2015 fwoc course planning & route choice

Course Planning 2010 COF Conference

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The wrong approach #1

• Joining ‘cool’ control features

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Wrong approach #2

• Leg 1, Leg 2, Leg 3…

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Wrong approaches #3, 4, 5, …

• Not setting Sprint-style course for a Sprint race• Not setting Middle-style course for a Middle race• Not setting Long-style course for a Long race

• And so on ;-)

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Today’s presentation

• What is a good course?• Good legs• Course planner’s raw ingredients• Sprint / Middle / Long• The Planning Process• Common mistakes• Psychology• How to be loved

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Keep in mind…

• Different “levels” of event– Training events Local events Championship events– Different volunteer energy

• Different categories / classes

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What is orienteering?

• The navigational skill, concentration and running ability of the competitors shall be tested.

• All courses shall call upon a range of different orienteering techniques.

• The aim of course planning is to offer competitors courses correctly designed for their expected abilities.

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“Expected abilities”

• You can’t set a good courseunless you know the abilitiesof the competitors…

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“Expected abilities”

• How good are the M/W21?• What about the juniors and the very young?

• Skill progression– Sweden’s Green to Black, 17 steps of skills development

• www.barebones.ca – “Resources”

• Understand physical abilities– What about those teenagers?– How tough are the M21?– What about the ‘Venerable’ classes?

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Today’s talk

• Focus is on setting the most technical courses• But, of course, many principles apply to all levels

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Good courses are…

• Fun• Appropriate difficulty & terrain• Fair (minimize ‘luck’)• Challenging (map reading, route choice, concentration,

decision making, running in natural terrain, …)• Respect the environment• Media & spectator friendly

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Good control sites

• Mark the start & end of good legs• Specific “indisputable” spot (point feature)• Not hidden – the goal is a good leg, not a tricky

control site.• People at control don’t give away control (hidden)• People leaving don’t give away control (dog leg)

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Good control sites - hidden

• Pit versus far side of boulder:• Pit – feature is not visible, so person at control gives

it away. Unfair.• Far side of boulder – boulder is visible, so person at

control adds no information

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Good control sites – “beacon”

• How visible to make the control?• For weaker navigators, the control should be very

visible• For elites it should not be visible – the expectation is

that they find the feature first (eg: boulder) and once they are at the correct feature the control is easy to see.

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Good legs

• Every leg must have a purpose– Navigational challenge– Route choice– Change of direction– Connect good areas / legs– Better point to start the next (very good) leg– Adding variety (3Ts)

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Course planner’s ingredients

• To make a good course…mix together, in appropriate amounts:

– Navigational challenge– Route choice– Variation – the Three T’s– Physical challenge– Concentration demand

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Ingredient: Navigational Challenge

• What is challenging?– It depends … on who we’re talking about

• Why we have lots of classes ;-)• Progression of orienteering skills• Long Term Athlete Development project

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Ingredient: Navigational Challenge

• How to inject navigational challenge:– Urban

Complex, curving terrainTwisting coursesDifferent levels

– Example – Sisteron, France

– Forest– Detail terrain– Bland terrain– “flow” of the terrain– Example – FWOC Club champs at Mt Laurie

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Navigational Challenge – “flow” of terrain

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Navigational Challenge – “flow” of terrain

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Ingredient: Route Choice

• Why have route choice?• Essence of orienteering• But not necessary for every leg

• Course planner’s dream• 2004 FWOC Club Champs • How did he do it?

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• Creating route choice is easy:

– Step 1: find an obstacle– Step 2: make a leg that crosses this obstacle

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• How to make route choice– Need obstacles

• Vegetation: green• Terrain: hills, valleys, cliffs, lakes…• Detailed terrain / navigational complexity

– Need alternatives• Faster running / slower running• Longer / shorter• Safe / tricky navigation

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• Should route choice alternatives be equal?– All alternatives should be appealing– Reward the ability to “see” good routes.– Easy-to-see route should be not the best

– Course planners must be able to assess the alternatives…

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• Comparing alternate route choices

– You must understand how quickly people move in *this* terrain…

– Passable - you can eye-ball it (guess)…– Good - you can calculate (informed estimate)…– Gooder – you have previous results– Goodest – you test-run…

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Speed in Terrain (elite male)

