Hopefully another 30 or so runners are coming to our Paddock Wood street event next Thursday.
I think I've got a pretty successful method for getting runners to street orienteering events.
1) Choose a date that co-incides with the local running club's club night.
2) Contact the coach or person who organises the club night several months before the date. If you can do it in person this is much better (eg at the running club's annual 10k or something). Sell the idea - something different, good training (interval work between controls), chance for a fun competition, no need to coach for one evening.
3) Let the running club coach choose the start venue/car park and be flexible over start times. Often they will do some of the organising, the Paddock Wood AC coach has booked a primary school for start/finish/parking and organised the post event pub).
4) Absolute must is to allow/encourage runners to run in 2's and 3's. At least half are mapophobics, they;ll think "mapreading ... I can't do that", even a street O in their home town. If half don't want to go, the coach won't be keen.
I don't expect them all, or even any, to take up orienteering, but it's all good hype. Hopefully one or two will start drifting into orienteering, maybe local events at the weekend. Runners talk to other runners as well. We've had keen new members join after such second hand word of mouth publicity.
Something to think about when planning your street events? Don't forget street events are much easier to organise now with Open Orienteering Map.
Prizes for Publicity
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Interesting 'publicity' from the Paddock Wood AC website on the event -
'A mob match with a difference PWAC against members of Larkfield AC, Saxons Orienteering Club and possibly a few Maidstone Harriers.'
A 'mob match'; well, if it gets people to do some orienteering call it what you want! Nice initiative Sean. Hope Saxons (or at least our DFOK colleagues, some of whom I know will be there) come out on top though!
'A mob match with a difference PWAC against members of Larkfield AC, Saxons Orienteering Club and possibly a few Maidstone Harriers.'
A 'mob match'; well, if it gets people to do some orienteering call it what you want! Nice initiative Sean. Hope Saxons (or at least our DFOK colleagues, some of whom I know will be there) come out on top though!
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DaveK - green
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
I don't know where mob match comes from, but local running clubs use it for a friendly summer evening inter club match
Ha ha, seems like my running club friend has misinterpreted me. The mob match was just going to be Larkfield vs Paddock Wood AC (no reply from Maidstone this year). But now he wants to make it vs Saxons as well I'll have to invent a scoring system with the orienteering clubs getting a handicap of some kind. Excellent, a chance for DFOK and SAXONS to beat SO for once
Ha ha, seems like my running club friend has misinterpreted me. The mob match was just going to be Larkfield vs Paddock Wood AC (no reply from Maidstone this year). But now he wants to make it vs Saxons as well I'll have to invent a scoring system with the orienteering clubs getting a handicap of some kind. Excellent, a chance for DFOK and SAXONS to beat SO for once
- SeanC
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
re use of the term "mob match".The Blackheath and Bromley website defines it as "Quite simply it is a Mob of us against a Mob of them...
Statistically the more competitors one team has the better their chances of winning... The way it works is that you added up the number of runners on each side then take three off of the smaller number. For example, if SLH have 47 and B&B have 60 then we score the first 44 from each side. Adds up to big numbers and the team with the lower score is the winner. First place counts 1 point, 2nd 2 etc etc - if you finish in 98th place you score 98 points.
So, the result is not normally known until the last few runners finish. Regardless of your age or sex you can make a big difference just by running. Think about it - even if all our scoring runners are home and dry, and their's are not, you still help by pushing the opponents score higher by finishing in front of any of their scoring runners. Great fun and it's been going on since the 18 hundreds.
So it's a bit like the CompassSport Cup, but less complicated
On a Birmingham-based note, although the term was probably used from the 1870's onwards, it really came into common usage in the Birchfield Harriers archive in WW2, when huge events were organised by Harriers/athletics clubs to support sport in the armed forces stationed across the country. Similar events had been pulled together in WW1 too. These could attract thousands of military runners. They were often used by local clubs to spot how their enlisted athletes were maintaining their form during their service!
Statistically the more competitors one team has the better their chances of winning... The way it works is that you added up the number of runners on each side then take three off of the smaller number. For example, if SLH have 47 and B&B have 60 then we score the first 44 from each side. Adds up to big numbers and the team with the lower score is the winner. First place counts 1 point, 2nd 2 etc etc - if you finish in 98th place you score 98 points.
So, the result is not normally known until the last few runners finish. Regardless of your age or sex you can make a big difference just by running. Think about it - even if all our scoring runners are home and dry, and their's are not, you still help by pushing the opponents score higher by finishing in front of any of their scoring runners. Great fun and it's been going on since the 18 hundreds.
So it's a bit like the CompassSport Cup, but less complicated
On a Birmingham-based note, although the term was probably used from the 1870's onwards, it really came into common usage in the Birchfield Harriers archive in WW2, when huge events were organised by Harriers/athletics clubs to support sport in the armed forces stationed across the country. Similar events had been pulled together in WW1 too. These could attract thousands of military runners. They were often used by local clubs to spot how their enlisted athletes were maintaining their form during their service!
