If you’re keen to try dune forest orienteering but haven’t entered a major event before, we’ll try and explain what’s involved and make some suggestions for what to enter. If this all seems a bit much, don’t worry – we’ve got some simple suggestions at the end. And if you’re in an orienteering club, don’t forget to ask your clubmates for advice – they’ll definitely be able to help you out.
What to expect
Major events like Oceania 2025 can seem scary—there are far more people and more going on than at local events—but the basics are the same: Start at the start triangle, navigate your way to each control in turn, and finish! There are also some great advantages:
- More people make for a party atmosphere. Lots of chances to meet other orienteers, compare notes, and make new friends.
- Courses are planned with more attention to detail, ensuring that everyone can have a great time regardless of their skill level.
- Elite athletes are exciting to watch, and commentary lets you know what’s going on and who to cheer for.
- Coffee and food vendors mean you can get your caffeine fix or sugar high right after your race.
To learn more about what to expect from Oceania 2025, read our Bulletins, which will tell you exactly where to go and what to do when you get there. For example, you’ll need to park in a specific area, pick up your race pack from the registration desk, and wear your numbered race bib on the outside of your clothes.
Shortly before the event we will publish Start Lists, which give the start time for every entrant, for every race. You should make a note of your start time (which will be different for each race) and make sure to get to the correct start location 15 minutes prior to that time. Bulletin 2 will have more information about the start process.
Get the lowdown, so you know what’s up before you turn up:
What to enter
Classes
You might be used to entering courses with difficulty colours or names like “easy” and “hard” or “short” and “long” at local events. At major events you enter a class based on difficulty, age and gender, and there are suddenly a lot of classes to chose from. The class names use a simple code, so it’s harder to know what to choose if you’re not sure what that code means.
The class codes look like this:
- W21E – Women 21 and older Elite.
- M14A – Men 14 and younger A.
Most classes are prefixed by W for women and M for men. Women’s classes are the same difficulty but slightly shorter. Mixed classes are prefixed MW, and you will often see W/M or M/W as a shorthand for two classes with the same age and type. The number shows either the minimum eligible age for the class (21 or higher, senior classes) or the maximum eligible age (20 or lower, junior classes).
For the purposes of orienteering events, your age is however old you are at the end of the event year, so if you’re a man turning 50 in June 2025, your age class at Oceania will be M50.
When you make your entry, the entry system will only let you pick classes appropriate for your age and gender, so you don’t need to worry about choosing something you aren’t allowed to.
Forest events
Forest orienteering includes all kinds of forest, native bush, open farmland and other natural environments. The Oceania 2025 forest events (middle distance, long distance and relay) are all in sand dune pine forest by the coast.
Forest classes
| Class type | Technical difficulty | Details |
|---|---|---|
| E | Red | Stands for “Elite”. Very long, physical and difficult orienteering for elite athletes. |
| A | M/W10: White M/W12A: Yellow M/W14A: Orange All other A classes: Red | Long, physical and difficult orienteering for everyone else. Length and technical difficulty vary with age and gender, so e.g. an A class for 12-year-old boys is easier than an A class for 40-year-old women. You should have some orienteering experience to enter an A class. |
| AS | Red | Stands for “A Short”. Shorter, slightly less physical but still difficult orienteering. Length varies with age and gender, although there are fewer age groups for AS classes. You should have some orienteering experience to enter an AS class, but you don’t need to be as fit as for A. |
| B | M/W12B: White M/W14B: Yellow All other B classes: Orange | Shorter, less physical and less difficult orienteering. Length and technical difficulty vary with age and gender, although there are fewer age groups for B classes. You should have at least a little orienteering experience to enter a B class. |
| Open Easy | Yellow | Suitable for confident beginners. |
| Open Very Easy | White | Suitable for beginners. This includes children if they are confident to be out in the forest alone. |
| N | White | Non-competitive class for young children shadowed by their parents or caregivers. |
Forest orienteering events in New Zealand use a colour coding to indicate difficulty. The different colours have specific requirements which determine exactly how course planners will create that course, and what you can expect when you’re out on it. At a local event you usually have one course in each colour, perhaps with multiple Red courses to allow people to choose longer or shorter lengths at the hardest difficulty.