Dark Green 10:00 min/km

Light Green 7:00 min/km

Marsh 5:30 min/km

Open Forest 5.00 min/km

Small Path 4:00 min/km

Field 4:00 min/km

Big Path 3:40 min/km

Road 3:20 min/km

Uphill Add 1:30 min/km per 10%

Downhill Less 0:40 for up to 20%Add 2:00 for 30% or more

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Diversion: Course Length

• Our goal: target winning times

BUT…

• How do you know how long people will take to run your courses?– You might not care ;-)– Depends on your specific terrain– Depends on who will be there– Get one class/category right, then use Excel…

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Relative Speeds (winning TPKs)

M21 1.00 W21 0.80

M35 0.93 W35 0.71

M40 0.89 W40 0.67

M45 0.84 W45 0.62

M50 0.79 W50 0.57

M55 0.74 W55 0.53

M60 0.68 W60 0.48

M65 0.60 W65 0.44

M70 0.53 W70 0.39

M75 0.46 W75 0.35

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Testing the courses

• The table gives you theoretical distance (“good”)• To be sure, test run to judge (“goodest”)

– Enjoyment– Winning time / length– Challenge – navigation / physical– Map accuracy – especially attacking controls

2007 Nova Scotia: Course Planning

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Ingredient: Variety

The 3 T’s:• Vary Terrain• Vary Technique• Vary Tempo

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1st T – vary Terrain

• Challenge orienteer to move and navigate effectively in all types of terrain– Flat / hilly– Many / few details– Good / bad visibility – Good / bad runnability– Rocky / marshy / open – Open forest / thick forest– Wilderness / dense trails

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2nd T – vary Technique

• Challenge orienteer to use a variety of navigation techniques– Line / point / area features– Along / across contours and line features– Map reading / compass– Different leg lengths– Changes of direction

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3rd T – vary Tempo

• Challenge the orienteer to run at appropriate tempo– Fast terrain / slow– Long / Short legs– Easy / difficult map reading– Downhill / flat / up

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Ingredient: Physical challenge

• Comes from:– Climb– Terrain– Speed

• Sprint – minimal knarliness - maintain high speed• Middle – normal knarliness• Long – big-time knarliness

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Ingredient: Concentration

• Sprint – intense, absolutely no break!• Middle – very high, consistent• Long – high, variable

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S/M/L: The three Foot ‘O’ disciplines

• Sprint – fast, visible, easy-to-understand for spectators. High speed, intense concentration.

• Middle – fast, accurate orienteering for moderate amount of time. Small errors can be decisive.

• Long – all challenges, including route choice, endurance, navigation.

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S/M/L: Technical difficulty

• Sprint: tends to easy • Middle: consistently difficult• Long: mixture of difficulties

• … as a rule … but remember “Variety”

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S/M/L: Route Choice

• Sprint – complex, requiring high concentration (lots of turns)

• Middle – small & medium-scale route choice• Long – significant, including large-scale route choice

– Build Long Distance courses around GREAT long legs – lots of route choice

– Look for obstructions (cliffs, lakes, valleys, etc)– … and make a leg that crosses them

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S/M/L: Type of Running

• Sprint – very high speed• Middle – high speed, requiring adjustment of speed• Long – physically demanding, requiring endurance

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S/M/L: Terrain

• Sprint – very runnable (open forest or park)• Middle – technically complex• Long – physically tough, allowing good route choice

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S/M/L: Map

• Sprint – ISSOM. 1:5,000• Middle – ISOM, 1:10,000• Long – ISOM, 1:15,000 (elite) and 1:10,000

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Cooking up good courses

• To make a Sprint, Middle, or Long course, mix together, in appropriate amounts:


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Sprint• Goal – intense concentration

• Main ingredients– Lots of twists & turns– High speed– Lots of route choices– Lots of controls

• Mix in some…– Variations in tempo– Variation in terrain

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Sprint

• Adding some spice– One longer leg? Decisive route choice.– One climbing leg?– Some “stupidly easy” legs– Have runners achieve maximum speed at least once– Urban or Forest or Mix?

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Sprint

• Leaving a sour taste…– Lack of route choice– Allowing runners to “relax”– Too technical (reduces the speed too much)– Lacking variety – “boring”

Course Planning

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Sprint Examples

• Fish Creek – 2009 National Team Selection races– Forest sprint / Tempo changes / Route choices

• Fundy Park - 2008 COC Champs – Terrain changes / technique

• Whistler – 2010 Barebones– Fun – why?

