteers. Length of course 7.5 – 10.0km

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Going to an Event

Once you have found a suitable event on the fixtures list you need to locate the venue. Most events featured in the fixtures list will also provide a link to the organising club’s website where further information can be found.

The directions to an event will often explain how to get to a certain point on a major road, and then tell you to follow the orienteering signs. These are arrows, usually hung from posts or fences, which point the way to the car park. They may say 'Orienteering', or 'O', or just be marked with the orienteering symbol, which is a square divided into red and white triangles. The car park will often turn out to be a farmer's field, and may well be off the main road and down narrow lanes. Keep following the arrows until you see marshals who will show you where to park.

Sunday morning district events normally have start times between 10.30am and 12.30pm, with courses closing at 3.30pm, and event entry from 10am until 12pm. There will normally be an enquiries point so if you have any questions, however trivial they may seem, just ask.

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What you will need to orienteer

• Comfortable clothes for walking or running in, that you don’t mind getting dirty. Competition rules will normally require full leg cover. You can also buy specially designed orienteering clothes, which offer full body covering but remain lightweight and breathable.
• Trainers or walking shoes, preferably waterproof and with a good grip. There are specially designed orienteering shoes which are studded lightweight running shoes. Prices of these range from £40 - £70.
• A lightweight waterproof, if the weather forecast is poor.
• Money for your entry fee
• A compass is always useful but not strictly necessary if you are orienteering on a White, Yellow or Orange course. You can often buy a compass at the event, if you want one. Starter compasses cost less than £10.
• A safety whistle is sometimes compulsory, especially in difficult terrain, but you can usually buy that too, if you need to.
• A red pen to mark your course on your map and a transparent A4 plastic envelope to put your map in if the maps are not pre-printed.  At larger events courses will have already been printed onto the maps so you will not require a red pen for these events.

Pictured: A compass

Specialist Orienteering Shops

You will often find mobile shops at events that sell orienteering products.  The two main suppliers are:

Compass Point:      www.compasspoint-online.co.uk

Ultrasport:                 www.ultrasport.co.uk

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Registration

The first thing to do is register, i.e. enter the event. This might be somewhere indoors, a car, or a tent, easily identifiable as the centre of activity in the car park and will normally have a ‘registration’ or ‘enquiries’ sign outside of it. Registering is normally a two stage process: payment and getting a start time. To receive your start time you must first decide which course you would like to do.

Choosing a Course

At registration there will be some sort of sign detailing the length, the height to be climbed and the technical (navigational) difficulty of each course. As this is your first event you will probably enter a colour coded course. Children who have not orienteered before should enter a White or Yellow course, and be accompanied by an adult who can help them with the map. Adult novices might want to start with the Orange course, which is the longest course before the technical difficulty increases. If you complete your first course quickly and successfully it is often possible to try another if there is enough time and available start times.

Once you have chosen the course you would like to participate in, you can complete the registration process. Every competitor on each course has their own start time, so you will first be asked what time you would ideally like to start. You should ask how far it is to the start and allow yourself plenty of time to get there. You will be asked your name, your club (not compulsory) and your age class. Although you will be asked your age class at all events, you will only compete in your age class at Regional, National and Championship events.

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Age Classes

Your age class is determined by your gender and how old you will be on the 31st December of the year of the competition. So even if a person is not aged 40 until December 2009 they will compete in W/M 40 from January 2009. W/M refers to gender. 

* M/W 21 is an open class that anybody can enter

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National Incentive (Badge) Scheme

The National Badge Scheme awards badges on the basis of performance over a series of events. 

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Equipment

To complete the orienteering course you need to prove that you visited each control and to do this you need to “punch”.  Punching a control registers that you have visited the control and is usually done through an electronic card. At some small events you may still have to use a tradition control card.

Electronic Cards

An electronic card is used to confirm that you have visited all the controls in the correct order. The card is the size of your finger or palm and attaches to your finger with an elasticated, adjustable band. The card is used as a timing device and also logs the time you visit each control so you are able to view your splits after you have finished. This is useful as you can compare yourself against other competitors.

