Discussion: a student's description of her first time orienteering
in: Orienteering; General
Nov 1, 2005 10:59 PM
#
Below is an article written for the school's newsletter by one of my students after completing an orange course at Pineland farms (Pineland has a great infrastructure set up for making it easy to host small events for groups-- they have the maps, controls, the junior orienteering video, good terrain for beginners-- a trail network with many open fields and some woods--, helpful people, and an ice cream shop for after the finish). Somehow the idea of coordinating outfits with teammates for team unity turned into wearing matching colors, all black spandex, clashing colors, suspenders, or identical outfits:) Daegan is one of the other teachers (this was his second time orienteering since he first tried it last year!). I thought you all might enjoy the description...
"October 1, 2005. I put on my unisuit before breakfast, but I wore a flamingo jumpsuit over it to keep the spandex a surprise. At breakfast, only my partner's face was uncovered; she had prepared her black bodysuit well. Other teams dressed up to be funny or crazy, but we emanated intensity. In the van to Pineland Farms, we stretched and scowled to look more intimidating. As we approached the crest of the hill where Pineland farms sits, friendly waves and sunshine greeted us at what appeared to be a peaceful conference center surrounded by rolling pastures and friendly wooded areas. However, buried in these menacing woods and thickets were small orange and white cubes called controls with red plastic hole punchers. Each control had a different pattern of holes. Alice and I got our maps and stripped down to spandex. We growled again to get psyched for the race and then oriented the map and found the start. Teams started on one minute intervals. Two minutes before it was our turn, Daegan arrived at the starting line decked out in suspenders and polka dots. We never saw him again and hoped it was because he got lost. We sprinted to the first control, found the second with no problems, and then ran straight into the fourth. The third control was definitely down the path to our right, but at the base of that hill we could only found a pasture. After another 45 minutes we found the control up the hill to our left. From there it went smoothly, and we even thoroughly confused some poor group near control five and then ran away before they saw us stamp our card. The only factor slowing us down was that we had been sprinting for over an hour. We crossed the finish line heroically, 1:14:56 after we had sprinted away from the starting line. We were a mere 59 minutes slower than Daegan and finished well after another group that had strolled casually between markers dressed in capes and underwear. We finished 17th out of 20 groups, and slapped high fives for being winners.
Orienteering is a worldwide sport, and Zan, one of our math teachers, introduced us to its wonders. In the noncompetitive atmosphere of Pineland Farms, we were able to explore the woods and fields using only a map, compass, and our sense of direction. My partner and I learned that time is crucial to success, but when orienteering, getting lost is fun too."
"October 1, 2005. I put on my unisuit before breakfast, but I wore a flamingo jumpsuit over it to keep the spandex a surprise. At breakfast, only my partner's face was uncovered; she had prepared her black bodysuit well. Other teams dressed up to be funny or crazy, but we emanated intensity. In the van to Pineland Farms, we stretched and scowled to look more intimidating. As we approached the crest of the hill where Pineland farms sits, friendly waves and sunshine greeted us at what appeared to be a peaceful conference center surrounded by rolling pastures and friendly wooded areas. However, buried in these menacing woods and thickets were small orange and white cubes called controls with red plastic hole punchers. Each control had a different pattern of holes. Alice and I got our maps and stripped down to spandex. We growled again to get psyched for the race and then oriented the map and found the start. Teams started on one minute intervals. Two minutes before it was our turn, Daegan arrived at the starting line decked out in suspenders and polka dots. We never saw him again and hoped it was because he got lost. We sprinted to the first control, found the second with no problems, and then ran straight into the fourth. The third control was definitely down the path to our right, but at the base of that hill we could only found a pasture. After another 45 minutes we found the control up the hill to our left. From there it went smoothly, and we even thoroughly confused some poor group near control five and then ran away before they saw us stamp our card. The only factor slowing us down was that we had been sprinting for over an hour. We crossed the finish line heroically, 1:14:56 after we had sprinted away from the starting line. We were a mere 59 minutes slower than Daegan and finished well after another group that had strolled casually between markers dressed in capes and underwear. We finished 17th out of 20 groups, and slapped high fives for being winners.
Orienteering is a worldwide sport, and Zan, one of our math teachers, introduced us to its wonders. In the noncompetitive atmosphere of Pineland Farms, we were able to explore the woods and fields using only a map, compass, and our sense of direction. My partner and I learned that time is crucial to success, but when orienteering, getting lost is fun too."
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