There are quite a lot of different types of orienteering event, including National events, multi-day events, sprint events, night events, bike orienteering events, etc., etc.

The most common types of event, though, are District Events and Regional Events.

District Events are the "bread and butter" events in the orienteering calendar. Each event offers a range of courses of different lengths and navigational difficulties, and you can choose whichever course suits your levels of fitness, orienteering experience and competitiveness. The courses are identified by colours.  For example, the yellow course is very short and navigationally easy, so it's suitable for young children and absolute beginners.  By contrast, the brown course is considerably longer and much more navigationally challenging.  It's intended for the fittest and most competitive of the experienced orienteers. See the Selecting a Course page for more details of colour coded courses.

District Events are almost always run on a "turn up and enter on the day" basis.  Regional Events require entries to be sent in before the event, although there are often a limited number of places available for entry on the day.  The constraint is usually the number of maps that have been printed.  Once all the maps for a given course have been allocated that course is closed to further entries on the day.

The most common colour coded courses are white, yellow, orange, red, light green, green, blue and brown.

Of these, the first four - white, yellow, orange and red - are of an easier navigational standard and are suitable for newcomers to orienteering.

The light green course is of an intermediate navigational standard, and is intended to be a sort of "stepping stone" between the easy courses and the hard courses.

The last three - green, blue and brown - are of a hard navigational standard and are suitable for experienced orienteers.

Please don't tackle a green, blue or brown course until you've had a few goes at the easier courses.  It takes a bit of practice to read the very detailed orienteering maps and to navigate effectively on the move.  If you jump in at the deep end then you'll spend too much time standing around trying to work out where you are and/or where the next control is.  This won't be much fun, and you'll get an unnecessarily negative view of what really can be a fantastic sport.   If you are a good runner and want a decent running challenge then look out for purple courses.  They're planned to be long enough give you a good run out, but with relatively straightforward navigation.

The white course is very short and has very easy navigation.   It is suitable for young children with no experience of orienteering and for adults who just want a 15 - 20 minute walk round tracks and paths.

The yellow course is short and navigationally easy.  It is suitable for young children with a basic understanding of how to use a map and compass.  Adults should be able to jog round a yellow course in about 15 - 20 minutes or walk round in about 30 - 40 minutes.

The orange course is a bit longer than a yellow.  Its navigation is slightly harder, but still basically straightforward.  It's suitable for children who have mastered yellow courses and for adult beginners who want a relatively short time out in the forest.   Adults with a basic understanding of how to use a map and compass should be able to jog round an orange course in 25 - 35 minutes or walk round in about an hour.

The red course is a bit longer than an orange, and of the same navigational difficulty.  It's suitable for adult newcomers who are happy to be out in the forest for between an hour and an hour and a half.  If you don't make too many navigational mistakes you should be able to run round a red course in about 45 - 60 minutes.   If you jog and walk round you'll probably take about an hour and a half.

When it is offered, the purple course is intended for good runners with basic navigation skills.  It is longer than a red course, but of the same navigational difficulty.  Someone who runs at 7-minute mile pace on roads and who avoids making any navigational errors might get round a purple course in 45 - 50 minutes.  In practice most runners will probably take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Regional Events are larger scale events.  Your competition course is determined by your age class, although you do have a choice between a short course and a long course -- and your results count towards the national ranking system.  The adult courses at Regional Events have pretty challenging navigation, so they're not really suitable for complete beginners.  However, Regional Events almost always include three or four colour coded courses as well as the age class courses, so you can select an easier course if you wish.

What you will need

Finding the Event

Click here for a list of local events where you will be always welcome to turn up and have a try.  We always have plenty of people on hand to give you as much or as little help and advice as you need.  If you are at all concerned then ring the organiser of the event - if you give them a call, at a sociable time, they will be only too pleased to tell you how to find your way to the event, and to give you any other information you may need. Normally they will explain how to get to a certain point on a major road, and then tell you to follow the O-signs.

These are  red/white arrows, usually hung from posts or fences, which point the way to the carpark. They may say 'Orienteering', or 'O', or just be marked with

The carpark will often turn out to be a farmer's field, and may be well off the main road, down narrow lanes. Just keep following the arrows till you get there. There will usually be warning signs as you approach the carpark, and someone to show you exactly where to park. You will probably be surprised at how many people are there already.

At the event you will be able to pick up a number of leaflets advertising forthcoming events in your area, and in other parts of the country. These will tell you the times, courses and travel directions, so next time you won't need to ring the event organiser. But the organisers' names and phone numbers will be there too, just in case.

