As well as District events which are run on the colour coded system, there are many other sorts of orienteering. In Regional and National events you compete on an age basis, but have the chance to run on either ‘long’ or ‘short’ courses. Courses set for Regional events are generally more difficult than those for District events, and National events can be even more challenging. But they all follow the same principle of navigating round your course, taking the controls in the correct order.

Night events are literally that! Controls tend to be sited in more easily accessible places, but the main difference from day events is that you need a strong light to guide you on your way. Halogen headlights are the norm, though a strong hand-torch is sufficient.

Score events differ from normal ones in that controls don’t have to be visited in any particular order. Sometimes all controls have the same value in terms of points awarded for visiting them, sometimes the further controls are more valuable. These events normally have a time limit, with penalties for being late to finish.

More details of all these types of event can be found on the British Orienteering website at www.britishorienteering.org.uk