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PARK AND STREET-O IN AUSTRALIA
Urban Orienteering – Park & Street Orienteering Around Australia, Part 1
by Debbie Dodd (VIC)
ALL over Australia, on summer evenings, Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, people of all ages and athletic abilities are taking to their local streets, armed with a map and a control card. For some, it’s simply a way of keeping fit between bush competitions, for others it’s a healthy social exercise with friends or family, and for many it’s a highly addictive contest in its own right. Park & Street Orienteering is often their first taste of a navigation sport, with some competitors progressing into the forest through club, then state competition.
Participant numbers are increasing around the country. Each State runs a Park & Street competition in some form, with more and more events being added to fixtures to cater for growing demand. However, there is no standard format, which makes for an interesting State by State comparison.
Participation rates on the rise in Sweden
Swedish orienteering magazine Skogssport reports that 2003 saw a 14% increase in participation over the 2002 figure. This was the second consecutive year of increasing numbers (13% increase from 2001 to 2002). Not since 1992 has the number of participants been as high as in 2003 with over 500,000 entries recorded. After the record highs of the mid 1980’s the trend of declining numbers through the 1990’s seems to have finally turned since 2001. Nearly one-third of entries in 2003 were young people under the age of 16. The number of young people becoming involved in Orienteering is increasing significantly. It seems that the image of Orienteering has improved amongst young people and even those who don’t orienteer themselves see it as a ‘cool’ sport. Swedish officials believe there are a number of factors behind these positive statistics. They feel the upward trend represents increased activity at the club level, especially with more development of youth leaders as well as growth in participation in small local events close to home.
Town-O is growing in Switzerland
Stadt-OL (or Town-O) is growing in popularity in Swiss regional cities. Town-O has been organised as single events for more than ten years, but the idea of a series was only taken up in 2001. The Swiss orienteering magazine OL reports that gone are the days when there was a ‘quiet’ season in the Swiss program. Town-O has filled the gaps between major events though attendances do not yet rank with the numbers at forest events. In 2001 a series known as the Town-O Cup was introduced and its popularity soared. “Whenever I put new rankings for the Town-O Cup up on the Swiss federation web site, in a flash we got 200 or more hits,” said Hansjorg Graf, the man who initiated the series. Events have been held in Buelach, Vaduz, Basel and Zofingen. Leaders after the Basel event were Hansruedi Kohler and Monika Ammann. Monika doesn’t like missing forest events but she also loves Town-O. “In the forest I run unsure of myself – less decisive. But in Town-O I can use all my running abilities. Control points are always clear and route choice less ambiguous”, said Monika. Kohler was formerly a road runner. “I can go fast in the streets but I can also lose time, especially in the middle of towns with lots of control points – accurate map reading is very important. Town-O is almost a different kind of sport.” This version of Orienteering is rapidly growing in popularity in Switzerland. It seems the fascination of local Park & Street-O is spreading across the world.
Park & Street Orienteering is relatively new in Brisbane – the Tuesday evening Southside series, run by Toohey Forest Club, is four years old, and the Wednesday evening Northside series, organized by the Enoggaroos, commenced just two years ago. The Sunday morning program of park events also started four years ago. Events are run in Brisbane suburbs and regional towns (last summer these included Townsville, Bundaberg, Buderim and Toowoomba).
The Southside series runs for 8 weeks from October to December, and the Northside has two 6-week series from November to February. The events are Scatter-O format, and the 20 controls used are metal plates chained to light poles. Mass starts are at 6.30pm, with 2 minutes allowed for route planning. Queensland’s lack of daylight saving means these events are run in the dark. Competitors choose one of three courses – 3 km (8 controls), 5 km (12 controls) or 7.5 km (18 controls). There are classes for men and women in Junior, Open and Veteran age groups. Participant numbers average around 60 for each series. Spot prizes drawn just before the start, provided by sponsors for the Northside series, have helped attract more competitors recently. Awards are given at a sausage sizzle at the end of each series.
