An adventurous theme
Orienteering might not be as popular as other cross-country disciplines, but its requirement for stamina, navigational skills, and perseverance, means it is becoming increasingly popular. Keith Downing, member of the British Thematic Association (BTA), describes the sport and the stamps that have helped celebrate it
The sport of orienteering began in Sweden at the end of the 19th century, developing from a military exercise to improve navigational skills. Competitors have to navigate their way across unknown terrain to find a number of designated points in the quickest time. The first known civilian competition was held in Norway in 1897 although it was originally thought the first event was held in Sweden in 1901. The event in Sweden used the churches in Spånga and Bromma as landmarks to be found by the competitors using standard survey maps of the time. Since then, the sport has evolved to use highly detailed maps with clear competition rules and technical standards to challenge the minds and bodies of participants.
The essential feature of all orienteering events is a specially drawn map given to the competitors as they start the race. The course is set to require each competitor to visit a number of designated points, known as controls, in the shortest time possible. The terrain used for a competition was traditionally wild forest but the sport has evolved to use almost all types accessible areas which will test a competitor’s ability to interpret the map and navigate at speed, using only the map provided and a specially designed compass.
Maps are surveyed to give a great deal of detail of the competition area to enable the competitor to navigate their way through unknown terrain. Besides showing water features and tracks, detailed maps show contours as well as indications of the vegetation. Urban areas are also mapped using different symbols but still providing complex navigational challenges. Each course is specially planned and marked on the map using a circle to show the fixed points – known as controls – that must be visited. The site of each control is marked with a kite having a diagonal orange (or sometimes red) marking. It is up to each runner to plan their own route between each control in accordance with their own skill and ability and to prove they have visited each control in the correct order. Originally this was done at each control by stamping
a box on a record card with a pin punch having a unique code but now this is done by electronically recording the visit.
The sport is governed by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) which sets rules and standards and organises annual World Championships. National governing bodies exist in each member country to organise the sport nationally. Language is no barrier to competition as maps are drawn to a global standard using internationally recognised symbols and standards. Scandinavian countries have remained the dominant force in the sport but Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Russia challenge strongly whilst Britain, France and Baltic nations regularly feature in medals tables. The sport does however have its devotees on all continents with 76 nations being members of the IOF.
The pinnacle of the sport is the world championships which have been held since 1966 although regional championships are also held on each continent. Events are held most weeks in all countries around the world, usually providing a range of courses at all levels from those aimed at beginners and novices through to national champions. Although orienteering has not achieved a high profile in Great Britain, the sport itself and individual runners are prominent in Scandinavia with major events featuring in live sports TV broadcasts.
The Swiss Post Finance organisation has sponsored the Swiss team and organised the Postfinance Cup for several years, making it one of the world’s premier sprint races.
The importance of map reading and navigating in the military continues to be recognised as the world military sports body, CISM (Conseil International du Sport Militaire) holds its own world championships.
The physical and mental demands of the sport mean that elite orienteers are top level athletes. Anders Gärderud won the Olympic 3,000m steeplechase in 1976 and then was a member of the winning team in the 1977 Swedish relay championship. Peter Snell won
both the 800m and 1,500m gold medals at the 1964 Olympics for New Zealand and eventually retired to Texas in the USA where he continued his sporting career as an orienteer, becoming the age 65+ US champion in 2003. The sport developed in Britain with participation and encouragement from Chris Brasher, the 1958 Olympic gold medallist. Even athletes such as Roger Bannister, the first man to run a four minute mile, and Steve Cramm have been seen at events with a map their hands.
The sport is not included in the Olympic programme although it does feature in many other major sporting events such as the World Games, the Asian Games and the FISU World Student Games. Besides competitions for individual runners, relay races combine the strengths of three or four team members whilst the navigational abilities of many enthusiasts are challenged by the demands of competing at night at specially organised competitions. A variation of the sport has developed which combines the challenges of orienteering both by night and day and relays involving endurance. The most prestigious example is the Tiomila race in Sweden for teams of ten runners over ten Swedish miles, with one Swedish mile being ten kilometres. The race was first staged in 1945 and now hosts around 1,000 teams with similar events staged in other countries.
The sport is organised in such a way that courses are planned at different levels to enable all ages and abilities to compete. Some events are based upon the age category of competitors, usually using twoyear bands for juniors and five-year bands for seniors, whilst other events are focussed upon the physical and technical challenge presented by the course to enable competitors to test themselves against a known standard of physical and technical difficulty. Youngsters learn some life skills such as decision making and map reading so that the sport is a feature on many school curricula as well as for organisations such as boy scouts and girl guides. World and regional championships for juniors and schools are held annually. Age is no barrier to remaining competitive though and the World Masters Championships which grew out of the Veteran World Cup attract thousands of seniors annually with the oldest taking part being over the age of ninety.
Because the sport is well suited to all abilities and ages it provides an ideal family holiday activity with large numbers of competitors