Irish Sprint Orienteering Championships to be staged at Coleraine University campus

MORE than 200 competitors from all over Ireland are set to descend on the Coleraine campus of the University of Ulster this Friday evening for the inaugural Irish Sprint Orienteering Championships.

Orienteering is a sport usually associated with forest or open mountainside, but in recent years navigating at speed around city centres and universities has become increasingly popular.

Ten years ago the member countries of the International Orienteering Federation declared a desire to make the sport more visible at championship events for the world’s elite orienteers and what has become known as “sprint orienteering” was born.

This Friday’s event at Coleraine is a selection event for the all-island Irish elite squad for the forthcoming World Championships in Norway.

”However regular club orienteers have found that running at breakneck speed among urban terrain can be both challenging and strangely satisfying”, event organiser Stephen Gilmore told Times Sport.

The organising team behind this weekend’s event have taken several trips to England and France, running through the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, the high-rise buildings of the City of London and the alleyways of Aix en Provence to learn the craft of what constitutes a good sprint course.

Course planner Igor Stefko has brought great experience from his native Slovakia, since he has settled in Northern Ireland.

The passageways, steps and raised courtyards of the Coleraine campus, which has been specially mapped in great detail, have been used to create challenging courses. Competitors will only see this map once they step over the start line.

Whilst the winning elite orienteers are expected to complete their 2.3km course in around 12 minutes, this is truly a sport for all with classes and courses for ages 8 to 80.

In the class for over 75-year-olds Faith White and Eddie Hogan will both be travelling from Dublin to compete.

The event is part of a weekend orienteering festival with the action moving to Magilligan Dunes on Saturday. The local North West Orienteering Club are being supported by Lagan Valley Orienteers.