This week is Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week and we’re shining a light on women and girls who lead in orienteering, and who support other leaders. Today we hear from Sheila Strain, who talks about what’s kept her as a leader in the sport for many years.

A vital part of SOA’s function is bringing people together across the Scottish orienteering community, and one means of doing this through a series of monthly online evening sessions open to all members.  We’re pleased to be running another programme of these in 2025. You can sign up now for the first session, to be held on Monday 6 January, with a focus on communications and marketing.

The Community Conversations programme has been developed to provide opportunities across the year for orienteers to share experiences and ideas around different themes of interest to us all.  As well as supporting valuable networking and discussion, these sessions are also a valuable means for SOA to hear views and ideas from across the membership on a regular basis, to help steer its delivery work and onwards development. 

The World University Orienteering Championships took place in Bankso in Bulgaria this year.

The GB team was packed with Scots and Scottish based athletes, and the highlight was clearly the victory in the Mixed Sprint Relay for Rachel Brown (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club), Peter Molloy (Forth Valley Orienteers), Eddie Narbett (Interlopers), and Fiona Bunn (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club).

Fiona backed this up with 6th place in both sprint and relay, and anchored the women’s relay team with a fastest leg time to bring the team into 8th.

The men’s relay team of David Bunn (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club), Euan Tryner (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club), and Peter Molloy were 7th, with Euan running second quickest on leg 2.

Other notable results in the sprint race were Eddie Narbett13th, Rachel Brown 15th, Peter Molloy 17th and Freddie Carcas (Interlopers) 18th.

Fiona had this to say “World Unis was a great experience for me this year. It was a nice bridge between sprint and forest championships, had a great ratio of relays to individual races (2:2!) and some really interesting/unique forest terrain! I prepared by running a few days of the Bulgaria cup, and training in a few nearby areas. I was happy to have consistent individual performances, especially in the technical Middle distance, but the highlight was certainly winning a surprise gold in the Mixed Sprint relay. The team of Rachel, Peter and Eddie had storming runs to send me out in a medal position, about 30s down on the lead. I was so focused on the battle for silver/bronze that I did not realise that the Swedish last leg had gone walkabouts and we had in fact won until well after the finish! Thanks to Tom and Jon for their coaching during the week and the University of Edinburgh for their financial support and performance program coaching which supported many of the athletes on the team!”

Peter had this to say “I was absolutely delighted that our team won the WUOC sprint relay. In the build-up I was hopeful that we could challenge for a medal behind Switzerland and Sweden, since I knew that we had a strong team. However on the day we outperformed our expectations and were in the right place and the right time to capitalise on the mistakes of other teams. There’s no better feeling than winning a gold medal, and to do it with the team makes it all the more satisfying and memorable. I’m glad we could pick up where the victorious GB sprint relay team in 2016 WUOC left off!”

Autumn is a busy time for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) as we bid farewell to those heading off to University, welcome in the new squad and compete at the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs) and Junior Inter Regional Championships (JIRCs). With the JIRCs in Wales and 2 weeks later the JHIs in Birmingham –  the Scots were on tour.  Read on to catch up with all the ScotJOS news …

Junior Inter Regional Championships

The Junior Inter-Regional Championships were held in South Wales at the end of September. This sees teams of juniors from all 12 British Orienteering regions compete against each other with individual races on the Saturday and relays on the Sunday – and lots of time for fun and games in between.

To make the loooong journey more bearable for the juniors (and accompanying adults!), they set off by coach on the Friday afternoon with an overnight stop in Birmingham planned. In the spirit of the event we even allowed a few North West, Yorkshire and Irish juniors to join us on the coach as they were now based in Scotland.  With lots of quizzes and singing (and food!) to keep us going we arrived in Wales in good spirits to some lovely sunshine.

The Individuals were held at Kenfig Burrows – a complex area of sand dunes on the South coast. After the application of the necessary war paint (and the adults attempts to build a  better flag pole than the Welsh team’s)  there was time to meet up with friends, play some football – oh and do some orienteering! 

The team all performed fantastically with Scotland securing a strong lead (27 points) over the other teams. There were medals for Douglas MacDonald (INVOC) who was 1^st in M14, Laurence Ward (INT) 3^rd in M16, James Hammond (FVO) 1^st in M18, Ruth Gooch (MAROC) 1^st in W16, Emily Atkinson (ELO) 3^rd in W16, Isobel Howard (MOR) 2^nd in W18 and Daisy McNamara (AYROC) 3^rd in W18. Ruth Gooch also won the award for Best Individual Performance thanks to an impressive four and half minute lead on the W16 course. 