| Colour | Difficulty | Details | Compass needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Easiest | Follow clear “handrails” like tracks, streams and fences betwen controls. There will be a control every time you get to the end of the handrail you’re following (like when your track joins another track) so you can’t easily get lost. | A compass is optional and helpful for orienting your map so it matches up with the terrain in front of you. |
| Yellow | Easy-ish | Mostly follow clear handrails between controls as above. Controls can be a little way into the forest, but you’ll be able to see them from the handrail you’re on. You might have to pass through a couple of junctions and decide which way to go before you get to the next control. This means it’s possible to make mistakes, but also to cut corners and save time if you’re competitive. | A compass is helpful for orienting your map and for final navigation to the control. |
| Orange | Hard-ish | Controls can be away from handrails on small “features” like hollows in the ground, tree stumps or boulders, so they need precise navigation to find. However, they will either be near something obvious (like a distinctive hill or a stream junction) that you can find more easily, or have something obvious beyond the control (like a path or a pond) so you know if you’ve gone too far and missed it. | You’ll need a compass for navigation and you’ll need to pay attention to the contours on the map to understand what shapes you’re looking for. |
| Red | Hardest | Navigation is as difficult as possible, controls are on (or often behind) small features with few if any clear handrails to follow between them. Course legs will test different navigation techniques and often require you to choose the best route from different possibilities. | Navigating by contour and compass is vital. |
If you’re a New Zealand orienteer new to dune forest orienteering, expect Oceania Red courses to feel more difficult than local Red courses – the terrain needs accurate compass and contour navigation and there are fewer man-made features to rely on. The forestry road network is a useful source of handrails, but the roads are far enough apart that using them to relocate will cost you a fair bit of time. The forest is also pretty physical to move through—it can be very soft underfoot and there are lumps, bumps and obstacles—so even if you usually run your courses, don’t be afraid to walk when you need to.
Sprint event
Sprint orienteering involves shorter courses in urban terrain like schools, parks and city centres. The Oceania 2025 sprint is on a university campus.
Sprint classes
| Class type | Technical difficulty | Details |
|---|---|---|
| E | Difficult | Stands for “Elite”. Complex fast-paced urban navigation requiring constant concentration for elite athletes. |
| A | M/W12A: Moderate All other A classes: Difficult | Complex fast-paced urban navigation requiring constant concentration for everyone else. Length and technical difficulty vary with age and gender. You don’t really need orienteering experience (you’re unlikely to get lost) but expect an A class sprint to be confusing if you haven’t done much urban orienteering. |
| B | M/W12B: Easy All other B classes: Moderate | Shorter, less complex urban navigation with fewer decisions to make. Length and specific technical difficulty vary with age and gender, although there are fewer age groups for B classes. Suitable for all except the very young. |
| N | Easy | Non-competitive class for young children shadowed by their parents or caregivers. |
Sprint orienteering events in New Zealand use a difficulty classification of Easy – Moderate – Difficult. Like the forest events, these give course planners specific information about how to create the course, and let you know what to expect from it.
| Difficulty | Details |
|---|---|
| Easy | Simple and clear courses with no more than two choices of route to the next control. You can see the control easily even if you approach from the wrong direction, and it will lead you towards the next control. |
| Moderate | More complex without being confusing. You’ll need to choose the route to most controls, but the most obvious direction to leave a control is the correct one. You might need to change direction on your way to the next control. |
| Difficult | You’ll have a choice of route to almost every control, with a mixture of longer legs needing detailed navigation, and short legs with many direction changes. The obvious direction to leave a control is often not the best one. You will be concentrating hard the entire time. |
Course lengths
Forest course lengths are given as the crow flies, and as a rule of thumb expect to go 50% further as the best routes between controls are usually not direct. Sprint course lengths are given along the best possible route, so you might only go a little further. It’s good not to get too worried about course lengths—you will probably not know the final length or exactly how much climb to expect when you enter a major event. Instead, the event will initially quote an estimated winning time for each class, and publish final lengths closer to the date as the courses are finalised. The winning times will be appropriate for each class, younger children aren’t going to be out for nearly as long as the elites, for example!
Try comparing your pace against a fast local orienteer to get an idea what estimated winning times will mean for you. And be aware that the winning times take the event terrain into account – 30 minutes in parkland is going to see anyone get a lot further than 30 minutes in a forest.
Our suggestions
How much orienteering have you done before?
- If you’re in an orienteering club, ask your club mates or club officials for advice first of all. They’ll be able to help you out.
- If you aren’t, but can get to a local event before Oceania (see the ONZ calendar) that would be a good idea. Orienteering clubs have plenty of experienced people who would love to show you the ropes – just ask at registration.
- If you’re a beginner, consider entering Open Easy or Open Every Easy to get a feel for things. This is a great way for e.g. parents of junior orienteers to join in the experience.
- If you have some experience but aren’t confident in the forest, considering entering an AS or B class rather than A.
- If you’re experienced and fit, you can “run up a grade” i.e. enter a more difficult class than your age suggests. Elite athletes often run 21E into their forties.
- Whatever your ability, sign up for the Oceania 2025 training event, to get a feel for the terrain and the mapping before doing it for real.
What else can you do to tune your experience?
- The middle distance is a good opportunity to try something a little harder—many people enter A for the middle and AS for the long distance to enjoy the challenging technical navigation over a shorter distance.
- The sprint (in urban and parkland terrain) is shorter and much easier to navigate than the forest events. Even if you enter easier classes in the forest, it’s worth entering the appropriate A class in the sprint so you can test yourself against your peers.
Hopefully that takes some of the mystery out of classes and entries at a major event. If you have more questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch!