street orienteering

[InvisibilityEquipped]

I saw a flyer for a night time street orienteering series that is coming up in my area soon. I'm just wondering what to expect - like, would the courses be completely on the street in well-lit areas or might it go off into parks where you would need your own light source? Also, do people generally use their compass for street orienteering or not? Is it as challenging as traditional orienteering?

[brooner]

Without knowing what events they are, and how they're organised, have a look at the SLOW explanation of their monthly Street O series.

[andypat]

I suspect you'll need a torch to see your map if nothing else. I'd check the website of the club thats running it to see what the expectations are. Running about the streets at night brings its own risks in terms of see and be seen. I'd suggest a head torch and reflective clothing might be useful. Night O generally a bit trickirer than normal O as you cant see as far - if you havent tried before consider doing a daytime Urban race first to get the hand of it.

[Big Jon]

I remember in the late '70's doing several street events in Aberdeen - dark, no torches - you had to read the map under street lights and then run from memory in any dark sections. Mind you Aberdeen had pretty good street lighting - certainly better than Guildford (for example) where my memory of evening runs was trying to avoid too many dark unlit roads in order to stay alive with commuting cars racing past.

[SeanC]

I've heard that Aldi are selling headtorches for £4. Don't know how good they are or how long they will last.

[Glucosamine]

Cheap Tesco headtorch did fine for a winter's clubruns over dark fields. Catch them while you can!

[IanD]

Don't know the particular event you are thinking about, but most night street events use a very simple map, rather than a 'proper' orienteering map. It is also possible that there will be no recognisable controls, rather you will have to write down the answer to a question, which will (hopefully) be obvious when you reach the centre of the circle.

The SLOW web page to which an earlier posting referred to explains well what their events are like. I would however recommend a torch so that you can read the map easily in-between street-lamps.

Of course, the particular event you are referring to may have a 'proper' ISSOM map and/or forest park sections that would be completely dark without a torch. I would hope there would be some details on the flyer; if not, try contacting the organiser.

[InvisibilityEquipped]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a cheap headtorch is the way to go but I'll get in touch with the organiser to check. Unfortunately I have trouble making it to many day time events so won't get to try a daytime urban even beforehand so I'll just have to jump in the deep end...