Events explained

All clubs will put on several events during the year. These range from informal club training events (often a MapRun course), low-key local events (known as level D's), bigger regional events (level C's) and National Level B events and even Major Level A events including British Championships. World Championship events are also held in the UK, with the next being in 2024 in Edinburgh.

There are several types of orienteering events:

Colour coded: also known as cross-country events, these are held in terrain like woodland, moorland, parkland or dunes. These types of events are the oldest form of orienteering and are still the most popular. Courses differ in length and in technical difficulty (the colours define the level of difficulty), and there will be a course that is suitable for you. See the table below for more information.
Urban: Milton Keynes lends itself well to urban events, which are held in towns or cities. They can often be easy to get to using public transport and are good events for beginners. These events are becoming increasingly popular and could involve navigating yourself past sights such as St Paul's Cathedral or through the Barbican during the London City Race every September. Courses are different lengths and there will be courses for juniors which are planned to avoid traffic.
Sprint events are short events, with running times of 12 - 25 minutes. They are typically held in complex urban areas like university campuses. Sprints are fast and furious orienteering with a lot of controls in a small area.
Score events are different in that controls don't need to be visited in a specific order. The objective here is to visit as many controls as possible in a set time. This format is often used for low-key club events.
Relay events: 2, 3 or 4 orienteers run different courses consecutively and their times are combined into an overall team time.

The different types of cross-country orienteering courses are:

Colour	Level of technical difficulty	Description	Length
White	1	Very easy, with all controls on paths. Suitable for 6 - 10 year olds or family groups.	0-2.5km
Yellow	2	Controls are on simple linear features like walls, streams or paths. Suitable for under 12's or family groups.	2-3km
Orange	3	Some basic use of a compass may be needed and there will be more choice of route. Suitable for novice adults or experienced youngsters.	3-4km
Light Green	4	Will use simple contours and point features like rocks. For improving adult beginners and young teens graduating from orange courses.	3-4.5km
Green	5	Hard navigational challenge using contours, lots of route choices and compass work. For adults and experienced under 18s.	3-5km
Blue	5	Longer, more physically demanding course with hard navigational challenges. For experienced orienteers.	5-7.5km
Brown	5	Even longer, physically demanding course with hard navigational challenges. For experienced orienteers.	7.5-10km
Black	5	The longest, most physically demanding course with hard navigational challenges. For experienced orienteers.	Over 10km

Some of these colour course have shorter versions, e.g. Short Green, Very Short Green and Short Blue.