SIDNEY — Crashing through the forest, splashing through the water or taking a nice stroll on one of Tawawa Park’s beautiful paved trails is available to the public Sunday, May 7, at the Sidney Shelby County Adventure (Orienteering) race. County residents are invited to come play in Tawawa Park’s 226 acres.
Individuals may start any time they wish as start times are available from noon to 2 p.m. There are three events available: a short course for families and people looking for a nice stroll and exploring the park; a longer run for athletes seeking a challenge; and a more difficult 5 to 6 mile venture into every corner of the park for budding Adventure racers. Participants will receive a map, and may rent a compass ($1) and E-punch ($1) (or bring their own) at the start. The map will detail numerous flagged locations to find — much like a scavenger hunt. Walkers and runners may start anytime they wish between noon and 2 pm.
This will be the first ever adventure/orienteering race at Tawawa Park. The Cincinnati Orienteering Club (OCIN) just completed a beautiful, incredibly detailed 1:5,000 map which uncovers every hidden nook and cranny in the park. While individual competitors will be charged the low price of $3 and teams or families $5, all profits will benefit Big Brothers.
What kind of adventure race is this? Orienteering! What is orienteering? Imagine yourself being dropped into the unknown wilderness. You are armed only with a compass and a highly detailed map of the terrain – one that you have never seen before. Instead of traveling through the wilderness like Daniel Boone, orienteerers are involved in a competitive form of land navigation. The object of orienteering is to locate a series of points shown on the map. The map can be of a national or local park, a scout camp or a school campus. In an orienteering race, the object is to navigate through the points faster than all other competitors. Individual starts, however, are staggered to increase individual effort. Child/parent or two child teams are encouraged during the first couple of events to experience a positive learning experience along with camaraderie.
The Adventure Race meet Director Joe Ratermann, stated that he was inspired to put on this meet after reading Brian Alexander’s “The Glass House” and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers.” These books, said Ratermann, demonstrate that communities that do things together, events, races, forming social clubs, generally have a much healthier and higher quality of life than communities that are fractured or in which citizens are often absent from community opportunities.
“Our community is fortunate to have: people like Bob Eck, whom donated BK Rootbeer stand coupons for participants; OCIN which created his beautiful map which will forever be available to all citizens on the Sidney Parks and Recreation web page; and Big Brothers/Big Sisters whom helped with the administration of the meet and provide such a valuable service to several counties,” said Ratermann.
For more information about Orienteering camps, local orienteering meets or orienteering, visit http://www.ocin.org.
