Population Pyramid for 6 Day entries

[Paul Frost]

Ollie O’Brien has analysed the demographic of the entries of the Oban 6 Days as at 1st Feb and the results are interesting reading. He lists some possible mitigating factors for the hole in the 20-40 age group.
Read it and comment on Ollie's blog.

[AlanB]

Not strictly related to the 6 Days, but the 'hole' in the 20-40 age group that is also reflected at other O events does, to an extent, reflect my own history.

While I did a bit of orienteering at school, during my twenties I was much more interested in athletics - cross-country, road and fell racing. I lived in north Manchester at the time and driving just a few minutes to a local park for a cross country race seemed a lot easier than the distances and effort required to orienteer.

A move to Perthshire - and fatherhood - came in my thirties, so I decided to try the orienteering that was on my doorstep. The pressures of bringing up a young family, however, and seeing to their needs at weekends, meant that I did drift away from the sport once again. Much as I do admire those families that orienteer together, if your spouse/partner and children just aren't interested in the sport, then your opportunities do become limited. So that was my thirties and most of my forties ruled out!

Suddenly, I'm in my fifties, my kids see to their own leisure needs and I have a pressing need to do something about my physical (and mental) state; what better way to spend my new found freedom than taking up orienteering again? From my perspective, orienteering is the perfect sport to take part in from this age onwards. I have the time, and the money, to travel to events like the 6 Days, I can 'compete' without having to train as intensively as I would in athletics, and I can see myself being involved well into old age.

[Gnitworp]

After seeing the Office of National Statistics' population pyramid, I'm not going to say I was a 'bulge' baby anymore: Eyebrows Baby

[Taybank]

The O-ringen shows a similar sort of distribution with proportionally more at M/W 40 and peaking at M/W 45.

[AlanB]

After seeing the Office of National Statistics' population pyramid, I'm not going to say I was a 'bulge' baby anymore: Eyebrows Baby

That is quite a sharp drop from 65 to 66 (or is it 64 to 65?) - is someone 'taking out' people as they emerge from an appointment at the pensions office?

[Spookster]

He lists some possible mitigating factors for the hole in the 20-40 age group.

Oli's 6 mitigating factors are all perhaps reasons for slight reductions in the 2, 35 and 40 age class entries, but I don't think any of them are as significant as the main factor, which is that there just aren't enough people in those age classes in the sport at present.

[DeerTick]

This absolutely reflects my own impression of the age distribution of competitors since my own return to orienteering three years ago.

I wonder what a similar graph would show for my first sport of distance running. I get the impression that it is dominated by older athletes too.

AP

[AAH]

Another major trend is that the decrease in M/W21 is amongst non-elite competitors. The number of elite orienteers hasn’t dropped anything like as dramatically.

e.g. at Breadalbane ‘97, 82 people ran at least one day of M21E versus 149 M21L and 179 M21S. So far this year, the 33 entries on M21E outnumber 25 on M21L and there are 22 on M21S.

It is even more clear from JKs… e.g. 1997, (Penhale Sands) 62 entries on M21E, 209 on M21L, 211 on M21S. Fast-forward to 2010 – fairly close geographically, also sand dunes – 69 people ran M21E, 38 ran M21L, 47 ran M21S.

It really looks like the sport is still doing fine in the UK at the top end (and the very best are at least as good or better) but the decimation of 21L is a particular worry for the future of the sport.

It’s not quite as dramatic an effect if you look at championship standards: on JK 1997 day 2, there were 47 championships standards on M21E and 29 on M21L, at JK 2010 day 2, there were 26 championships standard runs on M21E and none on M21L so it looks like the number of people capable of running 125% of winner’s time has also dropped quite a lot. But still, all of this is a bit of a problem – the pyramid needs a broad base…

[usuallylast]

Suddenly, I'm in my fifties, my kids see to their own leisure needs and I have a pressing need to do something about my physical (and mental) state

AlanB more or less sums up my own experience, substituting motherhood for fatherhood.
I had a couple of half hearted attempts at orienteering in my early twenties - one involved flies and fear in a dark plantation, and I vowed never to try again. I hated the rush at the start to copy the map (mine was illegible), and I seem to remember losing the card I was supposed to punch on the way round. The other was a 'wayfaring' course which I went round with some friends. We had a leisurely wander round, even took a picnic - never even considered that anyone would be worrying about us
Either spouse-to-be didn't offer help at the time, or I obstinately refused it - can't remember which now. He got more interested in rugby, and I quickly gave up. He took the kids out a few times, but with lack of time, travelling issues and me not interested, that petered out as well.
Now in my fifties I'm trying to make up for lost time with a brain and body that aren't quite up to it, and sincerely regretting all those lost years, but thoroughly enjoying the sport. Shame to miss out because of one or two bad experiences early on though.

[Angry Haggis]

After seeing the Office of National Statistics' population pyramid, I'm not going to say I was a 'bulge' baby anymore: Eyebrows Baby

That is quite a sharp drop from 65 to 66 (or is it 64 to 65?) - is someone 'taking out' people as they emerge from an appointment at the pensions office?

65 years ago is ~9 months after VE Day - end of the Second World War in Europe.

You can see the same effect ~9 months after the end of the First World War in the pre-2002 pyramids - see http://www.statistics.gov.uk/populationestimates/flash_pyramid/UK-pyramid/pyramid6_30.html

[AlanB]

A-ha! Of course! I never thought to do the arithmetic.

[AlanB]

Suddenly, I'm in my fifties, my kids see to their own leisure needs and I have a pressing need to do something about my physical (and mental) state

...

Now in my fifties I'm trying to make up for lost time with a brain and body that aren't quite up to it, and sincerely regretting all those lost years, but thoroughly enjoying the sport. Shame to miss out because of one or two bad experiences early on though.

I know what you mean about regret, but we've still got plenty of time to master this thing!

Perhaps non-elite orienteering is just simply a sport that is particularly suited to the more mature age groups, with career- and family-focused twenty- and thirty-somethings genuinely struggling to find the time. That doesn't explain the 'boom' years, though - has life got more demanding for 20 to 40 year olds since then?

[Taybank]

I'm not sure that if I had just two weeks of summer holiday I would want to spend one of them orienteering in Scotland every other year.
As the family gets older and you have "been there" and "done that" it becomes a better family holiday option.
Maybe it should be arranged so there is a weekend option (Sat/Sun) at the beginning or end of the week with a good range of open events offering entry on the day to cater for any such interest. If it came at the end of the week it could take in the Friday as well.

[EddieH]

AAH's stats are interesting. However he suggests that the elite are at least as good as they were. Wrong - they are infinitely stronger now - I used to get within 5% of the winner's time in most elite races and I was never a great runner, and my navigation never compared to the elite today.

That is why so few M21's get championship standard today - the guys at the top are awesome.

[AlanB]

AAH's stats are interesting. However he suggests that the elite are at least as good as they were. Wrong - they are infinitely stronger now - I used to get within 5% of the winner's time in most elite races and I was never a great runner, and my navigation never compared to the elite today.

That is why so few M21's get championship standard today - the guys at the top are awesome.

Could that be one reason why the sport isn't as attractive to your 'average' M21 or W21? That the leaders are just so far ahead, both technically and in terms of fitness?