Mapping is the one of the most rewarding and enjoyable roles. Not only does it improve your navigation skills, but it can also provide you with a different and new type of orienteering challenge.  

The British Orienteering E-Learning Mapping Courses, Introduction to updating Forest Mapping and Introduction to Sprint and Urban Mapping , developed with the expertise of David Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) and the educational robustness  of Pauline Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) .

Both courses are based around learners having access to either of the two most widely used mapping programs, Open Orienteering Mapper and OCAD.

We strongly advise that you seek an experienced mapper as a mentor to support you through your journey towards being a competent mapper.

Both courses are based on updating an existing map and rather than creating a new map from a previously unmapped area.

Course objectives

• To provide an introduction and basic understanding of the processes involved in how to update and amend an existing Orienteering map.

The course content is designed to only address the course objective rather than attempting to cover the full scope of Mapping. As we recognise that Mapping is a skill that takes much time and practice to hone.

The course should only take around 45- 60 mins to complete and for the whole of May is only £6.00

To access the course and find out more information about our other E-Learning courses, please visit the E-Learning homepage.

Interested in learning about our other E-Learning courses on offer? Visit the E-Learning homepage and access information on all the other resources we provide.

AIRE and CLARO look forward to seeing you all at the British Middle Championships this coming weekend. 

You have entered in greater numbers than we anticipated, but we have adapted to cater for you all as best we can.  Both Danefield and Kilnsey Moor is a lovely places in the Spring sunshine and we really hope the weather is kind so that you can enjoy it at its best.  The technical woodland of Danefield is in sharp contrast to the fast open areas of Kilnsey.  You should enjoy some great orienteering on both days.  Str8 compasses is sponsoring a lot of prizes for the Northern Championships and the British Middles so run well and good luck.

Start times and final details are published, maps are printed and lots of equipment is ready to move.  No controls are out yet, but we have been busy at Kilnsey as you may be able to see from a picture.  There are a variety of crossing points on Kilnsey Moor – many of you will only encounter this one.  There are no stiles to cross at Danefield you’ll be relieved to know.

We will be able to accommodate you all in the parking areas for both events, but as always, it would help if you car shared as much as possible.  The Danefield field has remained in good condition throughout the winter, but as some rain has been forecast over the coming days we will have some tracking available.  Kilnsey has the delight of hard standing in the quarry.  We can’t promise that you will keep your feet dry, but at least cars should not get stuck in the mud as might have happened at some recent events.  We’re hoping that’s true for Danefield.  Definitely true for Kilnsey!

Anyone wanting to carry a club tent to Danefield, could reduce the distance to carry the tent by 800m by using the drop off point suggested in the event details.  It would need to be a rapid drop-off as there are often no parking bays available. They are all quite uneven, and the road is very narrow.  To get back to the parking field it is best to not attempt a 5 point turn but to drive in an anti-clockwise route with LH turns for 2.5k to get back to the parking field.  This should take no morfme than 5 minutes.

Have a great weekend.

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Full details on the British Middle Championships are available via this link. Visit the CLARO website for more details regarding the Northern Championships. Good luck to everyone taking part!

As agreed at the AGM 2023, from 1 May 2024 British Orienteering would like to offer an exclusive part-year Membership to new members.

New members are individuals who have not been members of British Orienteering in any of the previous four calendar years.

Part year membership fees 2024

Seniors – £10

Young adults – £7.50

Juniors – £3.00

Families – £25.00 (all members must be new members and not on the database to take up this offer).

No memberships will be merged with existing memberships.

Please note from 1 January 2025, any “new” members will need to renew their membership for 2025.

Find out more about how to join online today. 

Kicking off the 35^th World Orienteering Championships in Riga, Latvia was the Sprint Distance event.

Beginning in the morning in Kronvalda Park in the centre of Riga it was a flat, fast and relatively straightforward course to get the athletes underway. Without any major technical challenges, competitors would have to be pinpoint precise to ensure they qualified in necessary top-15 positions, with some big names missing out. In the Ladies race – who started first at 7 am UK time – the GBR women of Charlotte Ward, Alice Leake and Megan Carter-Davies all qualified without any issues, Megan best of the day for the Brits in 3^rd. In the Men’s race the story was similar, with Peter Hodkinson initially a worry for missing out, he, Chris Smithard and Kristian Jones all qualified for the final. It was not so lucky for the defending silver medallist in the Men’s discipline, Frenchman Frederic Tranchand, who missed out by just 4 seconds in 17^th place. There were a series of mispunches, particularly in Heat C, caused by two similar controls in close proximity, though with no protests upheld, the results stood. In the Women’s field, the only major shock exit was the mispunch of Sabine Hauswith of Switzerland, who would have been challenging for the podium on a good day.

Onto the Final, and the Women again got proceedings underway. The Final offered a far more complex navigational challenge to the runners, with extensive artificial barriers and alleyways opened specifically for the event; yet with no height gain on the course, the running speeds would dictate proceedings just as much. The main issue though would turn out to be the spectators and cars out in the streets. With the organisers not shutting down the roads for the runners, there were continual issues of cars and buses attempting to drive into the tightly-packed arena. This was only exacerbated by the overlapping routes taken by runners leaving the arena for their start, entering the arena to head through the arena passage, and finishing runners. Add to this the chaos caused by the crowded streets, and the public not paying attention to the runners as they were competing (there were numerous instances of athletes colliding with members of the public), it was havoc on the courses.

Charlotte Ward began things for the British Women, and after a slow start, she began to get into her running. As the course opened up towards the end she used her running strength well, but it was just a bit too much to do to fight back into the top twenty at the end of the day. After finishing 4^th, she slowly dropped to 24^th, two minutes down.

The next GBR Woman was Alice Leake, and again it was a slow start for Alice, but as they entered the tricky middle section of alleyways and barriers, she began to fly. From 19^th at the 5^th control, she would gain time on her rivals for the top-10 all the way to the finish. Starting just a minute in front of Tove Alexanderson, there would always be a lot of pressure, but Alice had no problems. Alexanderson would best Alice’s leading time by 50 seconds to take the lead at the finish, but Alice would hold on for 8^th. The final GBR Woman out into the city was Megan Carter-Davies. Megan started quicker than both Alice and Charlotte but came unstuck exiting the difficult middle section. She tried to gain the lost time back as the legs opened up from short technical navigation into more open, wide route choices, but more mistakes cropped in. Still, it was an admirable performance, and for the youngest member of the team a great sign of things to come, with a 28^th here.

Many would try to better Tove Alexanderson’s time, with numerous runners, including one of the main favourites Judith Wyder, all falling around thirty seconds short. But as the heavens began to open and rain spattered the cobbled streets, the Danish favourite and defending champion Maja Alm, pipped her by 17 seconds, denying Alexanderson the one individual World Championships gold medal she has yet to add to her collection.