The first part of this page contains information about the Middle and Long Distance races. The second part contains information for the Knock-Out Sprint.
Middle and Long Race Details
Location, Transportation and Parking
The Middle and Long events both take place at The Ark, a privately owned property, whose owner has given us permission to map and orienteer on his land. Please be respectful of the goodwill of our host!
The location is on Chemin to Farrellton, Denholm QC. https://goo.gl/maps/d3P4XcMomhuKNohr8. The street address is 285 Chemin de Farrellton. The recommended route is Highway 5 to Wakefield, north on Highway 105 along the river for 10 km, cross the river at Farrellton, turn left immediately after crossing the bridge, follow Chemin Newcommon for 1 km, turn left and follow Chemin Kelly for 4 km, then right on Chemin de Farrellton for 2km.
Unfortunately public transportation is not an option for this site. Carpooling is encouraged. Parking will be on the east side ONLY of the dirt road, both north and south of the property.
Important Times
| Saturday Middle | Sunday Long | |
|---|---|---|
| Registraton / Info Desk Opens | 09:30 | 09:00 |
| Start Window | 11:00 - 12:15 | 10:00 - 11:00 |
| Course Time Limit | 2 hours | 3 hours |
| Course CLosing Time | 14:15 | 14:00 |
Middle Event Course and Class Table
| Middle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Map Scale | 1:7,500 | 1:7,500 | 1:7,500 | 1:10,000 | 1:7,500 | 1:7,500 | 1:10,000 | 1:10,000 |
| Length (km) | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
| Climb (m) | 40 | 50 | 110 | 120 | 90 | 160 | 190 | 290 |
| Controls (#) | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Water controls (#) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Classes |
F10- M10- |
F12- M12- Novice |
F14- M14- F16-S M16-S |
F16- M16- Intermdeiate |
F75+ F80+ F85+ F90+ M75+ M80+ |
F18- F21S F45+ F55+ F65+ M21S M65+ |
F20- F21 F35+ M18- M45+ M55+ |
M20- M21 M35+ |
Long Event Course and Class Table
| Long | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Map Scale | 1:7,500 | 1:7,500 | 1:10,000 | 1:10,000 | 1:7,500 | 1:7,500 | 1:10,000 | 1:10,000 |
| Length (km) | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 9.9 |
| Climb (m) | 90 | 160 | 180 | 170 | 190 | 300 | 380 | 580 |
| Controls (#) | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 21 |
| Water controls (#) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Classes |
F10- M10- |
F12- M12- Novice |
F14- M14- F16-S M16-S |
F16- M16- Intermediate |
F75+ F80+ F85+ F90+ M75+ M80+ |
F18- F21S F45+ F55+ F65+ M21S |
F20- F21 F35+ M18- M45+ M55+ |
M20- M21 M35+ |
Starts
The start is 250 metres from the arena on Saturday and is within 100 metres of the arena on Sunday.
Middle: The start on Saturday for the Middle event will follow the standard 3 minute call-up procedure (detailed information is available in Bulletin 2).
Long: The start on Sunday will be a Chase Start. For the top "X" competitive participants on each course, the start list is created such that the winner of Saturday's Middle starts first, and each person thereafter starts behind the Middle winner, by the number of seconds that they were behind on Saturday. So if second place is 12 seconds behind the winner in the Middle, they will start 12 seconds later on Sunday. This means that the first person across the finish line of each course on Sunday is the winner of the combined Saturday-Sunday event.
The less competitive / more recreational participants who aren't out to win will have the opportunity to start with one person every minute, to avoid huge gaps in the start list and long waits to start.
For the Long event, start times will be posted here on Saturday evening.
Course Setter's Notes
Welcome to this lovely forest amongst scenic farm fields and gravel roads in Denholm, a municipality in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, Quebec. Be prepared for fun, physically challenging and technical terrain. For more information about the terrain, please see Mapper Jeff’s notes below.
General Notes:
• A small part of this forest is a sugar bush so you will encounter maple syrup tubing, some spanning quite high, but in rare cases at your knee level. We flagged these with orange flagging tape if these were in areas of obvious o-traffic.
• On some courses you will encounter broken barbed wire fences, again we flagged these to prevent tripping and running into it as much as possible.
• The landowner has a few access routes that they use but are not used frequently enough or cleared so they are not marked as trails. These routes may be marked with red caution tape - generally hanging as ribbons in the trees along the route.
• The landowner has left some purple pin-flags along some faint trails as well as along what may have been trails at one time. These flags should be ignored.