- ifititches
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Shrewsbury AC and Wrekin did an inter club race 20 odd years back. Was about 2 miles cross country out to the terrain then about 4 controls of yellow standard but long legs so 3km total around the area then the same 2 miles back to the start. It was a mass start so the runners tactic's were to follow the orienteers out and around the course then try and out run them to the finish. The lead Orienteers tactics were to not take the best route around the course but a longer one to delay the runners that just followed and then find the most horrid bit of forest possible to cut straight though to try and loose the runners in tow.
Was a fun event but not sure it encouraged the runners to try O again.
Was a fun event but not sure it encouraged the runners to try O again.
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ifor - brown
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Some years ago we used to have a fun event with running and orienteering clubs competing: it consisted of a 2 mile or so cross-country run (mass start), at the end of which you picked up a map and did an orienteering course (orange standard) of a similar distance. I'm not sure how it was scored.
- roadrunner
- addict
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
We managed to get some prizes and publicity all in one http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/1409-ict-reward-brill-iant-volunteers
- Sunlit Forres
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Good stuff Mr Forres.
So the Paddock Wood event came and went. As usual there were a few surprises worth sharing here re publicity to runners.
- 15 runners turned up. Less than hoped, but those that did really enjoyed it. Quite a few were asking questions about next events and more about how the sport works.
- The Paddock Wood coach thinks that some people don't like straying out of the comfort zone, plus there's a lot on. He thinks that if we did the same event every year the numbers of runners would grow.
- Not many came from neighbouring club Larkfield. I think the mistake I made was not getting the captains involved. Lots of the runners don't go beyond their home town, and need motivation to go to any running race, that's the club captains role at most running clubs I imagine. So inter-running club competitions could be the way forward. These things probably take a few years to build.
- Paddock Wood AC hired a primary school for the evening for registration/download. This really made a difference to the atmosphere. People stayed at chatted for much longer than if it had just been a cold car park.
- Some of the runners commented that "those orienteers are a bit miserable!" because when they said hello during the run, some of the orienteers ignored them. I told them it's because some where uber focused, but there is a cultural difference here. Orienteers = out on your own with your lonely run, focussed inwardly, runners have marshalls encouraging them all the way round. But orienteers showed they were friendly at download in the classroom.
- All but one of the runners ran in groups, so encouraging group running really seems to be key. Many gave themselves team names. "Paddock Wood Mens A" were fourth, the same number of points as NeilC. It would only take a few events for these faster runners to start winning KNC's where they're street O at least. It's definately a market worth tapping.
So the Paddock Wood event came and went. As usual there were a few surprises worth sharing here re publicity to runners.
- 15 runners turned up. Less than hoped, but those that did really enjoyed it. Quite a few were asking questions about next events and more about how the sport works.
- The Paddock Wood coach thinks that some people don't like straying out of the comfort zone, plus there's a lot on. He thinks that if we did the same event every year the numbers of runners would grow.
- Not many came from neighbouring club Larkfield. I think the mistake I made was not getting the captains involved. Lots of the runners don't go beyond their home town, and need motivation to go to any running race, that's the club captains role at most running clubs I imagine. So inter-running club competitions could be the way forward. These things probably take a few years to build.
- Paddock Wood AC hired a primary school for the evening for registration/download. This really made a difference to the atmosphere. People stayed at chatted for much longer than if it had just been a cold car park.
- Some of the runners commented that "those orienteers are a bit miserable!" because when they said hello during the run, some of the orienteers ignored them. I told them it's because some where uber focused, but there is a cultural difference here. Orienteers = out on your own with your lonely run, focussed inwardly, runners have marshalls encouraging them all the way round. But orienteers showed they were friendly at download in the classroom.
- All but one of the runners ran in groups, so encouraging group running really seems to be key. Many gave themselves team names. "Paddock Wood Mens A" were fourth, the same number of points as NeilC. It would only take a few events for these faster runners to start winning KNC's where they're street O at least. It's definately a market worth tapping.
- SeanC
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Interesting stuff Sean. I've put the word round a few local running clubs via Facebook. I'll let you know if anyone turns up and what they think. https://www.facebook.com/109323515783662/photos/o.122353461124493/739548569427817/?type=1¬if_t=like
Hoping it's not a boring 0-0 this afternoon!
Hoping it's not a boring 0-0 this afternoon!
- Sunlit Forres
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Nice plug for EAOA by the BBC, although I'm not sure whether they just got this by looking at the EAOA website...
British Orienteering Director | Opinions expressed on here are entirely my own, and do not represent the views of British Orienteering.
"If only you were younger and better..."
"If only you were younger and better..."
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Scott - god
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
So no one owning up to watching pointless last week?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... episode-32
Must be worth a pen or whatever is on offer for that publicity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... episode-32
Must be worth a pen or whatever is on offer for that publicity.
- Happy
- orange
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
More SN publicity with great article involving Sarah Rollins for World O Day.
http://www.farnhamherald.com/article.cf ... hyear=2016
http://www.farnhamherald.com/article.cf ... hyear=2016
- Happy
- orange
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Spotted a viewer's photograph from Wendles on the 6:20 BBC1 weather report this morning but not an orienteering kite in sight. An opportunity missed?
- NeilC
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Yeah shocking that anyone would suppose Wendles to have a life outside orienteering...
Orienteering - its no walk in the park
- andypat
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Re: Prizes for Publicity
Wendles does have a life outside orienteering
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2179596641001014385
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2179596641001014385
- denbydale
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