The teams all retired to Rougemont School in Newport for the evening for food, football, prize giving, more quizzes, a quick moonlit Strip the Willow and then bed on the gym hall and dining room floors. 

The weather changed for the Sunday and we set off in the rain for Llantrisant forest for the relays.  This was a steep wooded hillside crossed by forestry tracks, and mountain bike trails. The arena was towards the top of the area and there was lots of climb in all the courses. The woodland was also very “green” in places.

The boys relay set off, followed by the girls to lots of noise. The teams run with a 16, then a 14 and finally an 18 on the last leg. A run through mid-course gave us a chance to cheer on further before we waited expectantly for them to appear back out the forest and run up the track to the handover area. The Scottish teams set off strongly with our juniors leading the packs but then the dreaded miss punches of relays started to appear. With the two hotly tipped men’s teams (Scotland 1 and South Central 1) disqualified, the race was open. The Scotland 2 team of Finn Duguid, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie successfully brought the win home for Scotland.  In the girls race Daisy McNamara had an excellent 3^rd leg  overtaking several teams to return first only to discover their team was disqualified due to an earlier miss punch. However Scotland 1 returned next picking up Gold for Ruth Gooch, Esme Kelly and Isobel Howard.

Overall Yorkshire and Humberside took the win the relays with 261 points with Scotland 2^nd on 258 points. However with the strong win on the individuals, Scotland retained the Junior Inter-Regional Championship trophy. As well as the trophy’s for the men’s overall and women’s overall.

A tired but victorious group of juniors boarded the coach for the loooooong trip back North.

Huge thanks to Swansea Bay Orienteering Club for organising the event. For a small club to put on both the individual and relay events was very impressive. The juniors were delighted to see Megan Carter-Davies and Ben Mitchell running the computing – it’s not often you turn up at an event to have a current World Champion running the download! 

Full results for both races and the points are available at https://www.sboc.org.uk/results

Two weeks later the juniors hit the road again to head to Birmingham for the Junior Home Internationals. Armed with more quizzes for the journey and plenty of food we headed south by coach again, picking up some of the English team from the Lakes on the way.  We did draw the line at them trying to display the St George’s Cross on our bus though!

Both days of the competition were held at Sutton Park in Birmingham, with the juniors staying overnight at Beaudesert Scout Camp. Whilst Scotland was battered by rain, we headed to Sutton Park in glorious sunshine ready to take on the other nations.  With face paint applied the juniors headed to the start whilst the adults waited for them to appear at the spectator control and bemoaned the fact they had forgotten the binoculars again as they tried to identify who was approaching! There was a lot of fast running on paths but lots of vegetation to catch out the unsuspecting. Although the running was fast, mistakes were costly with relocation difficult.

Junior Home Internationals

The team all performed fantastically with Scotland scoring 72 points – only 5 points behind England. There were medals for Douglas MacDonald (INVOC) who was 1^st in M14, Finn Duguid (TAY) 2^nd on M16, James Hammond (FVO) 1^st on M18, Adam Barrie (MAR) 2^nd on M18, Lucy Ward (INT) 3^rd on W14,   Isobel Howard (MOR) 2^nd in W18 and Iris Macmillan (ECKO) 3^rd in W18.

It was then time to head back to Beaudesert, with an ice-cream stop on the way, for more fun and games in the sunshine. The weather was so pleasant that the evening’s ceilidh was held outdoors in part of the walled garden illuminated with floodlights. Although not traditional Scottish dancing, we were treated to a hilarious mix of fun dances which everyone managed to find the energy to join in with.

On Sunday – after a slightly belated start due to mechanical problems with the coach door we headed to the southern part of Sutton Park for the relays. The girls headed off first with the boys start 10 minutes later. From the start they disappeared straight into the undergrowth and we were left with an anxious wait for the 1^st runners to appear at the spectator control.

Finn Duguid had a great 1^st leg for the boys returning in 1^st position, and handing over to Douglas. Rory Black then appeared chasing the England’s Tommy Rollins. The English however overtook on the 2^nd leg and James Hammond fought hard on the final leg to take the silver for the Scotland 1 team. The Scotland 2 team of Finlay McLuckie, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie finished in 5^th place.

Finn Duguid had a great 1^st leg for the boys returning in 1^st position, and handing over to Douglas. Rory Black then appeared chasing the England’s Tommy Rollins. The English however overtook on the 2^nd leg and James Hammond fought hard on the final leg to take the silver for the Scotland 1 team. The Scotland 2 team of Finlay McLuckie, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie finished in 5^th place.