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Middle

• Goal – navigational excellence

• Main ingredients– Navigational difficulty– Lots of twists & turns– Small-scale route choice

• Mix in a bit of…– Variations in tempo– Variation in technique

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Middle

• Adding some spice– One longer leg? Change of pace.

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Middle

• Leaving a sour taste…– Too easy– Not using best (most technical) terrain– Lacking variety – “repetitive”

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Middle

• Examples…– Ebs Trails, Saskatoon – COC Middle distance

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Long

• Goal – endurance, strength

• Main ingredients– Route choice– Variety – terrain / technique / tempo– Physical challenge

• Mix in a bit of…– Navigational intensity

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Long

• Examples– FWOC Club champs at Mt Laurie

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Process: Preliminary Steps

• Choose a map• Identify “best” areas of the map• Choose suitable locations for

– Assembly Area / Finish– Start– Parking– Beginner courses

• Obtain permissions• Be aware of environmental issues

• Ebs Trails, Saskatoon – COC Middle distance

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Process: Course shape / layout

• Identify “the best” parts of the map• Look for major features in the terrain that will affect

route choice• Make some excellent long legs• Consider where water stations will be• Add lots of changes in direction (figure 8 is good)

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Process: map layout

• Logos• Safety notices• North lines• Titles, etc• Course overprint• …

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Process: Final Product

• Printed copies of each course (weather-protected)• A few master maps• Separate control descriptions• Controls in the terrain in the proper place• Water on the course• Course planner notes in the meet information


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Process: Tools

• Mapping software: OCAD• Course planning software: eg: CONDES

• Printer

• Special papers


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Process: after the race

• Talk to the runners to see:– what skills they have– How they approached each leg– What they enjoyed most

• Especially talk to different age categories / different experience levels than you

• Especially talk to the kids

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Common Mistakes: boring course

• Lack of variety– Always the same type of problem– Always the same length of leg– Never any change in direction

• Remember to vary the 3Ts:– Terrain– Technique– Tempo

• Use proper planning steps– Build your courses around a few excellent legs

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Common Mistakes: too easy

• Inappropriate challenge– Too easy for advanced or too tough for beginners– Too easy is more common

• Catching feature before the control• Simple navigation• Dog legs

• Study skill progressions for all levels– BONUS – you become a much better orienteer!

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Common mistakes: boring shape

• Avoid “all legs the same length” syndrome• Have lots of changes in direction• Consider “figure of eight” shape

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Common mistakes: climb

• Avoid short uphill legs with no route choice• Avoid unnecessary climb• Make climbs interesting by setting long legs across

the slope – this gives route choice and navigational challenge

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Common Mistakes: on the edge

• Avoid control sites close to unbounded edges of the map– This invites people to run off the map– No way to relocate– Stay 100m away if possible, unless edge is bounded by road,

stream, etc

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Common Mistakes: no route choice

• Things that don’t necessarily provide route choice– Navigationally difficult leg– Left / right alternative

• Route choice comes from real alternatives– Safe or risky– Straight or around– Short or easy

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Common Mistakes: Poor control sites

• Control site must be at an indisputable spot• When using older maps, or maps you don’t know

well, plan courses using “solid” features– Boulders, contours, other things that don’t change– Don’t use vegetation, one-line contour features, or anything else

that you suspect is inaccurate

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Common mistakes: wrong process

• Beginning course planners often make a course by starting at the beginning and making the first leg, then the second, and so on. Tendency is to “sameness” of legs

• Beginners often look for good sites to put a control, then join these control locations.

• Instead you should find good long legs and then combine them with shorter legs. The course will not be created in order 1,2,3…

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Common mistakes: too much work

• Too much work for planner & helpers– Water controls too difficult to get to– Remote start/finish locations– More controls than necessary

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Common mistakes: poor map printing

• An extremely complex topic• For now – just rely on printing on the FWOC printer

– Which does a marginally acceptable compromise job!

