About

Orienteering flags or other markers are set in a grid pattern and courses are made visiting each point in the specified order. If SI boxes are available to use you can check if the course was completed correctly.

Grid-O can be set up in the space you have available or use one of the set distances, either 7.5m, 10m or 15m between points. This gives the runner room to get to full speed, but still keeps the space needed small. Set up in any open field and you can keep track of personal or course records using the same setup anywhere. You can also set up barriers for Maze-O or overlay maps in terrain for added challenge.

Compared to String-O, a large number of courses can be made and run simultaneously with a range of difficulty all using the same setup. With Gird-O young orienteers start using a map to navigate and begin learning the fundamental skills they will need to acquire. Keeping the map oriented to the direction they are heading and rotating it as they turn, and practice at maintaining flow, always reading ahead on the course to know where to go next. The complexity increases as the courses get longer so they can move up as their navigational abilities progress. Challenge comes from overlapping legs and quick direction changes that are faced on Sprint courses and is also comparable to the challenges of Ski-O on a dense trail network where athletes need to make many quick decisions navigating trail junctions.

For older juniors and adults grid-o can be used to reinforce fundamentals as well as work on flow maintaining pace or memorizing a few legs of the course at a time.