A quick guide to Micr-O at the OK Nuts Trophy Event

 

Background:

Micr-O is a variation on traditional orienteering developed in Norway over the last few years in conjunction with Norwegian television broadcaster TV2. Its main aim is to give greater spectator interest to onlookers (assuming a big screen is available) and hence to media too. However, it’s an exciting development in its own right and has great competitor interest as a result, and is ideally suited to runner-centred events too.

The first major event incorporating Micr-O was the Middle race at this year’s Nordic Championships (see http://www.noc2005.org/micr-O_description.pdf for complete details) and it has recently been agreed that the Middle Final at next year’s WOC will include a Micr-O section too. It is highly likely that the Rules for Micr-O for WOC2006 will be simplified from those used at NOC2005, and the Esher event will be planned using the current draft IOF Rules, modified to exclude penalty loops.

 

What will happen at the Esher M/W21L courses?

Runners start their courses as normal and the first few controls will be conventional orienteering controls. Part way around the course will be an intermediate Finish (no. 5 in example above) which denotes the end of the traditional section and the start of the Micr-O section. At this point, runners turn over the map to reveal the Micr-O section, where the Start is shown by the same (normal) control at the end of part one.

The Micr-O map is a specially (Jon Musgrave) surveyed map, drawn to 1:5000 scale and with 2.5 m contour interval, and containing more detail than the 1:10000 race map. It will show five Micr-O controls (there are only four in the example above, 6 -9), each identified by a circle and control number in the usual fashion. However, what are not shown are the dummy controls which are placed in the vicinity of each normal control and which define the navigational challenge provided by Micr-O. None of the Micr-O controls, whether real or dummy, are labelled with control codes and all are provided with flags and SI boxes, thereby being indistinguishable except by correct navigation.

The aim of each runner is to navigate correctly to each control as marked on the map and punch it, just as in normal orienteering. However, unlike normal orienteering, an incorrect punch does not lead to disqualification but causes a penalty time to be added to the runner’s race time. The penalty time will be 30 seconds.

The last control of the Micr-O section (no. 9 in the example) is where the runner turns over the map to return to the rest of the course, starting from the same control which ends the Micr-O section on the 1:10000 map (no. 9 again). The course is then completed normally.

There is no time gap between the normal and Micr-O sections, i.e. they should be run continuously.

 

Micr-O control types

  • Every correct Micr-O control will be hung on a mapped feature
  • Every dummy Micr-O control will be hung on a mapped feature
  • Dummy controls and the correct control will form a “cluster” of controls, one of which is correct.
  • Dummy controls may be hung on similar features close to the correct control
  • Dummy controls may be hung on the same feature as the correct control. Where this is done, the dummy control has to subtend an angle at the feature of greater than 90۫° compared to the correct control. For example, if the correct flag is on knoll NW side, no dummy flag can be closer than the NE side or SW side of the same knoll. Runners are advised to read control descriptions carefully!
  • The correct control and the dummy controls may all be placed on the same linear feature. They will be separated by at least 10 m and there will be a mapped attack feature no more than 20 m from the correct control.
  • The first and last controls in the Micr-O section will be normal controls, i.e. no dummy controls nearby.

 

Control Descriptions

Every control, whether it be Micr-O or normal, will have a control number and a control description. However, there will be no control codes for Micr-O controls on the control description sheet, neither will these be shown on the control sites on the ground.

Example showing control descriptions for three Micr-O controls and one normal control (13):

 

Penalties

  • Failure to punch correctly at the correct control in a Micr-O cluster is punished by one time penalty
  • Punching correctly and also incorrectly in a Micr-O cluster is punished by one time penalty, i.e. there is no point in realising you’ve mispunched and then try to correct this by punching correctly as you will be penalised anyway.
  • Failure to punch at any control within a Micr-O cluster will be punished by disqualification, just as it would in the normal part of the course.
  • There is a maximum of one time penalty per Micr-O cluster

 

David May – revised November 2005