Before sending a bunch of beginners into the woods with a map filled with hieroglyphics and after explaining that a whistle is mandatory in case they got hopelessly lost or attacked by a bear, volunteers from the Arctic Orienteering Club on Wednesday did an expert job of making their sport sound like, well, a walk in the park.
"You don't have to be a runner," explained race co-director Kathy Faryniarz. "I've had both hips replaced so I don't run, but I read a map well and I walk fast. But you don't have to be a runner."
"You can make it an event, or you can make it a race," affirmed Joyce Goodell, the other race director.
"You should always walk to No. 1," another veteran advised the beginners.
In orienteering, there is no walk of shame. Walking, jogging and running are all acceptable and, in fact, are all part of the game.
Orienteering is a cross-country race disguised as a treasure hunt, except the course is unmarked and sometimes not even on a trail, and there is no treasure. Unless you count the cookies and orange slices at the finish line.
The point of orienteering -- other than getting outside and doing something -- is to use a map to find a series of flagged markers, called controls, placed along an unmarked course.
You can move at any pace you please, and even if you choose to run, sometimes the terrain slows you to a walk. And sometimes you are required to stop -- either to consult your map to figure out where you are and where you should be, or to stamp your map with the puncher attached to each control, thereby proving that you found it.
Speed counts because a clock is running and times are being kept, but orienteering welcomes non-competitive participants. People can compete as individuals or as teams, and many of the teams include little kids.
Wednesday on the Alaska Pacific University campus, the Arctic Orienteering Club held its first meet of the season, an event that attracted a field ranging from great athletes like Alaska mountain running legend Bill Spencer to 5-year-old Talia Smith.
"We've been doing this since she was a couple weeks old," Linda Smith said after she and Talia completed their race. Still off in the woods were Smith's husband Cory and their 7-year-old son Hatcher.
Meets are held nearly every Wednesday at a variety of wooded locations like Far North Bicentennial Park and Kincaid Park. Each offers five color-coded courses geared for all levels of experience. The easiest and shortest courses are white and yellow. Then come orange, green and red, in that order. The red courses are the longest -- maybe five or six miles -- and have the most controls.
Beginners should plan on spending their first summer on the white and yellow courses, club member Eric Follett said.
"I think I was in the club for six years before I did a red one," he said.
Eric and his wife Jill provided the bulk of instruction Wednesday for a group of about 20 beginners.
They explained the map symbols that represent footpaths, knolls, depressions in the terrain and other features that help people find their way. Besides a map that shows where each control is, racers get a clue card that provides a hint about a control's location -- among the clues for the six controls on Wednesday's white course were "bend in trail," "man-made" and "rock."
The Folletts emphasized that orienteering is not necessarily a full-speed-ahead activity.
"When I first started, I was a runner and I would just sorta run out there and hope to find (the controls)," Jill Follett said. "My husband was a walker and he would beat me back.
"You can't just run out there and hope to find them."
First-time orienteer Maureen Peterson said she and two friends planned to walk their way through the white course but wound up running part of the way.
"Some of our other friends were ahead of us, so we had to beat them," she said.
A word of warning to those who think they can find controls simply following others: The person you follow might be doing a different course than you and may lead you to a control not on your map. Or they may get lost and take you with them.
Kurt Carlson, another of Wednesday's beginners, came to the race as part of a meet-up group but did the white course by himself, finishing in about 20 minutes.
"I was just trying to be self-reliant, to see if I know what I'm doing," he said.
But mostly, Carlson was looking for something fun to do outside.
"I was looking for an excuse to get out," he said. "I've been going to the gym for months and I'm tired of it, but I don't want to give up my fitness."
Smith said orienteering provides a great entrée to the outdoors.
"It's an easy way to get outside," she said. "Just show up on Wednesdays and someone will tell you which way to go."
Reach Beth Bragg at 257-4335 or bbragg@alaskadispatch.com.