• Gold standard – offset printing– And there is a lot of difference between that (laying down Pantone

ink colors) and printing a PDF on a digital ink jet printer.– Quality / resolution– Color accuracy– Over print effect– Color gamut– Digital printing artifacts (moiré patterns, jaggies, etc)

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2001 Barebones Course Planning Contest

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Psychology of Course Planning

• Be aware of orienteering psychology and set appropriate challenges…– For beginners, help them out perhaps– For advanced courses, challenge them more

• But don’t be “mean” or “devious”

• Fun, Fair, Challenging

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Interesting!

• Mistakes are most often made on:– First control– Second control– Second-to-last control

• Hmmm….

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Psychology: early controls

• At the Starting line, orienteers will be nervous, excited, adrenalin-charged.– They will rush decision making and navigation– Leading to mistakes on controls 1 & 2

• Will you take advantage of this?

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Psychology: late controls

• At the 2nd-to-last control orienteers will relax and loose concentration

• This is a good time to provide a challenging leg

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Psychology: mental fatigue

• When orienteers are more tired they are likely to make mental mistakes– After a climb– Late in the course

• So give mental challenges at these times

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Psychology: tempo

• Orienteers have a hard time changing Tempo (red light / green light)– Generally they will not slow down enough for detail terrain or

to make an important route choice– At times they will be overly cautious and not go fast enough

• So provide many tempo changes– Detail navigation at bottom of hill (force them to slow down)– Short fast legs followed by long route choice leg

• Eb’s Trail – Middle course review

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Psychology: technique

• Orienteers have a hard time changing Technique– Generally they will have trouble, for example, in a switch

from highly detailed terrain to bland, vague terrain– They will, in particular, often be too careless going into

vague terrain.

• So provide many technique changes– Some sequence of technical controls in highly detailed area

followed by a longer leg into a vague area

• NAOC middle

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Psychology: sad but true

• If they make lots of mistakes in a race, orienteers will complain about the map and especially about the course planning.

• If they have a good race they will believe they are excellent orienteers and that you are a “not-bad” course planner

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Aside: Fundamental Attribution Error

• Cognitive Psychology• Well known phenomena, in all of life:

– We are more likely to attribute our success to our personal characteristics and blame outside variables for our failures

• As a competitor: don’t say anything within 10 minutes of finishing a course except “I really loved that course”

• As an organizer: don’t listen to anything a competitor says within 10 minutes of them finishing their course

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How to be a loved course planner

• Make people feel good about their orienteering, that they were given interesting challenges and that they solved them well.– Lots of variety (terrain, technique, tempo)– Minimize climb– Nicest parts of the terrain– Fair– Appropriate for your competitors

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Course Planning: Rewards

• The most fun aspect of organizing an event– Lots of time in the field– Fun when people enjoy themselves on your course– Learn a lot about orienteering

• Bonus:– You become a better orienteer

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The End

Good courses are good for the sport

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Rules

• COF rule book– Technical rules– Course standards (winning TPK, number of courses, and so

on)

• IOF rules – www.orienteering.org/rules.htm

– More of the technical rules– More course planning principles– Especially: 16.2, 19.3, 19.4, Appendix 2.3, 3.4.2, 3.5.1


http://www.orienteering.org/rules.htm

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Materials & Resources

• There aren’t many• Experience• Talk to people after races to understand their skills

and what they enjoy• Read articles, websites• Use your Controller• Ask someone to review your draft courses


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Websites

• Canadian Orienteering Federation• www.orienteering.ca/r&s.htm

• International Orienteering Federation• www.orienteering.org/rules.htm

– Course Planning Principles• www.orienteering.org/footo/WMOC_handbook_2002.doc

• British Orienteering Guidelines– Environmental concerns, estimating course lengths,

many other great references


http://www.orienteering.ca/r&s.htm

http://www.orienteering.org/rules.htm

http://www.orienteering.org/footo/WMOC_handbook_2002.doc

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Course Planning as training

• Prepare for competitions on existing map– Allows you to practice Route Choices– Helps you become comfortable with the map and general nature of

the terrain

• Better route choice– Recognize alternatives better– Make better choices

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O-Ringen

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Bringing it together

• Make draft courses• Test • Finalize courses, specify water stations• Flag all control sites• Map layout for each course• Print maps for each course, master maps, control

descriptions


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Types of Course Planning

• Different types of races– Sprint Distance– Middle Distance– Long Distance– Relay– Score-O– Night-O– Super-long– …and so on

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Long Distance: Long Legs

2015 fwoc course planning & route choice

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