The Orienteering Express steams ahead
Oxford made a clean sweep of the trophies at the 33rd annual Varsity Match, held in Wimbledon last weekend.
The men's A race was won by last year's winner Ed Catmur (Jesus) who stormed home nearly eight minutes ahead of his nearest rival, ex-Tab Alex Rothman (New), now competing for the Dark Blues. Club president Tom Cochrane (Exeter), and Chris Davidson (Worcester) took the third and eighth positions respectively to put a convincing margin of 47 minutes between the OUOC and CUOC men's teams. In the women's race, another ex-Tab Pippa Whitehouse (Wolfson) repeated her success of last year by reaching the finish flag six minutes ahead of the field. Women's captain Becky Carlyle (Wadham) had a great run to take second place, with Worcester's Anne Osborne just three minutes behind her in third. This gave OUOC another huge winning margin of 28 minutes. Oxford also claimed victory by default in both B team races, with Neil Cumpstey (Merton) and Susan Cook (Exeter) taking the top spots in each. To round off a successful day, Oxford proved that not only were they great at orienteering, but could also beat the Tabs in the traditional beer race!
The 2004 Varsity Match was the most successful in the history of OUOC, and probably has a good claim to be one of the best across the whole of university sport. Despite this, club members constantly find themselves having to explain the ins and outs of orienteering to their rather bemused peers (yes, it IS a sport!). It seems that everyone has an orienteering story - the time that malicious PE teacher sent them out in the rain to look for flags with letters on, the time they got lost for hours in a forest, that army documentary in which new recruits were left in the middle of nowhere to find their way home - you get the picture. But ask any of them what they think OUOC really do, and the best you get is: "Don't you carry rucksacks?" or "You go round in teams, right?" (In case you're wondering, the answer is a resounding "no!")
Orienteering is an exciting sport combining the skills of map reading with the physical challenge of running across forest terrain. Different courses are planned at each event to cater for all ages and abilities, but all follow the same basic format. At the start of the race each runner is given a map of the area marked with a series of numbered circles indicating control sites (places where an orange and white orienteering kite may be found). Runners start at intervals of one to two minutes, and must navigate their way around the circles in numerical order in the fastest time possible by choosing the quickest routes between the points. The time taken to complete the course is recorded using an electronic punching system at each control site which ensures that competitors visit all the controls in the correct order, and calculates a total time for the race. The winner for each course is the person who gets round all the points in the fastest time, a feat requiring a high level of fitness and great technical skills, not to mention the ability to run whilst reading a map without falling over!
Being an orienteer in Oxford has many advantages, not least the opportunity to get out of all the madness and pressure to some fantastic areas of natural beauty. Club members have many opportunities to get involved in a diverse range of projects, from designing and constructing a permanent course in the University Parks last summer to one ex-president appearing on Challenge TV and in a national newspaper as the 'orienteering expert' for a game show! The club's current projects include ongoing work with the Sports Outreach scheme, involving introductory sessions in the University Parks for local able-bodied and disabled schoolchildren, and organising this year's BUSA championships in March. If nothing else, at least you'll learn how to respond to those tourists who hand you a map and demand to be pointed in the direction of 'the University'! I'll just get my compass...
Oxford University Orienteering Club is open to anyone with an interest in orienteering, whether they are complete beginners or have competed at a high level. Physical and technical training sessions are on offer every week, and the club also runs a residential training tour each Easter vacation. The highlight of the year is the annual summer tour to a multi-day European event, to be held this year in Lithuania. For further details of OUOC training, events and socials please contact the secretary:
katherine.asker@merton.ox.ac.uk
19th Feb 2004