Backwoods Orienteering Klub is proud to host a registered event as part of the International Orienteering Federation’s World Orienteering Week (WOW) taking place May 17-25, 2025. This global celebration connects thousands of orienteers and newcomers across more than 70 countries, all participating in their local communities while being part of something truly international. Read more about WOW here:
https://worldorienteeringweek.com/

We will have an OPEN event at Umstead Park (South) on Sunday, May 25, 2025.
This is also a Radio Orienteering event with a classic 2m course.

Exit at Harrison Avenue off I-40 and drive into Umstead Park. Registration will be in the large shelter along the Company Mill trail northwest of the parking area. (GPS = 35.838133, -78.760707)

The event starts at 10.30 am and everybody must finish by 2.00 pm.
We will have all regular courses from beginner to expert, White through Blue. Expert courses will have a remote start.

Course Lengths:
White 1.5km
Yellow 2.6km
Orange 3.3km
Brown 3.7km
Green 5.7km
Red 7.3km
Blue 8.8km

Registration will close Saturday morning.

We will have a beginners Q&A session for regular orienteering as needed starting at 11:30. There will not be beginner instruction for radio orienteering.

If you are new to orienteering we recommend that you check out these short videos to prepare for the event.

• An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24) This class video includes the information in the following two videos:
• An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
• An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)

We will use Livelox so you can see your route on the map after the event along with everyone else on your course. This is great both because you can learn a lot about route choice, and fun to see how others’ choices affected their run. The easiest way to use Livelox is to download the Livelox app to your phone. Then when you start open the app on your phone and click “Start Recording”. Then after the event, at 2:00, the event will be published on Livelox.com and you can select your “Class” which is the same as your course. Then you will be offered the event to choose so you can see your and everyone else’s routes. (You can also upload your route from your GPS watch.)

We had a fantastic turnout, over half the Radio Orienteers in the United States came to the event from as far away as Oregon, and almost everyone ran all four events. I set up the event while I had Covid, and was finally negative the morning of the event. Saturday we had 80m, Sprint, and […]

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Spring 2025 Beginner Radio Orienteering Class Results

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We are well into the peak of pollen season here in North Carolina, so clouds of the yellow stuff were blowing out of the trees and many runners emerged from the largely pine forest covered in it. But the temperatures were perfect for running, the forecasted rain held off, and the woods were still open […]

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Half-Life Score-O

Join us for a Score-O event at the New Hope Overlook section of Jordan Lake on Sunday March 30. In this event, your goal is to collect as many points as possible within the allotted time. There is no set route—you can visit the controls in any order you choose.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Special Twist: “Half-Life” Controls
Some controls on the course will be designated as “half-life” controls, meaning their point values will decrease over time. To maximize your score, visit these controls as quickly as possible. These will be denoted as “1/2” on the control description

Event Timing and Rules

• Map Handout starts at 10:00 and you can use as much time as you want to plan your route
• Start Time: Anytime after 10:00 AM (but you must finish by 2:00)
• Time Limit: You have 2 hours from your start time or until 2:00 PM, whichever comes first.
• Maps will be printed at 1:10000 on an 11×17 (tabloid) sheet. These can be folded in half to fit in a standard map cover

Late Penalty
If you return after your 2-hour limit or after 2:00 PM, you will be penalized 3 points per minute, beginning immediately after the deadline.

Control pickup will begin promptly at 2:00, and help with pickup would be appreciated.

Registration will close at 5pm Friday, March 28. 10am Saturday March 29

There is no entrance fee required at the park.

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2M Radio-O

Alongside the regular score orienteering course, BOK is offering a 2m Classic radio orienteering course. This course is meant for experienced radio orienteers and beginner instruction will not be available.

The courses will open soon after 10am to keep time with the score-O and we need you to be done by 2pm so that pickup can begin.

This is a classic 2m course with the goal of making it as much like a championship course as the narrowness of New Hope Overlook allows. The exclusion zone will be 600m instead of the normal 750m, but all controls will be at least 450m from each other.

The courses as designed are

• Short – controls 2 3 5 with an effective length of 4.2km
• Medium – controls 2 3 4 5 with an effective length of 4.9km
• Long – controls 1 2 3 4 5 with a effective length of 6.3km

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED