Same format as last season: A mix of standard Colour Coded events and a variety of alternative foot orienteering types - the series runs over 15 events in total. The programme is likely to change in the seasons 2000- 2001 and 2001- 2002. (Flick to the end of this piece to see how you can influence any change… democracy rules, OK!).

League Objectives: The purpose of the league is to:

• Increase both the numbers participating in Leinster orienteering and to increase repeat participation.
• Provide events of appropriate challenge for new as well as existing orienteers.
• Offer stimulating training and competition for both experienced and high-performance orienteers.

...and importantly

• Capture and maintain a spirit of fun and adventure.

• New this season… introduction of a BLACK course, and the discontinuation of the RED course. (These measures were approved at the most recent Leinster AGM.)
• The other courses on offer are BROWN, BLUE, GREEN, LT-GREEN, ORANGE and YELLOW.
• The League is open to all. The competition is not confined to Leinster orienteers. Prizes can be won by anyone from anywhere.
• Alternative Event formats. Long-O, Night-O, Mass-Start-Butterfly, X-country/Score combination, Leinster-Interclub-Challenge, Park-O, Street-O, Sprint-O.

Scoring: The league uses a position based scoring system similar to the one used for the World Cup in orienteering. Seven best events to score. In the event of a tie for a prize the best eight results decides the winner.

Points: 1^st - 50 pts, 2^nd - 46 pts, 3^rd - 43 pts, 4^th - 40 pts, 5^th - 38 pts, 6^th - 36 pts, 7^th - 34 pts, 8^th - 33 pts, and minus one point per placing thereafter. Finishers in 40^th position or lower get 1 point.

For some events (e.g. Night-O, Mass-Start-Butterfly, Park-O, Sprint-O) colour-courses will be combined, but scoring will be based on the original colour-course choice of the competitor. In the Leinster Interclub Challenge (organized annually by GEN) every finisher on the winning club team gets 50 points, every finisher on the team which comes second gets 46 points, and so on. Clubs from outside Leinster may compete for league points at this event.

Results: Organizers are responsible for:

• This is Very Important! Ensuring that race results are sent to appropriate newspapers on the evening of the event. Use of this service amounts to free publicity for the sport and helps to keep Irish orienteering in contention for new members, sponsorship and grant-aid. The best way to do this is to ring the sports-desks of the newspapers mid-week and book space in the following Monday’s paper. Then phone-in the results on Sunday evening.
• Entering results into the league results system within one week.
• Sending results to TIO before deadlines.

• Best three competitors on the BLACK course, and the best three female competitors on the BLUE course. (To include a £100 training grant to the top competitor within each of these categories).
• Top three finishers and best three non-M21 competitors on the BROWN course.
• Best three M 16 competitors on the BLUE course, best three W 16 competitors on the GREEN course, best three M and W 14 competitors on the LIGHT-GREEN course, best three M and W 12 competitors on the ORANGE course.
• Best three males and best three females on the BLUE, GREEN, LIGHT-GREEN, and ORANGE courses other than M/W 16s, 14s, and 12s.
• Top three males and top three females on the YELLOW course.
• Highest scoring male and female competitors in the league (seven events to count). Rules for tied scores as stated above.

The following table summarizes the IOA Guidelines with respect to completion times, and technical and physical difficulty of Colour Coded events.

Notes: *** Neither the RED or WHITE courses are part of the league this season.

Technical Difficulty of Courses:

• TD1: Controls are placed at all decision points. The route follows along paths. Controls are sited in the direction of the next control.
• TD2: Controls are close and regularly spaced on main line features and nearby point features. There are only one or two navigational decisions to be made per leg.
• TD3: All line features and main point & contour features can be used as control sites. The compass is used for getting a direction to catching features.
• TD4: Any feature may be used as a control site provided relocation is not too difficult. Full use of the compass is tested.
• TD5: Anything goes (with the exception of BINGO controls… i.e. controls that require some luck in order to be found). Every control must be locatable at a running pace using map-reading and compass techniques.

• PD1: The route follows level paths and good surfaces. (It should be possible to wheel a baby’s buggy around the course).
• PD2: Reasonably level paths and ‘white’ forest are used.
• PD3: Moderate climb is allowable. Dense vegetation is kept to a minimum. No treacherous areas are used.
• PD4: Some moderate to steep climb is acceptable, and some running through dense vegetation.
• PD5: Courses planned so that it is physically possible for a well-trained athlete to keep running for 99- 100% of the time. The use of near-vertical ascents/ descents should be minimized, as should long stretches of running through very dense vegetation.

Organisation of Black Courses: To lighten the organisational load course planners are permitted to add an extra loop to the BROWN course to create a BLACK course. In this case the same start box should be used by both BROWN and BLACK competitors.

Long-O. Finishing times 2- 2.5 times longer than normal with longer legs giving a greater variety of route choices. (Hint to competitors: Take paths where possible, run at 70- 80% of normal race pace, drink plenty of fluid before and during the run, and bring food.) In the league Long-O event long courses will be offered only to the BLACK, BROWN and BLUE classifications. Other colour courses will be standard. On the day it is probable that an alternative (short) course will be offered to competitors who do not wish to run the long-O courses.

Sprint-O. Finishing times are 50% of standard. Legs are shorter than in a standard colour-coded event. Good rhythm and slick control work is needed for a good final placing.

Night-O. Orienteering in the dark with headlamps. Restricted vision increases technical difficulty. (Hint to competitors: Take paths where possible and always use an attack point). For safety/ insurance reasons competitors must be at least 16 years of age before being allowed to compete.

Mass-Start-Butterfly. A colour course is typically broken into six segments from which three loops are made up. Competitors complete all segments but in different sequences. There are 36 possible permutations of ways to run all six segments. First past the post wins. The format is spectator friendly and offers high-speed racing.

Cross-Country/ Score Combination. A score event contained within a standard X-country course. Event formats can vary. In the Swiss 6-Day (1996) the middle third of the race consisted of seven controls, any five of which had to be visited. In Day 2 of the 1997 Shamrock O-Ringen four designated controls could be visited in any order.

Park-O. Usually organized in urban parkland, Park-O has been chosen by the IOF as a vehicle to promote orienteering worldwide in an effort to get the sport into the summer Olympics. Features of a Park-O event include intense media promotion and short courses set in technically undemanding terrain, which require lung-searing effort for a high finishing position. In the league it is likely that there will be one common course for all colours except ORANGE and YELLOW, with an expected winning time of 12- 15 minutes (for BLACK course competitors).

Street-O. Orienteering presented at a sizzling pace on an urban street map… this season in the Clontarf area, Dublin. Course lengths are likely to range from 15k (BLACK) downwards.

Seasons 2000- 2001 and 2001- 2002. Shape your future. Let us all know what you want out of Leinster orienteering (or orienteering in general). What type of events do you want to organize and participate in? Options include maintaining the status quo (mix of standard and alternative foot events), or returning to the format we had previously (standard X-country events), or running two leagues – one for standard events – the other for alternative events, or the re-introduction of what used to be called Grade 1 events (courses by age-classification), or some other combination of formats. The possibilities are endless.

Any suggestions to the Technical Officer LOC or directly to the Irish orienteering newsgroup by 30Nov99. (Email: irish-orienteering@egroups.com). It is expected that between 4- 6 options will be selected by the LOC and be put to the Leinster Clubs for their vote early in Y2K.