It was whilst wandering round between the showers in a Maize Maze near Cambridge with some friends a coupl
e of months ago that Cath came up with the idea of Maize Maze Orienteering. There are Maize Mazes up & down the country set up by entrepreneurial farmers looking for an alternative income to crops. Some mazes are quite straightforward, others are more tricky and there are a number of professionals who design the maizes for the farmers, too. The mazes also provide rudimentary maps which can act as a base map for foot orienteering.
Tuesday was the ‘warm up’ and ‘shakedown’ event before a full blown event in a few weeks time. Walton Chasers runs a Domination series throughout the summer for its club members. It takes the form of a league that covers all the main disciplines of Orienteering : Sprint, Score, Classic, Cross Country Running. This years sprint was the Maize Maze.
I started really well and was very pleased with the way I was running, however then came a lesson in concentration. I discovered a SI box that was programed incorrectly and after running back to the finish with it I then blew the next 4 controls finally accidentally missed two out – Muppet.
Many were sceptical about this novel new form of orienteering but everyone can back saying it was one of the most intense orienteering experiences they had ever done.
see http://www.maize-maze.com/ for your nearest Maize maze, which are normally also a great family day out !
The ‘real’ event is on the 3rd OCT – see advert right