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Orienteering Urban #2 - 2019

3 January 2019
Orienteering Urban Event #2 at The Campus, Bryanston.


The morning started a bit later than normal due to the MyRun that happens at the Campus every Sunday at 8am. Luckily the weather was cooler than normal, which made for some pleasant running.
Mentally I was more ready for this event than St Johns, simply because I prefer the layout of the buildings and the detail is not as intricate - I battle with buildings simply because my mind can't seem to read ahead or plan quickly enough through technical legs.
I started at 10am - I had the option of 9:56 but preferred to start a few minutes behind Heather and not just ahead of. I was 1 minute ahead of Michaela.

Starting off, it was easy to see the direction to go to the first control, with some of the women like Jenny and Heather ahead of me. Also I saw Sarah Everett, Heather and Jenny coming back almost past the start shortly after they started, so I knew it was pretty much an out and back for the first control.
I was able to get into the map fairly quickly but didn't find my pace to begin with - I had just done a 8km on the trails at Rietfontein so my legs felt slightly fatigued.


  • Start > 1, I set off in the same direction as the other women, following the path between the buildings, following the path down to the bottom of the stairs.
  • 1 > 2, I went back the way I came, between the buildings, down the stairs and turning right under the canopy. I think going right of the building would have been a bit longer. 
  • 2 > 3, Straight forward leg, just following the path, turning right at the end of the building and down the side of the flower bed.
  • 3 > 4, I went back the same way I came in, around the flowerbed and cut across the parking area. Think it would have been quicker to continue down flowerbed to path and then straight across parking.
  • 4 > 5, I could see the control, went around leg of flower bed.
  • 5 > 6, I could see the control, straight to it.
  • 6 > 7, Went around to gate (there is a pathway infront of the building not marked on the map), ran around left of flowerbed to avoid climb, followed road to left of flowerbed.
  • 7 > 8, Through exit gate and up the hill, up the stairs and left at the road. Followed road to basement entrance.
  • 8 > 9, This is where Michaela caught me. Spent a few extra seconds orientating the map and trying to read the control description - It was difficult to see the numbers, so I memorized them in batches as my eyes adjusted to the basement lighting. I went to the left of the ramp and through the middle passage to 9.
  • 9 > 10, Back through passage, straight to 10.
  • 10 > 11, Straight, around right side of wall.
  • 11 > 12, Straight to ramp.
  • 12 > 13, Exited to the left of the ramp, running to the right of the wall/ building to 13.
  • 13 > 14, Straight down to control
  • 14 > 15, Ran to the left of the ramp, turning right up the ramp to 15.
  • 15 > 16, Exited ramp to the left (Michaela exited right). Ran around right side of wall/ building to control.
  • 16 > 17, After turning back from control, I decided to try out control flow, so I went to the left of the wall/ building #17 was on, so that I exited the control straight towards #18, instead of turning around.
  • 17 > 18, I went left around the ramp but used the same tactic as above, which was different from others I was with, I went right around the wall/ building and they went left.
  • 18 > 19, Straight to control. 
  • 19 > 20, Back out in the heat, it was the long leg. I decided to skip the navigating and use the time to read ahead, so I ran around on the road. Not sure if it would have been quicker to go in towards the finish and run between the buildings until the last parking area before the control. The control was easy to spot. I was able to close the gap on Michaela on this leg, and I also saw Heather punching the control.
  • 20 > 21, Quick leg, went left around the earth wall/ hedge.
  • 21 > 22, I went the same route as Heather, Michaela went down the first set of parking and I went down the next set of parking. We met up at the same point on the corridor. Left down the stairs and round the flowerbed to the control.
  • 22 > 23, Left around the flowerbed to the path, turning right, under the canopy and between the buildings. Turning left as we came out of the buildings, running to the right of the building on the other side of the road towards the control.
  • 23 > 24, I ran along the right side of the earth wall for a while before crossing over to the control. At this point we had caught Heather.
  • 24 > 25, Set off, aiming right of the impassable wall/ out of bounds, running along a bit of a slope towards the control.
  • 25 > 26, last of the long legs, it was a dice between 3 of us. Running along the road, before turning in through the first parking and left down the corridor between buildings. It was along here that I past Michaela. Turned left at the second set of stairs on the left hand side, towards control.
  • 26 > 27, Heather setting the pace, Turning back, along left fork of path, joining the path briefly before turning right towards the last control. 
  • 27 > Finish, Follow path towards field and sprint to the finish control. Couldn't quite catch Heather at the end.




I was happy that we only had 8 short controls before going into the basement. The basement section was my favorite, it was fast, flat and quick easy navigation. Overall I found that it was my type of course, navigation was good, variety of running legs and easier to determine route choices. I think if Michaela had not caught me I might not have run so hard, but I enjoyed the competition and pushing myself normally than I am prepared to. Finished 3rd overall. Unfortunately my garmin does not like basements, so my route and distance did not come through for those legs.




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Location: Main Rd, Bryanston, Midrand, 2191, South Africa

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