Your First Events
These notes help to explain some of the things you will meet when you
start going to events.
At all events you have a choice of different courses. Some
events are called Colour-coded events, or District events.
At these events you would pick a White course if you are a
beginner and then a Yellow course when you have had some experience. Norma or
another club member will be able to help you pick the best course for you.
There are other colours which you will do as you get more
confident.
Some other events are called SOL events, Regional events or
Badge events. SOL stands for Scottish Orienteering League and these events take
place all over Scotland. Some people run in seven events and the overall winner
is the person with the most points taken from the 4 best times he or she has.
At these events the main courses are not given colours and adults compete
against people in their same age group. Junior courses have different names but
you can still choose the course most suitable for your standard. White, Yellow, Orange, Red and Light Green
courses are usually also available at these events.
The beginners’ courses:
YELLOW This time you will follow a track,
path, fence, stream, power line or vegetation boundary and controls will often
be on features very close to the path such as boulders, crags, small hills or
buildings. There will not be a control
at every point where you need to change direction so you will decide where you
have to turn.
The control is a white and orange/red kite usually mounted
on a stake.
At some events you will be given an EMIT electronic card (a
‘brick’) to carry round with you. Hold
it with the green side facing into your hand.
You put it onto the control when you find it. A light flashes on the unit to tell you that your brick has
received information from the unit. If
you have a brick, you must go back to the FINISH and DOWNLOAD.
That means you lay it on a machine which reads the information from the brick
and you are then given a slip of paper with your time. Someone will do this for
you.
Some SOL events use a different kind of electronic card
called an SI card. You will need to ask
how to use this at the event.
At other events the old fashioned punch is still used but
this is quite easy and all you do is punch your control card which you will be
given when you buy your map. You must
hand it in at the FINISH.
The most important thing at any event is to return to the FINISH
and to make sure that the Organiser knows you have finished – even if you don’t
find all the CONTROLS.
At SOL and many District events you get a map which has your
course overprinted on it. But
sometimes you copy your course onto your blank map from a master map, with the
list of descriptions on a separate sheet.
First, find the Start triangle and copy it onto your map,
then copy down each of the circles in turn, taking care to position the circle
as it is drawn on the master map and finishing with the double circle that
marks the Finish.
Draw lines joining the circles in the numbered order as on
the master map – they will show you where the next control is but it is up to
you to decide how to get there.
Copy down the number for each control near to the circle but
outside it.
If the line on the master map is drawn through a crossing
point, marked by 2 curved lines, you must cross there so be careful to
copy it down as on the master map.
Sometimes the planner will mark a section of the course in
the forest with coloured tapes to help you.
This is shown with a dotted line on the map and is included on the
description list.
The description list tells you the number codes of the
controls and what feature the control is on.
At most events this is given to you on a separate piece of paper. When you copy up your course it is helpful
to look at the description for each control to make sure you are circling the
right feature.
Enjoy yourself and come back next time!!
Bring a friend or a member of your family.