Pictured: Rachael Elder punching a control

There are two main brands of electronic cards, Emit and Sport Ident. You are able to purchase your own electronic cards, but the cost varies from £18 - £50 so it is probably only worth buying one if you start orienteering regularly as you are able to hire one for a fee of around £1 at each event. If purchasing your own electronic card you would also need to decide which brand to purchase depending on which brand is used at the majority of events you go to. 

The two main brands are:

Emit    www.emit.co.uk

Sport Ident    www.sportident.co.uk

Control Cards

At smaller events, electronic punching may not be available so in order to record that you have actually visited all the controls on your course you will be given a paper or tyvek control card.

You will need to complete your personal details in the top section and on the stub on the right hand side. You can use safety pins to attach the control card to your clothing on your arm/stomach/leg or you could buy a small clip from an orienteering shop which you clip onto the top left corner of the control card and put the attached loop around your wrist. At events where control cards are used, each control will have a control punch.  A punch is similar to a stapler and each one has a unique pattern. Punching this pattern onto your card is proof that you have visited the correct control.

Pictured: A traditional control punch

Control Descriptions

To help you navigate to each control you will be provided with a control description sheet. There are two types of control description, written descriptions and pictorial descriptions. Written descriptions are used for novice courses and as you progress you will notice the transition to pictorial descriptions. The description will tell you what feature the control is on, such as a track or a knoll (small hill) and where on the feature the control is located such as track junction or north west side of the knoll.

For example:

Written - Feature	Written - Where	Pictorial - Feature	Pictorial - Where
Knoll	North West Side		•

 The large oval in the first column represents a knoll and the smaller dot next to the circle in the second column represents where the control is in relation to the feature. This is a pictorial example of a control description. If the control description had written descriptions it would simply say “Knoll, North West Side.”

A full list of IOF Control Descriptions is available.

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Starting the Course

Before the start you will either be given a blank map to mark your own course on at the start, or you will be issued with a pre-printed map on the start line, which will already have your course marked on.  If you have been given a blank map to mark your course on yourself, take some time to look at the map and note the paths, streams, buildings, and so on. Any unfamiliar symbols will be explained in the legend. You might also want to note the map scale and the contours, to get some idea of how far things are, and what is up or down hill, and how steep it is. These details can be useful but you don't strictly need them if you are doing one of the simpler courses.

You should also check whether there are any 'Map Corrections'. These will show any changes since the map was drawn. They will also show any areas which are out of bounds, e.g. roads or cultivated fields. Copy the corrections on to your own map. If the maps have been pre-marked with the courses, all map corrections and out of bounds area will have been marked on for you.

Increasingly, it is possible to copy down a White or Yellow course before the start. This makes it less confusing for children, and gives adults more time to explain to them what they need to do. It also gives novices on longer courses a chance to see what a master map looks like.

At the Start

The way to the start should be indicated by arrows, tapes hung from trees, or a steady procession of competitors in running clothes. Try to arrive at the start at least 10 minutes before your start time, because you will be called a few minutes in advance.

If you are using paper/tyvek control cards the detachable stub will be taken as a record that you have started. This means that even if you abandon your course you must hand the other part of your control card in at the Finish. A stub without a matching card means that a competitor has gone missing, and someone could spend hours looking for you.

If you are using electronic punching you may be required to ‘punch’ at the start which involves you placing your electronic card onto a unit which starts the timer. At the end of the race you are required to ‘download’ the information which is on your electronic card. If you do not download the organisers will not know whether you have finished or not.

At the start whistle, or a beep from an electronic clock, you either copy your course down onto your blank map from a master map or you pick up a pre-marked map. The triangle on the map marks the start (where you are now) and there with be an orange and white orienteering banner/flag indicating where the start is on the ground. On some occasions you may need to follow red and white tape to the start banner, once you arrive at the banner you are at the triangle on the map. The numbered circles on your map indicate the controls you need to find, in the order you need to find them. The straight lines joining the circles are to indicate which is the next control.

The control description sheet tells you what you are looking for, e.g. a path junction, a large boulder, or a ditch end. When you find the control there will be some letters or numbers which should correspond to those on your control description sheet. If they do, you have found the right place. If they don't, it isn't your control!