In the girls relay Ruth Gooch had a strong 1^st leg handing over to Esme Kelly in 2^nd place. Isobel Howard then set off on third leg with a mission to catch the English runners, but was thwarted by some badly behaved dogs who made access to one control difficult. However, the Scots 1^st team still finished in 4^th place, with the team of Ellie Darlow, Eilidh Connor and Daisy McNamara in 5^th.

The final scores for the relays were England 58 points and Scotland 46 points, meaning that England took the victory in the Junior Home Internationals. Congratulations to England.

A special mention to Ruari Cottier who brought his bagpipes and piped back all the final leg Scottish runners, helping to give them the energy for the final sprint to the finish.  We may not have won the JHIs but Scotland certainly won on team spirit and determination. Well done to a great team. Full results for both races and the points are available at https://wmoa.org.uk/wp/junior-home-internationals-6th-8th-october-2023/

Selections for ScotJOS 2023/24

With the 2^nd year 18’s heading off to University, the new squad for 2023/24 has been selected. Congratulations to everyone selected – we hope that you will make the most of the opportunity to improve your orienteering whilst having lots of fun on the way. There are 6 camps planned throughout the year, as well as a summer tour to Scandinavia to look forward to.

Congratulations to the following juniors:-

Selection for Talent Scotland

In addition to the Scottish Junior Squad there is also the British Orienteering Talent Scotland Squad, which in conjunction with Talent North and Talent South from the tier 3 of the British Orienteering Performance Pathway.  ScotJOS aims to provide a friendly supportive team in which to develop as an orienteer, with the Talent Squad helping the juniors to develop towards being an elite athlete. With a stronger focus on athlete development, it works with a subset of the ScotJOS juniors, providing additional Sports Science and Race Preparation camps as well as a series of online workshops.

Congratulations to the following juniors who were selected to be part of Talent Scotland for 2023/24

Thank You

Finally a huge thank you to everyone who helps support the Scottish Juniors – parents, clubs, coaches, cake buyers! –  we couldn’t do it without all your support.

In particular a huge thank you to Marjorie Mason from MAROC who has been the ScotJOS treasurer for the past 10 years, and does the most amazingly efficient job to support the ScotJOS team. She has however decided that it is time for her to move on and we are seeking a new treasurer. Marjorie had kindly offered to shadow them for the 1^st year to help settle into the role. If you feel this role could be for you, please get in touch. 

If anyone is interested in helping ScotJOS but feel that accounting isn’t for them, there are lots of ways to be involved – planning exercises, coaching in the forest, hanging controls, shadowing, cooking, driving, herding, ordering kit, organising fundraising. If you would like to volunteer or find out more please get in touch with Judy at scotjos@scottish-orienteering.org.

With a mixed weekend of weather, the 2019 Scottish Orienteering Championships weekend took place in Dumfries & Galloway, with the Individual Championships taking place in Dalbeattie Forest on Saturday 25th May and the Relay Championships at Drumlanrig Estate, near Thornhill, on Sunday 26th May.

You can orienteer whenever you want at many permanent and seasonal orienteering courses across Scotland’s parks, cities and countryside. Permanent courses are great as part of a day out – as a family, a group of friends, or for individual training. Some courses use paper maps while others are available on your smartphone.

Smartphone orienteering with MapRun

MapRun is an app which allows you to use your smartphone to enjoy orienteering without needing to set up physical control points on the ground. There are now MapRun courses set up all across Scotland which you can go and run right now, with more new ones being added all the time.

Using MapRun, you can run an orienteering course using either the map on your phone screen or a paper version; the only difference from a “traditional” course is that there are no physical markers on the ground. Instead, the phone tracks your location as you run and vibrates or buzzes to confirm when you’ve reached each control point on the course.

As with other modern orienteering punching and timing systems, you can compare your times between controls and around the whole course with other runners, and with MapRun you can take part whenever you want.

Because there are no physical control markers, courses can be left open permanently for people to enjoy at any time. Setting up new courses is relatively straightforward for those with orienteering experience, and can be done from the comfort of your home.

The currently recommended version of the MapRun app is MapRun6 (Feb 2022). More information on the latest version is available here.

How to use MapRun to have a go at existing courses

Here’s our quick guide to get you started, and you can take a look at our more detailed pictorial instructions.

