The Orienteering Map Race or OMR, in short, is the Inaugural School Orienteering Championship targeted at the students from the various schools and institutes in Singapore.
Held on the morning of 30th May 2015, it was the day before the June School Holidays and students fresh from their Mid-Year exams reported early at Northbrooks Secondary School (Host for OMR 2015).
This race saw students from a wide variety of age groups from the youngest group of Under 12 (U12), to the U14, U16 and finally the U21. The different age profiles saw them competing at various running distances and challenges within Yishun Park and its surrounding areas. The younger ones took some guidance from their watchful teachers before they figured out the map while the older students breezed through this aspect and competed with their peers in terms of physical ability and the best route advancement.
As this year?s race was the first time ever that such an event is organised for the National Schools, the participants were also given a mandatory Warm up training and lesson on the fundamentals of Map-reading. This short session proved fruitful for most of the students as it served as a useful recap of these navigational skills that their own teachers have taught in their Outdoor Education (OE) lessons.
Each pair of runner took an average of 30 minutes to complete their race which was a fairly good time across all categories.
The takeaway point for this activity is for students in the National Schools to try out the sport of Orienteering and we hope that in the coming time to come, it would become a national sport featured across all schools.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Northbrooks Secondary School for the kind provision of their school as the hosting venue and Nparks for their support in the usage of Yishun Park.