On Course 1, we used orange flagging tape to indicate a trail that may be less visible. On the Long Course 1, there will be a 45m section flagged to help runners connect from one trail to another. This will be clearly marked on the map and on the control description, but please tell your young peeps about this. Explain to them what flagging looks like as many may have not encountered this in a competition.
Middle distance courses use much of the northwest part of the map. There are various single track trails winding through part of this section. Some of these trails were used for a trail running race recently and so the trail network visibility may vary depending on the recent usage. There will be many controls out there, so check your codes.
Long distance takes advantage of most of the map especially for longer courses. The long distance offers physically challenging hilly terrain. Some sections may have slower runnability, but the cliffs, reentrants, boulders, rootstocks and marshes are lovely and worth the climb.
-Have fun! Marketa and Peter
Mapper's Notes
Coming in at 3 square km of pristine mature forest ‘The Ark’ consists of a mix of crown and private land including the eponymous property ‘The Ark’. While the terrain does have some large glacial erratic boulders and plenty of large cliffs it is not the super rocky terrain of Gatineau Park and elsewhere that Ottawa is known for. What rocks are on the map are generally quite large or significant. In fact, while the terrain is quite physical, that is due entirely to the steep slopes and large hills that dominate much of the forest. The footing is otherwise gentle and the vegetation is very open forest. With the exception of some old logging history in some corners of the map the forest is all old growth deciduous and hemlock forest and there is little green on the map. In those sections that were logged (clearly many decades ago) the forest is a little bit slower. Vegetation has been lightly mapped though so even the areas mapped as white are not always 100% speed. Scattered light green is a good indication the forest in the area is generally a little bit slower and visibility a little bit lower. There are a number of single-track trails, ATV trails, and old logging cuts throughout the map. These are all minimally used and therefore may look different at different times of the year depending on whether someone last went up the path the past week or several months prior. These tracks have been mapped to be representative of what they typically look like with the idea that the map can’t be updated every time a vehicle is driven through the woods. Bear that in mind when orienteering. Water features have been similarly mapped with many small pools of water being mapped as seasonal (a dashed blue outline) where there is water in the spring but they appear simply as low wet spots on race day. The terrain is perfect Goldilocks terrain – not too technical, not too easy, on average not too steep but not too flat, nice open forests, and beautiful scenery. It should be a ton of fun. - Jeff Teutsch, mapper
More Tidbits of Information
Touchless timing is enabled for the Middle and Long races, for those with SIAC timing chips.
Clothing and other items left at the start can be picked up again at the same location, as it is only 100 metres from the arena.
Portable toilets are available on site, between the arena and the start.
Everyone should remember to do a tick check after each event. There are ticks in the area.
The O-Store will be set up on site.
Class Selection
Age Class Races
If you are registering in the Age Class Races, and you are under 21 you are permitted to "race up" if you wish. For instance, if you are a 15 year old male, you can register in M16-, M20- or M21. If you are 35 or over, you can "race down" if you wish. For instance a 47 year old female can register in F45+, F35+ or F21. Anyone between 21 and 34 years old has no choice in the age class. They will be in F21 or M21, with the exception of the "short" option. M16-S, F16-S, M21S and F21S are somewhat shorter ("S" stands for "short") than their counterpart courses to give an option for people who do not want to tackle the full length of their age class course.
Note that you will be required to race in the same class in both the Middle and the Long events to qualify for awards, since they are based on total combined time for the two days.
Short Courses
If your age class course is longer than you would like, we offer "S" (for short) options for some age classes.
If you are in one of the age classes listed in the table below, you can register for the Short course option as indicated. Note that there are no awards for the "S" classes, but it does give you the opportunity to participate at your personal level of comfort.
| Course | Age Class | Short Course |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | M21, M20-, M18- | M21S |
| 2 | F21, F20- | F21S |
| 3 | M16- | M16-S |
| 4 | F16- | F16-S |
Recreational Courses
If you are registering in the Recreational Courses, you can select either the Novice or the Intermediate course.
The Novice course will be completely on trails, with controls along the trail - if you have never orienteered or have no experience map reading, this is a great place to start.
The Intermediate course will add a little more challenge with making decisions on route choices but there will be trails and other linear features to help keep you orientated.
Note: If this is your first big meet you may want to read this description of how it differs from a casual non-competitive event. It will also give you greater detail about your class options.
