Finding a New Way
There is video footage of event organiser Shaun Collins orienteering at Woodhill a few years back.
He runs up the sand dunes but suddenly pauses and swerves sharply out of sight. What was that about, asked the videographer later.
Did he spot a control, or a shortcut?
Well, I came over a wee sand dune top and came across a couple navigating each other without many race clothes on, explained Collins. Nothing to see here, so I moved along!”
Orienteering can be full of surprises. Amid the usual running and mapwork, Hamilton’s Dot Larsen has found herself eating Weetbix, completing puzzles, and building rat cages for DoC within some events.
“It’s a great sport for masters athletes,” says Larsen, an experienced club runner who’s only recently ventured into orienteering and rogaines.
“Perhaps it’s a runners’ graveyard. But there are also world champs and young people who are so fast, reading their maps while they’re running.
“I’m getting to the stage where I like a break now and then, so having the excuse
