First event tomorrow. Can I enter any colour category ?

[VeganGraham]

I intend to enter my first ever running orienteering event tomorrow, although I've been trailquesting on a mountain bike for a couple of years.
http://www.harlequins.org.uk/event_deta ... etails.pdf
As an M45, I should be doing the Brown, 7.9km route.
I haven't done much running lately and I've got a knee injury from a bike crash.
Can I opt for one of the shorter routes ?

[Mrs H]

Yes Graham - you can enter any course you like and there will be a good mix of people on all the courses I expect, anything from green up will be the fullest technical difficulty the area can provide, the only difference is the length. If you have a knee injury you don't want to aggravate it, I should try the green, and because you will be going slower than normal it will give you a chance to really concentrate on your navigation and understanding the subtlety of the map - you might find you do better than if you were fully fit because of this as fit beginners frequently attempt to go too fast and not always in the right direction. there will be someone at enquiries to help you if you need it. Remember to get there early as the Yvette Baker Trophy (YBT) juniors take over from about 11.30 I think.

See you there (If I survive tonight British Night champs at Bentley Wood)

[kedge]

Not only may you enter any course you choose, but as a novice to FootO you should enter a shorter course than the one you expected to enter for your first time, particularly if you are carrying an injury.

Doubtless there will be helpful people around at registration to offer advice but if you are an experience navigator I would suggest starting on something like the Light Green course to start with. It may take you longer to get round than you think!

And also consider the Organisers. One of the banes of the life of any O-Club is the novice who arrives just as registration is closing, insists on entering one of the longer courses, gets hideously lost and takes three hours getting round, thus preventing the organisers from packing up and going home until its almost dark.

Good luck!

[AndyC]

Welcome to the sport!
If you've been trailquesting you'll be used to progressing along paths and tracks mainly. Green will expect you to travel across country off path on a compass bearing which might be a challenge.
Orange (which might be a bit easy) will be of a similar technical standard to trailquest but physically is likely to be lacking in challenge.
I'd suggest Light Green which will still have a potential to get off the paths but will protect you by having catching features behind anything you need to use a bearing to get to.
Fortunately you're not dropping in to an event in Kielder or Moorland where it can take a long time to correct for a mistake (and the brambles won't rip you to shreds).
If I were greeting you I would definitely advise against too long a course and recommend a lower technical standard as I'd like you to enjoy yourself and come back again when you could attempt something more technical rather than risk a "I can't do this I hate this" reaction if you take on something that is too long or difficult.

ENJOY YOURSELF

[VeganGraham]

Thanks for the replies and the friendly welcome.

I'm aware the navigational aspect will be different. One of the rules of trailquesting is that we can only use Public RoWs, and CPs are always on a conspicuous land mark like a sign post or telegraph pole.
Running directly across country on a bearing, while searching for a marker in a patch of bracken that looks like all the other bracken will be a new experience for me. I know the area though and will be walking to the event from home, so I can guarantee I won't get completely lost.

I've organised one trailquest and helped at two others, so I will try not to make a nuisance of myself, I know what it's like to be on the other side of the stopwatch.

I think I'll do the 3.8km Green route then.
I did my first trailquest simply because it was an MTB event near home. I liked it, so I did every one I could from then on and ended up 3rd in the MTQ Autumn League last year.
I've done one 10km running race and finished in 49:55. I like the idea of running, but I find the reality of just plodding on for a set distance a bit boring.
I'm hoping the added challenge of orienteering will inspire me to run more and increase my pace.

[Mrs H]

I'm sure you'll be fine on the green Graham - might I suggest that as much as running on a baring, you take the time to "tick off" the features on the map as you are passing them on the ground - that way you will know you are in the right patch of bracken (although I'm hoping there won't be too much of that around).

I'm sure orienteering will add spice to your running and having to take it easy because of your knee injury is actually going to work in your favour while you get started.

[VeganGraham]

Thanks for the advice, all tips gratefully received.
I'm used to working from a 1:50k OS map and knowing that at 20km/h it takes me 3 minutes to cross one square, at 15km/h, 4 minutes and so on.
It'll be interesting to see how my experience at one sport translates across to another where I'll be travelling a lot slower and using a larger scale map.
I'm treating it as a fun day out in the forest, I'm not worrying too much about the result for my first event.

The knee injury is nothing serious. I had a fairly hard fall about two weeks ago. I was just about over it when I found an unexpected patch of ice on Thursday morning and went down again.

[Adrian]

Just to remind people who are coming to orienteer in the Wyre Forest tomorrow that if you're not taking part in the Yvette Baker competition, you will need to register by 11 a.m.

[Mrs H]

Graham - if you are not familiar with orienteering maps - which look very different to OS maps - please ask at enquiries if someone can talk you through the colours/symbols or if they have one with a legend on that you can have a good look at before you start.

Remember - yellow is open, white is trees you can run through and the darker the green the more impenetrable it gets - think about the amount of sunlight that gets to the ground and you'll get the idea

....and report back here afterwards and let us know how you got on - I'll run the green too - we can swap notes.

[EddieH]

If you are a natural map reader there should be little problem once you've adjusted to the scale. (You are likely to overshoot things at first.

I started as a TOTAL non athletic person, but ignored everyone that suggested I ran a short course. I huffed and puffed round the longest one available and was glad that I had. Just do what you think feels right for you.

I hope you find the sport as rewarding and fascinating as I do to this day.

[graeme]

Completely opposite from Eddie, despite a running background I started on the shortest (white) course. Then, having got the idea of the map and scale, went out and did a grown-up course.

[andypat]

while searching for a marker in a patch of bracken that looks like all the other bracken will be a new experience for me.

So you were at the Compassport Cup final then !

Actually agree with Graeme on that one. As a lapsed orienteer I came back to the sport on at least two occasions in my 20s and failed to finish a brown course, relapsing in the process. More recently I took an old school pal to an event near Aviemore and due to limited entry on the day we ended up on "easy" light green. I came 3rd or so, my more athletic pal ended up off the map and in tears (M40 mind you ).

Hope you get a good welcome and enjoy the event. Interestingly, I joined BMBO (for free admittedly) last year but was injured and missed the event I had planned to do. I got an email at the end of the 2010, politely requesting me not to renew my membership until I was planning to do an event. Bit harsh I thought considering there's hardly any events in Scotland anyway - put me right off MBO!

[Adventure Racer]

I intend to enter my first ever running orienteering event tomorrow, although I've been trailquesting on a mountain bike for a couple of years.

So why not call yourself TrailquestGraham, or even MidlandTrailquestsGraham

[greywolf]

So why not call yourself TrailquestGraham, or even MidlandTrailquestsGraham

Because coming from Vega is rather more remarkable than doing a bit of Trailquest?

[VeganGraham]

Adventure Racer obviously knows me from a mountain bike forum where I use the name MidlandTrailquestGraham as a form of subliminal advertising for the club.
BMBO is a different organisation. All our trailquests are score events, usually over three hours. Nobody ever gets to all the CPs, so route planning and the ability to do mental arithmetic while riding a bike are as important as navigation.

I've got a couple of orienteering maps I have scrounged in the past, although not the one for Hawkbatch, so I have got some idea of what to expect.