Jargon buster (to do)

Many orienteering competitions award points or trophies according to the age class of the competitor. This is expressed as "M" or "W" (for men and women) followed by the age group. This is where it gets a little bit complicated...

For anyone whose 21st-34th birthday falls in the current calendar year, you will be M21 or W21.

For anyone older than this, the age classes fall in five-year bands, so M35 or W35 if your birthday this calendar year is between your 35th-39th, M40 or W40 for 40th-44th and so on.

For anyone younger than M21/W21 (classed as "juniors"), the age groups are in two-year bands and reflect the maximum age, so... M20 or W20 if your 19th or 20th birthday falls this year, M18 or W18 if your 17th or 18th birthday falls this year, and so on.

All of this means that - unless your birthday falls on New Year's Day - your orienteering age class changes before (probably months before) your "big birthday"!

If you're not sure, just ask at Registration - only please don't be offended if they ask how old you are!

Many events offer "colour coded" courses. The colours refer to a roughly standardised range of course lengths and technical difficulty (there is always some variation because no two event areas are quite the same). The colours most often seen are:

Note that the distances quoted for courses are by the most direct route possible, and in reality you will always run significantly further (allow at least 20%).

A point on the course that must be visited in order to complete the course correctly. The control site is marked on the map by a purple circle with a number next to it, and on the ground normally by a white and orange flag together with a means of recording the visit, usually an SI or EMIT timing box. It will also have a number marked on it (the "control code") that corresponds to the number on the control descriptions for the course.

The purple circle printed on the map centred on the control location. When you are close to the control you are said to be "in the circle".

A loose sheet of paper or a box-out on the map that shows details of the controls on the course. These include the type of feature the control is on (e.g. path junction, stream bend) as well as the control code and any other details needed to make sure the control site is properly identifiable. On beginners' courses the control descriptions are usually in words; on courses for more experienced orienteers they normally use an internationally-standardised set of pictograms.

To punch the wrong control, punch a control out of sequence, or miss out a control you should have punched.

To record your visit to a control. The term derives from the use of “pin punches” that made patterns of holes in a paper-based control card - these days we use electronic timing chips instead.