The Taupō urban orienteering event series is suitable for the whole family.
The Taupō urban orienteering event series is suitable for the whole family.
Taupō Orienteering Club is encouraging families to get involved with an upcoming orienteering series around the town.
The five events will run over weekends from Sunday, September 17 to Sunday, November 26.
Individuals and groups can take part at any time within two weeks of each event’s start date, making it a fun and flexible way to explore Taupō's parks, recreation areas and alleyways.
Participants will join in through the MapRun app, and the sessions can be completed on bike or foot.
Each session, starting on September 17, October 15, October 29, November 12 and November 26, has a range of courses for all levels of experience.
“However, the courses are still capable of providing a challenge for experienced orienteers.”
Taupō Orienteering Club hosts a range of events for schools, groups and families.
Haugh said a wide range of people could take part and enjoy the courses.
“Our main aim is [to make it suitable] for families with children, because it’s a sport that the family can do as individual or as a family team.
“But we also target adventure racers, there’s quite a lot of adventure racing going on with secondary schools and Spirited Women.
“A lot of that involves navigation, and this is a great way to polish up those skills.
“It’s also for people who perhaps go out in the bush and need to brush up their skills in ‘map to ground’.”
For those who wanted to have a try, but weren’t sure where to start, the club would be holding an information and training session on Tuesday, September 12 from 7pm to 8.30pm.
Holding the events in an urban setting made them more accessible and less intimidating for families and people who haven’t tried orienteering before, Haugh said.
“It’s in town so nobody’s going to get lost.
“Experienced orienteers don’t always understand that people can be a bit nervous when there stepping into the unknown.”
By choosing how to participate, people could make the events more or less challenging.
“Even a really fit person, it can be a challenge for them to get around the course in a short time.”
The evening’s training would also be useful for those who wanted to brush up on their orienteering skills, or who are new to the MapRun app.
Anyone wanting some additional practice could try out the club’s two permanent courses on Spa Park and around Kinloch, which could also be accessed via the app.
The upcoming series is the latest large-scale orienteering event for the club.
Most recently, they completed a primary schools’ rogain day out, which saw more than 400 children and adults try out the sport.
