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NewcomersNew to Orienteering?
Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport which involves navigating around a course using a detailed map and sometimes a compass.
The aim is to navigate between a set of control points and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time.
It does not matter how young, old or fit you are, as you can go at your own pace.
Orienteering can be a competitive individual sport or a recreational activity. You normally take part individually, but beginners can go out in pairs or a small group. At a competitive event, the person that visits all the controls in the right order, in the shortest time, is the winner.
Is Orienteering a family friendly sport?
Yes, there are many orienteering families where parents and children all take part. Because there are usually a number of different length and difficulty courses there is something suitable for everyone. The start times are spread over a period of time, so parents can take turns with childcare.
Do I need to be a club member to take part?
No, just come along to any of our events and give orienteering a go. If you find you enjoy it then there are many benefits from joining the club.
How do I get started?
The best place to get started is to enter one of our events - we use the online entry system racesignup for all our events. We are all geared up to help newcomers get started both before the event - links to some informative YouTube videos contained in your entry confirmation email, and at the event - volunteers are on hand to give you a full introduction and answer any questions you have.
We also have some Permanent Orienteering Courses (POC) with marker posts and Virtual Orienteering Courses (VOC) where you use your smartphone to take part and record your route. Plus some combined locations with both markers and virtual. These can be great way to try out the sport without any pressure.
What equipment/clothing do I need?
No special equipment is needed to start with, just comfortable outdoor clothing and footwear. If you are a runner, then the sort of things you would wear for a trail run are perfect. A compass will be useful as you progress, but not essential to get started. Your entry fee will include your own copy of the map.
Where can I do it?
Orienteering can take place anywhere from the streets of towns, school playgrounds, university campuses, country parks and cities.
How do I know which course to select?
There is usually a range of courses with varying degrees of navigational difficulty, so there’s something to suit all ages and levels of experience. The easier courses stick to paths and are quite short, while the harder ones require more complex navigation and advanced map reading skills and you cover a longer distance. We usually recommend newcomers and groups chose a Yellow or Orange line course, (Yellow is easiest course, Orange is a bit longer and slightly more difficult), or the Score course. The Score course has some easy and some tricky checkpoints on the map, and you decide which checkpoints to visit all within an hour time window.
Full explanation about course lengths and difficulty
What happens at the start?
Unlike a road race, there is no mass start. Competitors go off individually (or in a very small group), separated by a minute or more. As a beginner you will be given your map in advance so you can study it and plan your route to the first control. Once you become more confident you won't get the map until you are about to start.
Sounds great! What next?
Come along to one of our events showing on our events listing page and have a chat with a club member, investigate our virtual orienteering courses or look at the permanent orienteering courses we have set up in several parks and other open spaces.
Watch some explanatory videos
There are a number of good videos that will help you understand what orienteering is all about and prepare you for your first go at orienteering.
There are a number of good videos that will help you understand what orienteering is all about and prepare you for your first go at orienteering.
Think Fast, Run Hard is presented by an International orienteer who explains everything very clearly in about 5 mins. There are a further 8 videos in the series.
Getting started is the first video in a set of four made by Manchester orienteering club.
Others in the series:
Getting Going
Getting Confident
Getting Faster
How does someone improve at orienteering?
Orienteering well is a skill that requires practice. Even the most experienced orienteers make navigational mistakes regularly as it is difficult to find your way to every control point on a course at speed without error. There is a range of ways to assist newcomers and developing orienteers to progress, including:
- discussing where you went with someone else at the event and getting to hear where they went, and why, each sharing mistakes made. Club members are always happy to share their experiences with others
- uploading a GPX track of your route taken (if you use a GPS enabled watch) to an analysis tool such as RouteGadget. We make this available for all of our larger events. Even if you can't upload your own route, you can see and learn from where others went
- at an event, decide on a particular skill you would like to practice and concentrate on that aspect, not worrying about the time you take
- signup to one of our coaching events where you will have the opportunity to learn and practice new skills in a fun, non race environment