The double circle on the map indicates the finish, where you should hand in your control card even if you retire, or ‘punch’ your electronic card.

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Orienteering Maps

Orienteering maps are drawn to a large scale, most commonly 1:15000 (1cm=150m) or 1:10000 (1cm=100m) but for orienteering in parks you use a map drawn in a scale of 1:5000. All maps use an internationally agreed set of symbols and these are logical and easy to learn. You will absorb much of the information simply by attending your first few events but a comprehensive booklet of these symbols can be ordered through the National Office. Most orienteering maps will also provide a detailed legend to help you understand the map.

Orienteering maps are drawn using magnetic north rather than ‘grid’ or ‘true’ north, and are printed in up to five standard colours. The colours are an integral part of the map symbols:

Black is used for most man-made features such as buildings and rock features such as cliffs, crags and boulders

Brown is used to show landform, including contour lines, gullies, pits and knolls (small hills).

Blue is used for water features such as lakes, ponds, marshes and streams

White and Green are used to depict the density of woodland and the extent to which it impedes progress. Open ‘runnable’ woodland is left white with progressively darker shades of green mean increased density, ranging from ‘slow run’ to ‘difficult’ (or walk) through to ‘impenetrable’(or fight).

Yellow is used for unwooded areas with a solid yellow for grassy spaces such as playing fields and a paler yellow for rougher terrain (‘rough open’) such as heather.

Combinations of yellow and green show other types of terrain which will be explained in the legend.

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Route Choice

By using the map, legend and control description sheet, imagine you are trying to navigate from control 3 to 4.

 You will have found control 3 (Knoll, E. side) just before the major road. Just to be sure, check the code (31) matches your control description sheet and use the punch to confirm that you have been to that control.

Now it’s your choice how to get to Control 4. You could use any route, but the three most obvious are;

1. Go north up the road until you reach a path on your right. Follow this until it passes through a gap in the fence and then continue along a wide ride. When you reach the vehicle track, turn right (south east) and follow it for 150 metres, bringing you to Control 4, code 77.
2. This time you go to your right (due east) across the rough open land until you reach the fence bend. Follow the short section of fence until a wide ride is reached at the next bend in the fence. Now follow the ride as it curves around to the left. Upon reaching the vehicle track, go left for 250 metres until you come to control 4.
3. The first two ways involved following tracks and rides, but you could follow a more direct route using a compass and go straight across the rough open land and through the open forest until you reach the vehicle track. If you do, it will be best to ‘aim-off’ to the left, so you will know that you need to turn right to Control 4 when you reach the vehicle track. If you aim straight for the control but can’t see it when you reach the track, you won’t know which way to turn. Although slightly longer and a bit slower, aiming-off can save time in the long run.

Please remember that whether you visit all the controls or not, you must always report to the finish. This is the golden rule of orienteering, preventing unnecessary searching for ‘missing’ competitors. Your co-operation will be appreciated.

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Top Tips for Beginners

Below are five basic skills that you need to practice to help you progress with orienteering.

1. Fold your map - Always make sure that you fold your map so that you can easily see the part of the map where you are. 

2. Orientate your map - Always make sure that your map is the correct way round or orientated. This means that the features which are in front of you on the ground are in front of you on the map. You can also orientate your map using a compass by making sure that the north lines on the map point the same way as the north or red end of the compass needle. Each time you change direction you should change your grip on the map so the map is still orientated north.

3. Thumb your map - To help you know where you are on the map it helps if you mark your position on the map with your thumb. As you move along the ground you should move your thumb to your new position on the map. It is usual to move your thumb to the new position at a "Check Point" such as a path junction or some other obvious feature where you will stop or slow down and check where you are.

4. Check your control card - Once you have found a control you always need to check that the code on your control description sheet matches the code on the control. You should also check that the control is situated on the correct feature on your map. You will then know for sure that you have reached the correct control.

5. Have fun and enjoy yourself - This is the most important skill to remember.  Orienteering should always be fun and enjoyable!