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FeedSummer Fun Starters
We profile four local bastions of entertainment.
Photos by Jared Castaldi Published May 26, 2009 at 01:07 PM
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Finding the Way
Wyatt Riley has protection on his legs but not his arms—and he feels it as he finishes the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association’s Long-O Championships at Upper Perkiomen Valley County Park: “Ouch! Ouch!”
A few minutes later, his wife, Angelica, arrives. True orienteers, the Rileys analyze their course maps. “You didn’t see me?” Wyatt asks. “I was 100 meters behind you.”
Angelica figures she made eight minutes worth of mistakes. “You try to save time by going fast, but then you miss things,” she says. “Sometimes you just run too fast, and your brain can’t follow.”
Then she notices the scrapes from the briars.
“Blood, blood everywhere!” she says. “Oh, look, you hit stuff, too.”
“I’m not damaged enough,” her husband says. “I didn’t run hard enough.”
The Rileys are dressed in matching red, white and blue DVOA running suits, hinting at their reigning status on the U.S. Orienteering Team. Five men and five women represent the country every year at the World Championships.
The two met 12 years ago at an event near West Point, N.Y. They married, moved to the West Coast, then to Chesterbrook for the DVOA orienteering schedule. The club in California wasn’t competitive enough.
For the uninitiated, orienteering is a cross-country race through the woods on a course devised by someone else. Participants are armed with a map, a compass, a Sports Identification Card for checkpoints, and a burning desire to finish first. Started in Sweden, the sport is now international.
DVOA has some 35 local events a year that span beginner to advanced courses, and another 10 that feature courses to attract newcomers. A typical run is 5.5 kilometers. At an average of 10 minutes per kilometer, a participant can finish in just under an hour. There’s a three-hour time limit, after which organizers worry about your whereabouts.
Orienteering is most popular from early March through June, then again from September to December. In July and August, there’s a meet every other weekend, rather than weekly.
To train, the Rileys run daily cross-country trails from their house to Valley Forge National Historical Park. Angelica calls it a “big hobby” since it isn’t a professional sport and lacks sponsorship. They spend all their time training, and all their money on travel and competitions. Angelica was a 1998 U.S. champion, finishing in the top three multiple times. Wyatt’s best finish is third in the U.S. Championships.
Longwood Gardens has an orienteering course and hosts summer camps. Kathy Gates at the Baldwin School hosts an orienteering outing in the fall, and there’s a permanent course at Ridley Creek State Park. Each April in Villanova, the Willows has a meet. In the corporate world, the sport is used for inter-office bonding; Narberth’s Team Concepts offers an orienteering program in its repertoire, for example.
Interestingly enough, DVOA received an inquiry from TV’s Survivor, which is searching for a mature orienteering woman with a family who competes at an elite level. Angelica Riley, a mother of two, would be a perfect fit. Seven-year-old AJ can already orienteer on his own. Oriana, 6, is still learning.
“It’s all a compliment in a sport that’s not well known,” says DVOA administrator Mary Frank. “But don’t forget. This is also about an ability worth having—the ability to read a map.”
To learn more, call (610) 792-0502 or visit dvoa.org.
