Trail Cousins: Canicross and Orienteering

As we runners are well aware, we are not the only trail users out there. Much like vehicles must "share the road" with cyclists, we occupy the same space as horseback riders, mountain bikers, hikers, and even (as we discovered last Tuesday) mushroom hunters. 
With common roots in the trail, we always have a way to bond with those who choose a different recreation on Turkey. However, there are additional sports that are not as common in Tulsa, but have very similar origins and methods to trail running. 

Canicross

Canicross is actually a practice that many of our TOTs members are using; it is trail racing with dogs. With origins in off-season training for sled dogs, Canicross is a very popular sport in the UK and Europe, but is a very niche sport here in the USA. 

Brian Thomas, founder of the Kenosha Running Company, Inc, is also a founding member of Canicross USA. The group puts on combined trail and canicross races. " We start our trail events with Canicross participants, and ten minutes later we start our two-legged registrants on the same course," he explains in the American Trail Running Article, " Canicross: Trail Racing with Your Four-Legged Friend". 

​Brian notes that the major differences between trail running with a dog and without one are the speed, the mentality, and the gear. The added pull of the dog will increase your speed, so you and your furry team member will need to compromise and train at a new pace. The need to give commands to your dog, who will likely be ahead of you, requires a higher level of awareness to upcoming trail markers and directions. (If any of you have heard me giving my blind dog, Uno, terrain commands, you'll know this can be trickier than expected!). Finally, canicross requires harness both both the dogs and the human handler, as well as a bungee leash that can flex with minor distance and speed changes. 

There is no formal group for Canicross in the Tulsa area. You can find an official list of Canicross USA chapters here. 

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Orienteering 

Orienteering is essentially the love-child of trail running and chess. The goal of an orienteering event is to navigate back-country terrain in an attempt to complete a point-to-point course in the shortest amount of time. Along the way, racers must hit controls, using only a map and compass to find their way. (Think the Barkley, but with mildly more organization.) 

Orienteering originates in Sweden in the 1800s as a form of military training, and eventually spread as an organized sport. The overseeing organization, the International Orienteering Federation, was established in 1961, and the sport now culminates in the World Orienteering Championship every year. 

Racers are banned from the race terrain for an extended amount of time before the race. The host group may allow "model" runs in nearby or similar areas, but the race locations are kept isolated and secret. The role of "race director" is referred to as the "mapmaker", and just like their running cousins, each mapmaker has their own style. To support a sense of fairness, racers are set off in intervals, to ensure no one follows another racer. 

A truly accomplished orienteerer can "end up doing math in your head, at high speed and under oxygen debt," making decisions about routes and distances, Ross Smith, a World Orienteering Championship participant explained in the Runner's World article, "Orienteering: The Original Obstacle Race." 

Oklahoma does not have an orienteering club; the nearest group is the ARK-LA-TEX Orienteering Society out of Benton, Louisiana. You can contact them via email here. 

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