World Orienteering Day celebrated by local club

Under a bright, warm sun, orienteers chased controls in downtown Whitehorse Wednesday evening. About 60 people took part in the urban orienteering event, which saw teams zig-zagging around the city’s core.

Wednesday also marked World Orienteering Day (WOD) and events took place at more than 2,500 locations around the world, starting in New Zealand. WOD exists in an effort to make orienteering more visible to the public. While the orienteering courses in Whitehorse usually take place cross-country, last night’s urban event helped the club be more visible.

“We don’t just want to be hidden in the forest from people,” said Yukon Orienteering Association president Afan Jones.

Normally the club runs events the first and third Wednesday of the month, but when they saw that WOD fell on a Wednesday, they thought they’d add another event to their roster and join the fun.

In orienteering, participants receive a map with a number of controls marked out. They must find each control, marked by an orange and white flag, in order, and make it back to the finish in the fastest time.

There are courses for novice through to expert, with the distance and difficulty intensifying.

For an urban course the controls are modified a bit, instead of being pegged on a tree, they might be wedged in building corners, on street furniture or fences.

When you look at a map, you try to find the fastest route between controls, but the most obvious choice might not always be the best one.

“It’s all about route choice,” said Jones. “You might get blocked.”

Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday night, participants started taking off from the S.S. Klondike parking lot, tapping their micro stick on top of the first control to “check-in”. They ran along the grass median and disappeared across the road.

Depending on their map, they might weave around town going to the government building, the escarpment and other features before the final sprint to the finish alongside the S.S. Klondike, checking in at the finish line sweaty and tired.

“It was better than last week,” said Kate Tobler, 7, who ran the course with her dad.

Meet organizer Jim Hawkings said he tries to get people around most of the map.

“Make them work a bit,” he said.

With this urban course, there were some main streets to contend with.

“Traffic is the main challenge here,” he said.

But Hawkings said that course set-up was a lot easier this time around.

“Can do it all with a bike here,” he said. “It’s a piece of cake.”

The next orienteering event will take place on May 18, meeting at the Yukon College staff parking lot around 6 p.m.