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West Anglian Orienteering Club

Park-O

Last edited: Thu 16 Mar 2023

Our Park-O events are an easy way for juniors and adults to try orienteering. Based in parks around Cambridge, each Park-O takes place on a Saturday afternoon 1pm-3pm once a month during the school year.

What happens at Park-O? Click here to find out

Park-O How-to Guide
Every Park-O has three brand new courses of differing length and complexity. It’s a great way to enjoy the local parks and our friendly volunteers will help you choose the course right for you and get you started. Each course costs £2 for juniors/students, £4 for adults (21yrs+) or £5 for family groups. Entry for a second course on the same day is just £1 subject to map availability.

Events in 2022 - 2023
Below are the planned dates for the current school year – pop them in your diary now! For more details and just in case things change, please check this website or our Facebook page closer to the time.
17.09.2022Milton Country Park
22.10.2022Trumpington Meadows & Byron's Pool
12.11.2022Priory Park (St Neots)
7.01.2023Wandlebury Country Park
4.02.2023Coldhams Common
18.03.2023Hinchingbrooke Country Park
29.04.2023Lammas Land
10.06.2023Cherry Hinton Hall

More about Park-O
It’s a lot of fun! Orienteering is enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. You can stroll with a pushchair, jog with children or run. You decide, just enjoy the adventure!
Our Park-O orienteering courses vary between about 1 and 3km as the crow flies between each ‘control’ point that you’re looking for. It usually takes between 15 and 90 minutes, depending on which course you’re trying, whether you walk or run and how lost you get… If you enjoy it as much as we do and have time, you could try another straight away!

To ensure there is a map available for you (and make things easier for our hardworking registration team), you should pre-register your entry, but entry on the day is also available subject to the availability of spare maps. Starts are open from 1pm-3pm although courses close at 3.30pm so please book an early start slot if you want to try a longer course.
Juniors can run for their school. We record the school in the results, using a short code. Click here to see a list of codes.

We have large banners at our registration point so you can’t miss us. We look forward to seeing you!

Want to bring a group?

Please let us know in advance if you’d like to bring a group (such as a school or guide/scout group) so that we can make sure we have enough maps for everyone on the day. Send a group entry form to: entries@waoc.org.uk

Already tried and loved a Park-O?
We’d love to see you again at another – they’re different every time! We also run other events which you might like to give a go.

See above for a list of Park-O events in 2022-2023 - pop them in your diary now! For more details and just in case things change, please check this website or our Facebook page closer to the time.

Our Park-O series in 2019-20 was supported by Sport England & the National Lottery.
All competitors take part at their own risk.

Registration and start times

Park-O events are on a Saturday, and run between 1pm and 3pm. Unless otherwise specified for an event, the entry details and available courses are as shown below.

Entry Details

Children/Students£3
Adults (21ys+)£5
Family Groups£5
Second runs (when available)
£1

Course information

We always offer the following 3 courses at each Park-O event:

  • Short     ~ 1km Very easy   (Comparable to a "White" course at a regular O event)
  • Medium ~ 2km Easy           (Comparable to a "Yellow" course at a regular O event)
  • Long      ~ 3km Medium      

Sometimes we may add an Extra Long course, which would be similar technically to the Long course, but maybe 5km distance.

If you want to know more about how we grade courses as "Easy", "Medium" etc., look for the "Colour Coded Course Standards" section in our beginners' guide.