Making "orienteering" more accesible

[Ed]

I didn't say they weren't registered (and therefore insured), but that they weren't registered with BOF.

Apart from which, any event can get itself insurance (as I assume the event in discussion in this thread has done). They may have to pay more for it than if they got it through registering, but therefore have less restrictions.

[Oldman]

This seems a very risk averse view for someone who goes orienteering. I would have thought there was a much greater chance of personal injury during an orienteering event than me causing injury to others. Yet only a few people insure against such personal injury and wouldn't most insurance policies exclude orienteering/adventure racing as a dangerous activity anyway!

Yes, but I'm not worried about injuring someone else but about them claiming for damages due to eg walls or fences being damaged, or cows being killed after I leave a gate open. What matters here are the consequences if a risk happens: if I get injured, the consequences are under my control: I'm off work or can't run again; but if I damage someone's property or am sued for other liabilities, I could be faced with huge financial bills!

[Vidalos]

Yes, but I'm not worried about injuring someone else but about them claiming for damages due to eg walls or fences being damaged, or cows being killed after I leave a gate open. What matters here are the consequences if a risk happens: if I get injured, the consequences are under my control: I'm off work or can't run again; but if I damage someone's property or am sued for other liabilities, I could be faced with huge financial bills!

Serious point - I know this could feasibly happen but does anybody know of such an occurance? Does anybody know of a time when, had it not been for the insurance, they would have had to stump up huge wads of cash?

[swat]

Best way not to get sued for those things is not to do them. No blame, no claim.

[Kitch]

ruddy marvelous

from "making orienteering more accessible" we end up with half a dozen people wittering on about the legal implications of event insurance.

and huffing along like disgusted of Tunbridge Wells "it shouldn't be allowed"


GET A LIFE

[SeanC]

It could be argued that no-one approaching 2000 nopesport posts is qualified to give advice on getting a life

Or over 300 for that matter

Or is this trolling?

A return to the original topic would be appreciated though.

[rosco]

That is the first time I have ever seen an advert for an orienteering event that would make me want to become an orienteer....

It makes it sound exciting and fun; not complicated and difficult!

[Vidalos]

I agree, just look at what marketing has done for events such as the "Hellraiser" and "Grizzly" treating that as challenge events has really increased their participation and success.

Runners or many sorts are looking to try different things, remove the barriers to entry and they will

From a competitors perspective if such events provide me with more events by number and variety I welcome such developments

[awk]

Yet only a few people insure against such personal injury and wouldn't most insurance policies exclude orienteering/adventure racing as a dangerous activity anyway!

We have a fairly standard annual travel insurance policy: it covers our orienteering (I've checked!).

Sorry if this causes offence to Kitch et al.

[Oldman]

We have a fairly standard annual travel insurance policy: it covers our orienteering (I've checked!).

Sorry if this causes offence to Kitch et al.

So do I, but it only covers you for events abroad not for those in the UK: I think you'll find yours is the same, awk.

By the way, thanks for pointing out Kitch's need also "to get a life", since he recently posted this here:

... push himself to the edge of the abyss,
gauging just how far he could lurch,
just how much his body could take ....

Perhaps it's posts like Kitch's that dissuade many from posting and result in Nopesport being a talking shop for a minority.

[FromTheGrassyKnoll]

That is the first time I have ever seen an advert for an orienteering event that would make me want to become an orienteer....

It makes it sound exciting and fun; not complicated and difficult!

They also seem to offer a selection of cross country runs "The G3 10k running series has fast become the litmus test for 'a challenging run.'"

These are effectively trail runs over the North Downs. The fact that the entry is £12.50 suggests that the marketing and product is good. The results show around 300 people turning up to these; event in Jan, Feb, Mar... that makes around 10k revenue for three events. Subtract a few fried breakfasts and you have a tidy profit.

G3 10K / XT10 sounds cool. Makes me want to have a go too! The mass start is an interesting twist that maybe makes the event more popular... it is a true race.

Maybe we need some more mass start events and some publicity to stress the racing angle.

IMHO The word Orienteering is inextricably linked to beardies with their maps in map cases rambling around the country side. I agree with "Adventure Running"... or maybe just XT10+. That's an XT10 with adventure controls.

[Rookie]

club's put on Come-and-try-it events quite often but how well marketed are they to people outside orienteering? Just putting it up on the club website isn't really any good since non regular orienteers aren't going to find it.

I guess Mrs H will have had plenty of marketing experience for her MADO series.

A marketing advantage this race has is it is made to sound like a rare thing, a one off in November that you can enter now - makes it special when in reality it is the sort of race clubs put on every Wednesday(or any other day of the week) during Spring/Summer (or is the sort of thing clubs very easily could put on every week, and if I was organising a evening park race it might use the format).

If we are going to market something to th outside world it needs to be special and exciting (and I don't think the phrase "Come-and-try-it" is very exciting)

For Gross - Brit-O is quicker than writing British Orienteering and BOF/BO isn't public friendly.
For Ed - "[un]official" was referring to Brit-O registered orienteering (and the sport as defined by them and the IOF) as we know it and not. The "official orienteering" is Brit-O's responsibility to protect

[schnitzer]

If we are going to market something to th outside world it needs to be special and exciting (and I don't think the phrase "Come-and-try-it" is very exciting)

How about "Fence Smasher" or my personal favourite "The Cow Killer"?

Moo

Is that trolling, or is it simply banter? Moderator feel free to move this to the relevant forum.

On a serious note tho the above suggestions may only need a little tweaking - maybe "The Deer Scarer" or "Marsh Masher".

[Oldman]

Maybe we need some more mass start events and some publicity to stress the racing angle.

IMHO The word Orienteering is inextricably linked to beardies with their maps in map cases rambling around the country side. I agree with "Adventure Running"... or maybe just XT10+. That's an XT10 with adventure controls.

Well said!! Why not try more mass start events: we only ever see them for score events or relays!

[Gross]

Long live Kitch... a real orienteer