Running in pyjamas

We watched, puzzled, as our friends produced a roll of sticky-backed plastic and covered our control descriptions to stop them disintegrating in the pouring rain. It was February 2007, the LOK regional event at Holmbury Hill but we didn’t know any of this at the time as it was our first try at orienteering. Our friends from SLOW had great faith in us: they lent us compasses and gave us a quick initiation around a white course where they showed us how to hold the strangely-coloured map. Empowered with the information that a rhododendron was called a thicket, we then set off on the orange course. After my first few controls, and a couple of 1800 errors, I was relieved to bump into my 13 (at the time) year old son, who was also finding it quite a challenge. Between us we worked out where we were and decided to stick together.

We ran, we scrambled, we puzzled and we searched and I experienced unbelievable triumphs at finding the orange and white markers! The words on our control descriptions – washing away despite the plastic – were not a lot of help:
“What on earth is a ride?”
“I’ve no idea – do you know what a re-entrant is?”
We ambitiously headed directly from one control to the next not realising that a more cautious route via paths was the normal way for beginners on an orange. Totally focused on the route to the next control I was unaware of the time I had been running or the torrential conditions and so it was a bit alarming to meet someone collecting in controls. He helped us locate our earthwall and reassured us that our course was still set and that we wouldn’t be left here all on our own.

After our taster in such appalling conditions you might be surprised that we ever went orienteering again! I wasn’t free for a while as I was race director for a local running race. But, a couple of months later, the same friends took us to a SLOW event in the sunshine on Wimbledon common. This time, my son and I worked as a team from the start, and we finished in 3rd place and were hooked. The next event we stumbled upon thanks to my husband spotting a poster while playing pitch and putt at Frimley Lodge Park. It was the SN “come and try it”. We came, we tried it and we decided this was the sport for us – only to discover that it all seemed to stop for the summer. But we left clutching details of the Saturday league starting in September.

In the last year we have been to locals, regionals, the Compass Sport Cup and the JK. I now know how to find out about events – although actually locating them in a field is sometimes another matter! As a late starter to your sport I have to say that I have found it hard on the TD5 courses competing in my age group class – I prefer to choose a light green if I can. The progression for youngsters through longer and more technical courses is ideal but if you start at my age you are in at the deep end!

My next step, as a relative newcomer to orienteering is an unlikely one. This summer I took a level 1 and 2 coaching course and I am organising introductory primary school orienteering sessions – gym and school field activities. The reason: because I think that the sport makes running interesting for young children. Having helped organise all sorts of running-sports events, cross-country races, triathlons, the Surrey Youth Games and set up a local charity run, I want to do things that inspire young children to run. I am really glad I discovered orienteering and I think the sport has huge potential – although I don’t yet understand why everyone wears such odd clothes!