Every second Sunday of the month in the season, every Brisbane club and most regional clubs have a local CATI (Come and Try It) events, mostly in parks, providing around 48 park events per year. Formats vary between events, and competitors choose their own distance regardless of age group. Bike events are often run as well. The park events currently attract an average of 40 participants, with higher numbers at some events due to free entry – subsidized by Brisbane City Council’s ‘Active & Healthy Parks’ programme. Events are publicized in local papers, fliers, posters, club newsletters, Brisbane City Council brochures, and the Courier-Mail newspaper.
New South Wales:
The Sydney Summer Series programme has around 23 events from mid-October to late March. Events are held every Wednesday, with starts any time between 4.30 and 7pm. The start time flexibility and the score format are very popular features. Events are held in Sydney suburban parks, streets and bush areas, with a preponderance on the lower north shore area and inner west. There is always a beachside event as well. The events are run by the five metropolitan clubs.
Colour maps are used for Score format events using 30 controls. The controls are red and white painted flower pots with the control number and a letter code painted in black on them. Competitors mark the code on their control cards with a pencil they carry. There are several 'sets' of pots which are mixed to stop anyone remembering the
Roskilde Park map from recent Danish 5-Days
codes! There is a 45-minute time limit and a point penalty for being late back. Mens and Womens age groups are junior (under 19), open (19-39), veteran (40-54), super veteran (55-64) and masters (65+).
Ross Barr has been one of the driving forces behind Park & Street orienteering in Sydney. “There was a programme that petered out in the early 80's (it used to be called 'daylight saving orienteering'). The concept was revived in the 1989/90 summer with two events and has been slowly building from there. The growth curve has been strongly upward in the last couple of seasons as we have migrated out from just the “O” brigade to a wider spread of runners and rogainers. Last season we averaged just on 150 starters – a 25% improvement over the previous season (which in turn was up on the one before). Given that many 'starters' or 'registrants' go out in twos or groups (mum and a few kids being common), we are often now getting 175 to 200 people attending. Our biggest single event attendance last season was 180 starters and we will be hoping to hit the magic 200 in 04/05”.
Demographically speaking, about 10% of participants are juniors, 25% are veterans or older, and the remaining 65% are under 40 (this figure goes against the general trend in Orienteering around the country of vets well and truly outnumbering younger age groups). The male:female ratio is about 2:1.
Ross explained, “Publicity is primarily through a dedicated website, www.sydneysummerseries.com.au, where the program, news and progressive results are posted. The program is distributed to orienteers, rogainers and to running magazines. It is also posted on the 'Cool Running' website. There are event posters and banners and a great T-shirt 'Navigation on the Run'. Prizes and badges in all categories are awarded at the end of the season with the best 12 scores counting for the scoring totals”.
In mid-June this year a trial one-off “Not the Summer Series Event” was held, giving Sydneysiders a chance to try street Orienteering by night. This may lead to a mini winter series in the future. Park & Street Orienteering is also growing in regional NSW, with events held in Newcastle, Orange, Wagga and Armidale. Participation rates average from 20 to 50.
South Australia:
South Australia’s summer series has been running for 6 years, with 10-14 events during the season, which runs from December to March. Events are usually held on Friday evenings in various areas around metropolitan Adelaide. There is also a smaller Saturday afternoon winter series, which is put on by aspiring juniors.
The summer series is run by a coordinator who allocates course setters, managers and helpers from junior ranks. Each event offers a scatter and three line courses, and controls consist of lockable plates. Attendances have been increasing and vary between 60 and 100, depending on how hot it is at 5pm on a Friday evening (35 degrees is not uncommon!) There are no age groups, or divisions for walkers, at the moment.
Events run in Victor Harbour, a seaside town about an hour’s drive from Adelaide, have been very popular, offering interesting orienteering in a country environment. SA has also run Come and Try It promotions over summer, giving out showbags and free entry vouchers to future events, but with only limited success. Adelaide’s Park & Street Orienteering is popular with converted orienteers. Attracting newcomers is also not difficult and they enjoy the experience, but converting them into regulars, club members and volunteers is a challenge – a familiar story for most of us! However the potential is definitely there. Thanks to Nola McIntyre (Qld), Ross Barr and Dave Lotty (NSW) and Lee Merchant (SA) for the information provided.
