THIS RACE REQUIRES A COMPASS.Byline: Ronni Ross An orienteering orienteering Cross-country footrace in which each participant uses a map and compass to navigate between checkpoints along an unfamiliar course. Introduced in Sweden in 1918, it later spread throughout Europe. World championships have been held since 1966. race is like a scavenger hunt scavenger hunt n. A game in which individuals or teams try to locate and bring back miscellaneous items on a list. , except that you don't get to collect any junk along the way. Typically, participants are issued a punch card A storage medium made of thin cardboard stock that holds data as patterns of punched holes. Each of the 80 or 96 columns holds one character. The holes are punched by a keypunch machine or card punch peripheral and are fed into the computer by a card reader. and a detailed, colorized map with a series of circles on it that represent checkpoints. The orienteer must find a sequence of brightly colored flags - or markers - on the course, using the map, a compass and the lay of the land. The flags must be found in order, and each has a unique pin punch attached to it used to mark off the corresponding space on the card. ``It's fun. We get people from all over the world who come and compete,'' said Joel Thomson of Hawthorne, LAOC's membership director and map designer. ``The symbols are standardized all over the world, so you can go anywhere and compete.'' Orienteering originated in Sweden as a military exercise in the 1890s. The sport was brought to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in 1947 by Bjorn Kjellstrom, founder of Sylva syl·va n. Variant of silva. Noun 1. sylva - the forest trees growing in a country or region silva timberland, woodland, forest, timber - land that is covered with trees and shrubs compasses, and now is popular across the country. The Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Orienteering Club, for example, with its 130 individual members and 68 family memberships, has been in existence for 20 years. LAOC LAOC Los Angeles Orienteering Club LAOC Latin America Orientation Course races are held every month from Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. to Big Bear Lake, with such diverse locales as Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. , Topanga State Park Topanga State Park is a California state park located in Los Angeles County. It is located adjacent to the unincorporated community of Topanga, California, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Covering 11,000 acres (45 km²) it is the largest state park within city limits. , Vasquez Rocks Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is a 905 acre (3 km²) northern Los Angeles County, California USA park acquired by LA County government in the 1970s. It is in the Agua Dulce vicinity between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley just north of Los Angeles and seen easily County Park, Frazier Park and Mount Pinos. Each race has four or five color-coded courses that vary in difficulty level. The length of the local events is usually 10 kilometers or shorter, although in some instances, races can last as long as 24 hours. From the sport's earliest days, runners - as well as hikers and mountaineers - have been drawn to orienteering. ``From the very beginning, there has been a running crowd that is into the physical as well as the mental challenge,'' said Thomson, a former LAOC president and 10-year member. ``Most runners think the courses sound short, but they can take place in steep, high-altitude, rough terrain, so the ideal winning time for an advanced course is 90 minutes. Most participants also tend to get lost a few times during a race, which adds time and distance to the course.'' ``It seems like there are a number of connections between running and orienteering,'' said Russell Cheney, an LAOC member and avid marathon runner. ``A race is like a good workout, if you want it to be. You set your own pace, and because there are different levels of difficulty, you can do a short hike on the easiest course, or a tough workout if you pick the hardest level,'' said Cheney, 55, a Torrance writer. ``Someone who is physically fit can use that to their advantage in orienteering events. You can move faster, and even if you wind up getting lost, you can keep up.'' Thomson said orienteering races are not for runners who like to relax while running. ``It's different with orienteers. You have to think while you run, make decisions and deal with a lot of ambiguities along the way,'' he said. ``There is always a choice. You can go over a hill or around it. Route choice is one of the biggest challenges. You can opt for more direct routes that are riskier (because they don't offer navigation features), or longer, safer routes with catching features to help you find a control point.'' To prepare for an event, orienteers suggests training with a map and compass on rough terrain. ``Go out and set a mental course in an unfamiliar area, and then find your way,'' he said. But, he warns, running a course and trying to navigate simultaneously can introduce a higher risk of error - and the need to backtrack. Thomson and Cheney agree that in addition to offering physical and mental challenges, their sport provides diverse environments in which to run, camaraderie and family participation. ``Any age can participate,'' Cheney said. ``And if people really want to be challenged, there are a lot of really good, advanced runners here.'' ``One of the fun aspects is when you're done, you get to come back and share experiences and stories of how you got lost, or didn't,'' Thomson added. ``That's one of the participants' favorite parts.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO European orienteer Nicole Althaus races at a Colorado event in 1993. Orienteering requires brain power in addition to good conditioning. Joel Thomson / Special to the Daily News |
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