1. Download the MapRun6 app on Google Play or the App Store to your GPS-enabled smartphone.
2. Enter your personal details.
3. Select the “event” you want to run. You can find information about existing courses across Scotland in the table below, so you can choose by location, type, length and difficulty. Navigate to the UK/Scotland/ folder and then select the region of interest to search for events. To download the map for a particular event click on the event name. We recommend you download the map while you have access to wifi or a good mobile signal. Once downloaded, you’ll be able to retrieve the map from local storage on your phone.
4. Some “events” are protected by a 4-digit PIN, which you should be able to find in the course information table below, or via the link provided.
5. If you prefer to run using a paper copy of the map, PDF files of many of the courses in Scotland are available for self-printing via the link in the course information table.
6. Once you’re ready to run, click on “Go To Start” (if necessary re-loading the event from local storage in the event list first) and enter the PIN if required.
7. Walk towards the start. Your phone should beep and the clock start timing once you come within range of the start location.
8. Run the course as normal. Your phone should beep when you reach each control point. Sometimes you may need to slow down and stop for a couple of seconds, or move a few paces until it registers.
9. Once you have found all the points (or your time is up for a score course) head for the finish for the final beep. You should avoid running past the finish before the end of the course or you may accidentally stop the clock!
10. The app may automatically attempt to save your results but if you don’t have access to data this can be done later. Please remember to save your results as it will help us know how many people are enjoying using the app! If you have a Strava account you can also synchronise your session directly.
11. To view the results table for the event, select “Show Results” and select the event that you have just completed. You will also be able to view the “track” of your route.
12. If you’d like to set up your own course on MapRun, see the information below or find out more here.

MapRun courses in Scotland

Below is a clickable map of current MapRun orienteering courses you can try across Scotland. Where a length is specified, the course is linear (visit the control points in the order shown) and where a time is specified, it’s a score format course (visit in any order). The course difficulty relates to the standard orienteering course colour-coded system.

If there are no courses near you yet, contact your local club or read below on how to create your own MapRun course.

You can download a copy of the map and course for printing from the clickable course link (note that in some cases the course is split into 2 for ease of printing on A4 paper).

Scottish MapRun Courses (updated 21st Feb 2022)

Right of access to use MapRun courses is according to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Participants should ensure responsible access through adhering to guidance as set out by the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, including any current amendments linked to Covid-19. Participants take part at their own risk and as an individual activity it is not covered by any orienteering insurance policy.

How to create your own MapRun courses

Please have a read of the information below, then if you would like any further information or would like a course in Scotland uploaded to the app contact heidi@scottish-orienteering.org in the first instance. We have a recording of a recent MapRun workshop available. If you would like to watch to recording, please contact heidi@scottish-orienteering.org.

Setting a course for your club or group

1. You’ll need a suitable map and area. MapRun is better suited for use in urban, parkland, or open moor areas where there is a strong GPS signal, rather than forest.
2. If you don’t have an existing orienteering map of your area, you might be able to create a simple version for street events using the tools in OpenOrienteeringMap. Here is a simple step by step guide to this.
3. Your map file will need to be converted to KMZ format for use within the app. There are two simple ways of doing this, depending on the software you have available.
4. If you have access to OCAD 10 or above and your map is already geo-referenced, then you can do a simple export in KMZ format (select tiled option @ 512×512 with 150dpi resolution).
5. Otherwise you can convert an image (.jpg) of your map into KMZ format using this pc-based tool, or alternatively use the “Create a KMZ map” function built-in to the app (see step 3 in the QuickStart Event section below).
6. You will also need to create a course file to define the locations of controls. This file will be saved as a separate KML. This can be done on Google Earth Pro or the “Create KML Course” function in the MapRun Console. The process essentially involves dropping pins onto your map to define the location of control points. Further information is available here, together with a video describing the process.
7. The course planner should carry out a risk assessment of any hazards on their course, using this template or similar.
8. Once you have created your files you can test out your course for yourself using the MapRun CheckSites tool. There is more information about how to do this here. When checking your control sites it is worth noting the strength of the gps signal (green good, yellow mediocre, red poor / absent), as indicated at the bottom of your event screen.
9. Once you have finalised your course, you should send your prepared files to one of the MapRun Admins for Scotland heidi@scottish-orienteering.org for upload to the main MapRun server where it will be available for others to use. If you would like your course to be included in the table of Scottish MapRun courses on this page then please also send Heidi a copy of the map and course as a PDF, or else provide a link to one elsewhere. Heidi can also point you towards help if you need it.

