Hanover
Owens was one of 17 participants on Wednesday in Hanover — with more than 75,000 expected worldwide — competing in World Orienteering Day, a celebration of the navigational sport that requires map-and-compass use across often wide-ranging terrain.
Some aim for speed, gunning for bragging rights or prize money in a sport that has roots at Dartmouth.
The Dartmouth Outdoor Programs office claims the college was home to the first North American orienteering events 76 years ago, and last September, the school co-hosted the North American Orienteering Championships at Storrs Pond Recreation Area and Oak Hill, on campus and at Burnt Mountain in Lebanon.
Dartmouth — one of about 1,500 locations around the world that hosted a World Orienteering Day event — set up a pair of “sprint” courses entirely on campus.
One was 1.7 kilometers and featured 14 checkpoints west of the Dartmouth Green. The other had nine additional checkpoints, or controls, and ventured east of the Green to mimic a 3.2-kilometer course set up during the North American championships.
Owens finished the latter course in 20 minutes, 46 seconds. He needed to use his compass only once, but he slowed down several times to re-evaluate surroundings he couldn’t quite recall from his days as a Dartmouth engineering student.
“You wouldn’t think anywhere you spent four years would be confusing, but there’s been some development,” said Owens, a 1990 graduate who now teaches outdoor education at Sterling College in Craftsbury, Vt.
“There are a couple places I remember as open areas where I had to say, ‘OK, there’s a building there now.’ ”
Dartmouth Outdoor Programs deputy director Brian Kunz helped stage Wednesday’s event, hoping it might allow students and employees to explore on-campus areas it perhaps wasn’t familiar with.
That was the case for Student Wellness Center colleagues Tong Fei and Ben Bradley, who walked the shorter course together. While they could have cut through Dartmouth’s cemetery to the first control from the start at Robinson Hall, Fei and Bradley instead strolled down Tuck Drive and onto the campus of the Thayer School of Engineering.
“I never really come down here,” said Bradley, a White River Junction resident and wellness center program coordinator. “It’s a whole new side to campus.”
It took 22 minutes for the pair to find the initial control near one of the entrances to Thayer’s MacLean building. The rest came in more rapid succession.
“Found it! Down in the corner!” said Fei while discovering the second control behind another Thayer building. “There! There! There!” she exclaimed while heading toward the fourth one near the top of a granite staircase.
Bradley needed to bow out at this point and, seeing that other orienteers were joining the fray and hustling, Fei suddenly got a boogie in her step.
“OK, this is starting to get competitive,” she said, he saunter increasing to light jog.
Dartmouth senior Andrea Price was seen moving at a steady clip to help inspire Fei’s momentum. Price participated in numerous orienteering events during high school in Bellevue, Wash., but none since.
“It’s been about five years,” Price said. “I had to come out when I saw this was happening.”
Sophomores Sam Kocin and Jade Smith partnered up to take on one of the courses after Kocin read an email promoting it.
“I was in the library when I saw it, and I said, ‘That sounds better than wasting a nice day inside,’ ” said Kocin, who had also done several orienteering events while in high school.
Adrian Owens’ son, Kestrel Owens, is a member of the U.S. Ski Orienteering junior team and thought of Wednesday’s course in Hanover as an offseason training run. Owens’ wintry version of the sport places athletes on cross country skis while navigating.
“I love orienteering, because it’s physical, but you also have to use your brain,” said Kestrel Owens, who walked Wednesday’s course and finished in 34:52. “You’re always trying to optimize the way you plan the route as you go.”
While the sport’s origins are in forested and wild areas, developed settings such as downtown Hanover have been gaining popularity.
Urban courses are a hit particularly in Europe, where they might lay amid ancient architecture or historic structures.
Mary Jo Childs, who joined her husband, Carl, in helping to manage the registration area outside Robinson Hall on Wednesday, has grown to appreciate the style.
“At first a lot of people were skeptical about orienteering in urban areas, but now (the events have) kind of taken on a life of their own,” Mary Jo Childs said. “They can still be quite challenging because you’ve got this intervening network, a maze of buildings and walkways that adds a lot of complexity to it. There are a lot of decisions to make.
“In the U.S., they tend to be mostly on college campuses. In Europe you might be running down a cobblestone street and then find yourself on the stairs of an old castle. In 2013 (Carl and I) did one in Genoa (Italy), which I believe is the oldest port city in Europe. It was great fun.”
According to the Dartmouth Outdoor Programs office, the first North American orienteering events were organized by Dartmouth physical education instructor and ski coach Piltti Heiskanen in 1941. On the 75th anniversary of those events, last September’s North American Orienteering Championships drew about 500 competitors from the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.