Colour Coded Courses

What do the colours mean?

It's a bit like the belts in judo or karate.  The easiest course is the White, working through gradually darker colours to Black, the hardest and longest type of course.  This system allows anyone to choose a length and difficulty of course which is most likely to suit their current levels of experience and fitness.

O-zone courses

All the Lancaster o-zone events will offer a choice of courses, allowing newcomers to work their way up through the colours as they gain confidence.  Each event will offer the following courses:

White - easy enough for young children or cautious novice adults.  The course will mainly follow paths with short distances between each point where route decisions need to be taken.  Length will be between about 1 and 1.5 km.

Yellow - a bit longer and harder than the White.  There may be more decisions over route, but the course will still be mainly along paths. Length 2 - 2.5 km.

Orange - The hardest novice course available at the o-zone.  Suitable for novice adults, and for improving juniors.  The course should be possible to complete by following line features such as paths and walls, with minor excursions into more difficult terrain.  The course winner will probably cut corners rather than following the "safest" route.  Length around 2.5 - 3.5 km.

The o-zone will also have a separate course intended for more experienced orienteers, probably in the form of a mass start loop race, at the end of the start window.  Competitors from the novice courses are welcome to try this race as well, if they still have energy to spare!

Last Updated : 21.07.07