One of my friends at parkrun suggested that I could use the time when I'm walking to look around and plan my route. My immediate reaction was that I didn't need to do that because I just followed the runner in front, and anyway, at parkrun I already knew where I was going.
But then I realised that Caroline was talking about orienteering. I've known about orienteering for years and years. I'm sure I read an article by Chris Brasher describing this Scandinavian sport when I was a teenager, probably in the Sunday Times or Observer, that made me think it sounded interesting. But at the time I was a fairly poor soccer player and certainly not a runner, and so the notion of orienteering was filed away in the dimmest reaches of my brain.
I started running in my 30s and in time became a runner who enjoyed all sorts of distances on all sorts of surfaces, but never had an opportunity to go orienteering. I was aware of the sport, as a sort of parallel running universe. But still I didn't look for an opportunity to take part.
So when Caroline suggested I try orienteering it struck a chord as being something I wanted to try, and I realised that my reluctantly acknowledged lack of speed wasn't necessarily a hindrance and might even be an advantage. A bonus was that I've always loved maps, although I've never considered myself very good at reading them and deciphering all the information they're filled with.
Having decided that I wanted to try this out I was unsure about actually going ahead and doing so. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Fortunately, Caroline suggested a local event that would be ideal for beginners, and even offered to run with me and shadow me.
Usually on a Saturday morning I take part in a parkrun but yesterday I went to Pomphrey Hill parkrun to take photographs there, before heading to Stoke Park Estate to go orienteering! Stoke Park Estate used to be called Purdown . . it's that wide open space alongside the M32 out of Bristol that's overlooked by a big building that's the colour of the inside of a Crunchie bar!
Armed with a dibber lent to me by Caroline I registered for the event and was given a list of the checkpoints (controls) I would have to find, in the order I needed to find them. We went off to the start and waited in line in a grid marked on the floor. There were different courses available, each with varying degrees of difficulty and on shorter or longer courses: Yellow (easy), Orange (moderate), Light Green (harder) and Green (hard) and I'd been advised to try out Orange, which meant I would be looking for 10 controls over 3k of running.
At this point I still hadn't seen a map, and as there was one by my feet in the grid I picked it up and began to inspect it. Immediately (well, almost!) I realised the map was unmarked. My mentor explained that this was just for reference, it wasn't mine to use during the event and I would have to put it back! Apparently "my" map was waiting for me just beyond the start. I was quite anxious by now and learning that I didn't get to see a map until after I'd started didn't help. I'm the type who likes to plan ahead. Preferably a few weeks ahead!
Soon I was at the front of the line, watching the event clock tick around and when the buzzer buzzed, I dibbed my borrowed dibber and picked up my map. I was underway. I remembered that the first thing I needed to do was look for the triangle on the map as that showed me where I was, and having located that, I found the first control and decided which direction I needed to run in. Having had all this confirmed by Caroline, we set off along the path between the trees, and in less than 2 minutes I'd found my first control! What a thrill that was!!
The first few controls were in the woods, and the paths were just a sea of mud. This was larking, but better than that it was larking with a map and compass in my hand. As we moved from one control to the next, I got lucky each time and found the controls straight away, whilst my shadow assured me I was getting it right, offered advice when I needed it and suggested that actually she was redundant.
Caroline's theory was right. There were times when I became breathless and needed to walk, when I was able to look around, get my bearings and not only assure myself that I was headed the right way but also work out where I needed to aim for beyond the next control. Inevitably I went wrong at one stage. Despite two other orienteers heading off to the north of a pond, I set off to the south of it. There was no guarantee that we were on the same Orange course but by this stage it was likely. I was convinced I was right, but Caroline asked if she could look at the map. It turned out I'd mistaken a horse trough for a pond (what?), the other two runners were right and I was wrong. No change there!
And after just over 30 minutes it was all over. What fun! To add to the excitement, when I checked back in at registration and un-dibbed my dibber, I was given a print out showing my times at the different controls, and at that time I was 3rd out of 15 finishers. 3rd? That was astonishing and only surpassed by the fact that later on, when the results were published, I was still 3rd, out of 23. Blimey!! Mind you, I was 12 minutes behind the 12 year old boy who had won, and of the only two runners in my age group who took part, I was 2nd!
I hope I've given the impression that I enjoyed this experience. Finding those controls was a real thrill, each time. It's always good to run of course, and this was a great and mixed venue. And I loved seeing all the other orienteers dashing off in all sorts of different directions, either through the woods or across the wide open spaces, each on their own mission. Everyone was friendly, there was cake, and the sun shone. And I did it!
Finally, thanks to Bristol Orienteering Klub and the University of Bristol Orienteering Club for staging the event, and to Caroline and other friends for encouraging me to explore this new path.
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