Setting a QuickStart Event for yourself / family

With the QuickStart Event function you can set up a course very quickly using just your mobile phone. This option is not meant to be used for competitive purposes and your time and gps trace will not be uploaded to any central server. The following guide will step you through the setting up process, and you can also check out this video

1. If you have an orienteering or other map that you would like to select for navigating with, then
   • either save this onto your phone as an image file – then go to step 3.
   • or, if it is already converted to KMZ format then first upload the file through the CheckSites portal. Use your allocated PIN to access and save the map to local storage on your phone – then go to step 5.
2. Without a specified map, the app will use a satellite image for you to set up a course – skip to step 5.
3. If you have saved your map as an image file, you will first need to georeference and convert this to a kmz map using the “Create KMZ Map” option (from the menu on the bottom right of the main screen). Select this and follow the instructions on screen to add your map image and then match two locations between your map image and the satellite image in order to georeference its location. You should choose two distinctive locations at diametrically opposite corners of the map to get the best fit between your map and the satellite image.
4. When you are happy with the match between your map image and satellite image, click “Save as KMZ”, give the map a name and optionally add an email address if you would like to receive a copy of the KMZ map file to use for other purposes.
5. Now you can use the QuickStart Event option. If you have prepared a map (as above), click on “Select Map” and you should find it in your local phone storage. Otherwise, the visible satellite data will be your “map” for the event.
6. Next, you simply need to identify locations for the Start, each control point, and then the Finish. The start should be labelled as S1 and come at the top of the list followed by your control points, and then the finish labelled as F1. Scroll around the map until you are happy with the location of each point and then click on “Add”. Note that you can deselect your map overlay to check the accuracy of siting your control points against the satellite image (real world).
7. Once you have completed your course, click on “Save” or “Save and Email” and you are ready to start.
8. If you want to change something on your course you can edit the event. To do this, go to your local event storage and click on the pencil symbol alongside the event – this will take you to an editing facility where you can delete controls, add more and re-order.
9. Once you are happy with your event, select it from the local storage and you are ready to start, as for any other MapRun course.

Other useful links to assist with course setting

You can find out more detail about the processes required to create the MapRun input files here:

• http://maprunners.weebly.com/step-by-step-guide.html

If you don’t have an orienteering map of the area that you wish to use, then you may be able to generate a PseudO map very simply, using OpenOrienteeringMap. Here is a step by step guide on how to go about this.

• How to generate a pseudo orienteering map for MapRun using OpenOrienteeringMap

If you need any further guidance or additional information, please e-mail Fran Loots –  fran@scottish-orienteering.org.

Permanent Orienteering Courses

Permanent orienteering courses are often found in public places like parks and other popular outdoor locations. You use a course map to navigate between permanent control points – white and orange orienteering symbols attached to things like posts or benches.

You can ask for a map from the relevant visitor centre or ask the local orienteering club. For a list of all courses in Scotland and information on where to download permanent orienteering maps, visit the British Orienteering website.

Seasonal orienteering courses in Scotland (ROMP)

Scottish Orienteering regularly sets up semi-permanent seasonal orienteering courses, for more advanced orienteers. Called the “Regular Orienteering Map Programme” (ROMP), each course is set up for several months.

Currently (Mar 2021) there are no seasonal ROMP courses available

The JIRCs see teams of juniors from the 12 British Orienteering regions go to battle, with individual championships on the Saturday and relays on the Sunday. Each team can consist of 4 juniors in each category of M/W 14,16 and 18.

Masterplan Adventure hosted the first Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) event of 2024 as part of their Scottish Spring Weekend. The weekend saw over 200 hardy souls test themselves against the delights of the Kintyre terrain. Masterplan Adventure provided the opportunity on Saturday for everyone to pit themselves against the knolls, boulders and crags of Torinturk for a middle distance event followed by an ultra sprint round Tarbert before the sun shone on the oak forest of Corranbuie on Sunday for the longer distance of the SOL. Sunday’s event was also the third event in the Scottish Inter-Club Championship.

Scottish Orienteering has many background initiatives and development projects which are likely invisible to our broad membership. As a development team we have put our energy in to outreach and partnership development, nurturing connections which broaden the interest in orienteering and promote healthy lifestyles. It is a commitment which takes time and ongoing input and impetuous. We are grateful to have a fantastic pool of tutors and wider support network of members who want to be involved and offer their expertise.

David Robertson of ESOC and tutor for the Projekt42 Leith IntrO course shares his experience.  

ScotJOS held a sprint themed camp in a sunny Dundee to coincide with Sprint Scotland.