Orienteering is a sport for everyone. Usually, it is practiced in the woods, but it is also practiced in cities and parks. You practice it using a cartographic map with different scales (1:5000 – 1:7500 for city centers, and 1:10000 – 1:15000 in the woods), a compass, and a lot of fun.
In this sport – unlike many other sports – there are multiple categories and they are subdivided by gender and age. For this reason, we can think of Orienteering as a family sport. For example, the father might register in the M45 category, the mother in the W40 category, and the children in the Junior category.
In the most important events, the Master categories are subdivided by 5 or 10 years, while the Junior categories are subdivided by 2 or 4 years. If you didn’t try the Orienteering you should try it! Usually, Orienteering races are organized on Sunday morning. You can choose the team that is closest to your hometown or take a look at the “Albo d’oro” to choose the team you prefer. This sport would be done in many different ways. You can do it as an amateur or as a competitive athlete. In this sport, there are regional, Italian, European, or worldwide championship. In each event, there is also the “Esordienti” category and the map are entirely based on know paths.
Orienteering could be done on a daily basis for sure! Everyone has is own goal: the athlete for working out, the family and the enthusiast for fun and spent a great day outside with family and friend.
How it works: you can run by yourself or in a team, through a few checkpoints. The winner is the one who completes the race in the least amount of time. In this sport don’t win always the faster, but the athlete that is able to orient faster than the other and make good choices.
- Equipment: The beginners can start without any “advanced” equipment. But the compass is a must-have.
- Registration: During the registration, you get your bit number and the microchip. It has to be used using during the points check-in.
- Start: Usually the athletes start the race with a few minutes interval from each other. At the start, the athlete gets the map that contains the checkpoints. The start is represented with a triangle, while the points are represented with a circle.
- Race: The athlete must reach all the checkpoints – using the same sequences represented in the map. At each checkpoint, there is a flag (white and orange). In these points, the athletes have to check-in – using with the chip.
- Arrival: At arrival, all the checkpoints are checked by the staff. The winner is the one who completes the race in the least amount of time checking all the points.
There are different types of Orienteering
- Foot Orienteering
- Mountain Bike Orienteering
- Ski Orienteering
- Trail Orienteering