Course Descriptions
It is sometimes helpful to have a feel for the length of the courses when deciding whether to race in your age class, or to race "up" or "down" or select an "S" course. It may also be helpful in selecting the recreational course that is right for you. The following table offers approximate values and should assist in your decision making. Actual course data (length, number of controls, climb and map scale) can be seen in the tables above.
The age classes and Technical Difficulty levels and recommended winning times (RWTs) assigned to each course are as per Orienteering Canada's Course and Category Guidelines (updated March 2020).
|
Middle Distance (Saturday) |
Long Distance (Sunday) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course |
Technical Difficulty Level |
RWT* (min) | Length (km) | RWT* (min) |
Length (km) |
| 1 | 1 - Beginner | 20-25 | 1.5 to 2.0 | 30-35 | 2.0 to 3.0 |
| 2 | 2 - Novice | 20-25 | 2.0 to 2.5 | 30-35 | 2.5 to 3.5 |
| 3 | 3 - Intermediate | 20-25 | 2.5 to 3.0 | 30-35 | 3.5 to 4.5 |
| 4 | 3- Intermediate | 25-30 | 2.5 to 3.0 | 50-55 | 4.5 to 5.5 |
| 5 | 4 - Veteran | 30-35 | 2.0 to 3.0 | 45-50 | 3.0 to 4.0 |
| 6 | 5 - Expert & Elite | 30-35 | 3.0 to 4.0 | 50-55 | 4.0 to 5.5 |
| 7 | 5 - Expert & Elite | 30-35 | 4.0 to 5.0 | 60-70 | 6.0 to 8.0 |
| 8 | 5 - Expert & Elite | 30-35 | 4.5 to 5.5 | 80-90 | 9.0 to 12.0 |
*RWT = Recommended Winning Time
Start Lists
The start list is now published in pdf format. Sunday (Chase Start Long) start lists will be posted on Saturday evening, after the Middle course. It contains starts for Saturday Middle, Monday Knock-out Sprint and all three COC events.
And here are the starts for Sunday's Long Chase event.
Knock-Out Sprint Information
Participants in the Knock-Out Sprint are in for a treat as we will be using some of the best urban sprint terrain in the region for this event. There will be a co-ed sprint qualification race in the morning, followed by two 3-round Knock-Out (KO) Sprint tournaments for the fastest male and female qualifiers, plus a series of co-ed mass-start sprint races for everyone else (aka spectator races or consolation races) in the afternoon. The morning’s qualification heats will be contested along the banks of the historic Rideau Canal, a World Heritage Site, on a map that is being used in competition for the first time. In the afternoon the KO Sprint tournaments and the Consolation races (for those who do not advance to one of the knock-out tournaments) will be contested on the main campus of the University of Ottawa, Canada’s leading bilingual university. Both maps feature 1:4000 scale and 2.5m contours and both were extensively updated in July 2023 to reflect current conditions and conform to the latest ISSprOM standard.
The organizers would like to acknowledge and thank the landowners who have granted us permission to orienteer on their lands for the day, including the University of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission, the City of Ottawa, and the Ottawa-Carleton District School board. We also wish to acknowledge that these lands are un-ceeded Anishinabe Algonquin territory and honour and thank the peoples of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation that have lived on these lands and been stewards of the land for millennia. Their culture and presence have nurtured and continue to nurture these lands. Let us all tread softly and leave no trace of our travels on the land.
Arena
The arena for the day is at Thompson Park adjacent to Copernicus St. (co-ords: 45.4235, -75.683) on the uOttawa campus, on the east side of the Rideau Canal. Washrooms are available inside the Jock Turcot University Centre, directly SW of Thompson Park. Enter level 0 of the Jock-Turcot Building directly from the arena and follow the map inside the door to locate the toilets. Participants are recommended to bring a camp chair and day-bag to the arena prior to their qualification run, then walk ~850m (flat) from Thompson Park to the qualification start (details below). Note that the entire uOttawa main campus except for the route to the remote start described below is out of bounds except to runners on course.
When the campus is open, food and drinks can be purchased inside the Jock-Turcot Centre, and at a food kiosk located beside Thompson Park on the west side of Copernicus St that specializes in Asian cuisine. We expect that the indoor shops and restaurants will be closed on Aug 7 because it is a statutory holiday. We have invited the owners of the food kiosk to open for us in the afternoon, however, we cannot guarantee that this will be the case.
