Permanent Areas
Interløpers orienteering club covers Edinburgh and the Lothians. In addition to normal Club activities, such as membership services, socials, training, events/competitions, and results, we also currently provide five permanent orienteering courses; details of these may be reached by clicking on the appropriate link:
* Craigmillar Castle Country Park, Edinburgh
* Polkemmet Country Park, Whitburn
Why orienteer:
Orienteering is a great way to explore our beautiful countryside, keep fit and meet like-minded people /families. It’s a great sport! You can walk or run round courses, it’s up to you. Perhaps start as a pair or family and when you are all more proficient try going round courses as individuals.
Some people enjoy the permanent orienteering courses as a pleasant walk. A lot of people / clubs use orienteering as cross training for other sports, including football clubs. The keen orienteers use the permanent courses to develop their skills and fitness ready for local and national competitions (see the fixtures lists on the Interløpers and Scottish Orienteering Association web sites).
Orienteering provides cardio-vascular exercise, problem solving (navigational) challenges and develops people’s confidence skills. It’s a good way to help develop your children. The sport is available to all ages (we have competitions for people from 10 to 80 years old). At the competitive level it’s a serious sport with top athletes on a par with the best hill runners, cross country runners, road runners, etc., so there’s plenty to aim for.
If you’re new to orienteering, it’s best to start on the easy courses, until you get used to the map symbols, then gradually progress on to longer and more challenging courses. In time you will be able to plan your own courses using the markers (“controls”) in a different order.
Other ideas:
- Visit all the controls on the map in a random order as fast as possible;
- Challenge a friend, start several minutes apart, and record your times on a course to see who is faster;
- Challenge a friend to a head-to-head start with one person going round the course in reverse (see who finishes first);
- Use a favourite course as a benchmark run, perhaps monthly, to see how your fitness is improving (times coming down);
- Look up the Interløpers Events and SOA Fixtures List to find Local Events, and then go along and try it;
- If you enjoy the permanent orienteering courses, get in touch with the Club Secretary and join Interløpers.