Sunday morning colour-coded events normally have start times between 10.30 and 12.30, with courses closing at 3.30, and event entry from 10 until 12. Most people enter between 10 and 11. If you have any questions, just ask. Orienteers are friendly folk and, unless they are late for their own start time, always willing to stop and talk about their sport.

The first thing to do is register, i.e. enter the event. If the organisers are lucky this might be somewhere indoors, but is usually a line of parked cars, easily identifiable as the centre of activity in the carpark. Normally one car will be selling maps (usually £3-£3.50 for a senior, £1.50 or less for a junior: this is the entry fee), and the others will be taking entries for the different courses. These other cars will have signs telling you the course name (White, Yellow, Orange, etc.) and length, and usually the height to be climbed and the technical (navigational) difficulty as well. Be warned, though: the distance is measured in a straight line between controls, which is a route experienced orienteers seldom follow. So if the official length is, say, 3 kilometres, the distance you will actually cover is more likely to be 3 miles. The climb is likely to be more, too.

Hiring a dibber

Most Events now are electronic. So you will have to hire an electronic 'dibber' for each competitor for use as they visit each control. You can hire this for about £1 before you go to Registration.

Entering a Course

When you have chosen your course, go to the appropriate car window. Each competitor on each course has their own start time. If it is an electronic dibber event, you are able to start any time after arrival at the start. 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 (if none, say 'None'!) and your age class (if you tell them how old you are, they will work it out for you). In return you will be given a set of control descriptions and a map). The control descriptions tell you what you are looking for, where, and in what order

Take some time to look at your map, which will have been produced specifically for orienteering. Note the paths, streams, buildings, and so on. Any unfamiliar symbols will be explained in the legend. The colours may be confusing at first. White indicates forest you can run through; the various shades of green indicate thicker and more difficult forest; open land (fields) is coloured orange. 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.

At the Start

The way to the start should be indicated by arrows, tapes hung from trees, or a steady procession of orienteers in colourful, sometimes outlandish, garb. If you see none of these, just ask. When you arrive at the start you should line up with other competitors in your selected course lane.

At the start whistle, or a beep from an electronic clock, you dib the start timer box and pick up your map (make sure it is the right one for your course!). The triangle marks the start (where you are now) and the numbered circles 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. Don't think you can always follow a straight line on the ground! The double circle indicates the finish, where you should hand in your control card even if you retire. NB. At lots of events now the courses are already on the map, you do not have to copy them down.

Increasingly, it is possible to obtain 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.

The first circle on your map tells you where the first control is. The map shows you how you can get there, e.g. follow this path and turn right at the second junction. 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 get there you should find a marker, a banner or ' kite' with the orienteering symbol, a square divided into red and white triangles. There will also be some letters or numbers which should correspond to those on your description sheet. If they do, you have found the right place. If they don't, it isn't your control!

So, if your description sheet says

		1.  210  Fence corner
		2.  220  Bridge
            

Your first control is a banner marked 210 located by a corner in a fence. That fence corner should be right in the middle of the circle marked 1 on your map. Your second control is a banner marked 220 by a bridge. And so on.

When you find the correct banner put your dibber in the control unit, and wait for a bleep, then set out for your second control, and so on, until you have completed your course.

And don't worry. Provided you have chosen one of the simpler courses, all this is much easier to do than it is to describe. You will get the hang of it by the time you find your first control. The real challenge comes later, when you progress to Light Green, Green, Blue or Brown.

Go to the 'Download tent' and download your dibber. Your time will be calculated and you will be given a print of your times for each control and your total time. Later on you should find the course results displayed and can have the satisfaction (or not) of comparing your time with people much younger or much older than yourself. You can also fill in a results envelope, and have the results posted to you. They will also be on the Internet, probably the same evening.

There should also be, at the finish or on the way back to the carpark, some free orange squash, compliments of the organisers.

Before you leave the event, have another look around. You should find several sets of leaflets for forthcoming events, with times, courses, and travel instructions. Now that you know how to do it, you will surely want to come again!

Go carefully in your first event or two - you can begin to race when you have done a few events. Orienteering is a sport where the tortoise can often beat the hare. The prime aim of orienteering is to enjoy yourself. Some people never get competitive and get as much pleasure from completing a course as other people get from winning

Orienteering means fresh air, maps, forests, moorland and fun.

You go at your own pace between the orange and white markers, guided by your map and compass.

You can be as competitive or as uncompetitive as you like.

You can run, jog or stroll; it's up to you. It is a sport for all ages, from tiny tots to pensioners.

If you like the sound of this, then give Orienteering a try.