Parking
A very good option for parking will be to use the parking garage below the City of Ottawa, where there is a flat rate of just $2 on statutory holidays. To reach the arena, exit the garage north to Laurier Street, then proceed east across the Laurier Bridge. Continue east on Laurier until the intersection with Copernicus St, then turn south and proceed along Copurnicus until reaching the arena on your right at Thompson Park (see map below). Distance is 950m and the route is flat. Please do not cut through the campus to shorten the route as you will be crossing out-of-bounds terrain.
Other parking options include the Rideau Centre (more expense and equidistant) and the Brooks Parkade on Thomas Moore Private (100m from the Arena but more expensive).
Central Ottawa and the uOttawa campus are also easily accessible by public transit and active transportation (cycling). If arriving by LRT, exit at the uOttawa station and proceed along the marked route described below to reach arena and/or the start for the qualification race.
Route from Arena to Qualification Race Start
The start and finish for the qualification race is located a 850m walk from the arena. From the arena, proceed south along Copernicus Street, then turn right onto Marie-Curie Private and proceed west towards the uOttawa LRT station. Cross under the station, cross Colonel By Drive, then turn right and proceed north to the Corktown pedestrian bridge. Cross the bridge to the west side of the canal and proceed north along Queen Elizabeth Driveway (should be closed to vehicles) to the intersection with Cooper St. The route is shown on the map below and will be marked with orange or pink ribbons. Please do not cut through the campus to shorten the route as you will be crossing out-of-bounds terrain.
Qualification Race Details
The competition area features a mix of buildings and urban parkland with many paths and sidewalks and a few paved plazas. Note that the competition area is a public space that is not entirely free of vehicles, although negligible traffic is expected during the race. The major roads that border and cross the competition area are marked on the map as out-of-bounds (purple hatching) and must not be crossed. Even though there are breaks in the purple hatching on the portion of the major bridges that are 2-level structures (can be passed beneath) the roadways on the bridge deck remain out-of bounds and must not be crossed! Some parts of the terrain are under construction, and these have been shown using solid pink shading (the temporary out-of-bounds symbol). Each participant is responsible for staying out of all out-of bounds areas and avoiding collisions with vehicles and pedestrians!
Participants will be pre-assigned to one of three qualification heats and will start at pre-assigned start times between 10:00 and approximately 10:45. A standard 3-step start proceedure will followed wherein each participant must report to the start officials 3 minutes prior to their actual start time. Please arrive at the start on time! There will normally be three runner’s starting at the same time, each on a different course. Each course is 2.1 km long (as the crow flies) with 20 controls and about 25m climb. Contactless punching will be enabled (SIAC or AIR+ system).
The top twelve men and women in each heat will advance to the KO Sprint tournaments, with their assignment into the quarter-final heats determined by their ranking in the qualification race. For everyone else, your ranking in the qualification race will determine your assignment to one of the afternoon’s mass-start Consolation races, with the goal of having participants with similar speeds/abilities competing head-to-head.
An official will be stationed at the finish to collect your map, record that you are off-course, and direct you to the download station at the arena. The qualification courses will close at 11:45. All participants must report to the finish (near Lisgar Collegiate) by 12:00.
After your run, proceed back to the arena following the same marked route described above. On arrival at the arena, visit the timing table to download your SI stick.
KO Sprint Race Details
The KO Sprint tournaments will follow the format used in recent World Cup events and World Championships. Both men’s and women’s tournaments will feature 36 participants and three rounds; 6 quarter-finals, 3 semi-finals and one final. All tournament races are mass-start with 6 runners competing head-to-head. The top 3 finishers in each quarter-final advance to the 3 semi-finals, where the top two in each semi-final advance to the six-person final. Qualifiers for the semi-finals will be assigned to one of the three semi-final heats based on their placing in the quarter final races. Any or all courses may include forking.
The uOttawa campus terrain features a dense assembly of buildings and many paved paths and sidewalks. Note that the competition area is a public space that is not entirely free of vehicles. The major roads that border the competition area are marked on the map as out-of-bounds and must not be crossed. There are also roads within the terrain that remain open, although negligible vehicle traffic is expected on these roads during the event. Some parts of the terrain are under construction, and these have been shown using solid pink shading (the temporary out-of-bounds symbol). Each participant is responsible for avoiding collisions with vehicles and pedestrians!
Start lists for the Consolation races and KO Sprint quarter-finals will be posted at the Arena following the conclusion of the qualification heats. The start and finish for the KO Sprint and Consolation races is at the Arena. All of the afternoon races are mass-start, with 6 or more participants starting at the same time and running the same course, although the courses may be forked such that not all participants visit the controls in the same sequence. All participants are responsible to report to the start officials 3 minutes prior to the start of their race.
The course properties are summarized in the following Table. Contactless punching will be enabled (SIAC or AIR+ system).
| Course | Distance | No. of controls | Climb |
| Men Quarter-Finel | 1.6km | 12 | 15m |
| Women Quarter-Final | 1.4km | 11 | 15m |
| Semi-final | 1.4km | 15 | 15m |
| Final | 1.5km | 14 | 15m |
The schedule of events will be roughly as follows...
| Time | Event | Comments |
| 10:00--10:45 | Qualification race starts | Individual starts with ~60s start interval |
| 12:00 | Qualification course closed | |
| 12:15 | Start lists posted for afternoon races | |
| 13:00-13:25 | KO Sprint quarter-final starts, men | 6 races with 5 minute start interval |
| 13:30-13:55 | KO Sprint quarter-final starts, women | 6 races with 5 minute start interval |
| 14:00-14:15 | Spectator race starts | Up to 10 races with 3 minute start interval |
| 14:30-14:40 | KO Sprint semi-final starts, men | 3 races with 5 minute start interval |
| 14:45-14:55 | KO Sprint semi-final starts, women | 3 races with 5 minute start interval |
| 15:15 | Spectator course closed | |
| 15:20 | KO Sprint final, men | |
| 15:30 | KO Sprint final, women | |
| 15:50 | KO Sprint Awards Ceremony |
Consolation/Spectator Race
Several mass-start consolation races will be run after the women’s quarter finals for those who did not advance to the KO Sprint tournaments. Placing in the qualification heats will be used to sort participants into several classes or groups based on speed/ability. All runners in each class will race head-to-head in one consolation race. See above under KO Sprint Races for a description of the terrain, the start location and start procedure. The Consolation course is 2.1km long (as the crow flies) with 20 controls and roughly 20m climb.
Awards
There will be a quick awards ceremony following the conclusion of the KO Sprint finals to honour the champions of our Knock-Out Sprint tournaments and the winner of each Consolation race.
Quick Review of New Sprint Mapping Symbols
Several new symbols were introduced in the latest version of the IOF Standard for Sprint Mapping (ISSprOM-2, Revision 5) to better depict complex 2-level urban structures, such as bridges. A 2-level structure is a structure where you can orienteer on both the lower and upper levels. You may encounter some of these new symbols on one or both of the competition maps. A very quick refresher is given below to help bring everyone up to speed.
| Symbol | Description |
 |
Known as “shark teeth”, this symbol denotes a tunnel entrance or the entrance of an underpass. Used to indicate the edge of the upper level of a 2-level structure; you can pass through the teeth on the lower level, but you cannot cross the teeth on the upper level. |
 |
This symbol is the opposite of the shark teeth; it indicates a solid boundary on the lower level of a 2-level structure. It can be crossed on the upper level, but not on the lower level. It is used for example to indicate the walls of an underpass or tunnel below an upper level. |
 |
Denotes a step or edge of paved area on the lower level of a 2-level structure. |
 |
The feature of the upper level of a 2-level structure (ie whether it is grass, pavement, a flower bed, a forest, or some other feature) is shown using a 2-colour stripe pattern comprised white and a colour, where the colour of every second stripe denotes the type of feature. In this example, the upper level is, from left to right, out-of-bounds, canopy, and forbidden area (also-out of-bounds).The feature on the lower level is typically not shown. |
 |
Uncrossable features in ISSprOM. It is forbidden to cross these features. |
Here are a few examples of these symbols in use. Example one shows the Corktown Bridge, a pedestrian bridge across the Rideau Canal near uOttawa and a milestone on the marked route between the arena and qualification race start. one may cross the bridge on foot and pass beneath it on each canal-bank. The mapper has assumed that there will be no orienteering on the canal surface, although it is frozen in winter and used to form the world’s longest skating rink.
Example two shows the Laurier Bridge across the Rideau Canal carrying a six-lane road and a pair of sidewalks In this case, the roadway on the bridge deck is out-of-bounds (indicated by the purple hatching) but the sidewalks may be used to cross the bridge. One can pass beneath the bridge on either canal bank. The striped areas denote the upper level of the portion of the bridge that is a 2-level structure, the shark teeth denote the edge of the upper level that you can cross beneath, and the tunnel symbol denotes the boundary of lower level on either canal bank.