Sports and outdoor enrichment company, Osportz proudly presents the largest orienteering race in Singapore this year – the Ubin Wayfinder 2015. In its third year running, the sporting event will take place on Sunday, 1 November 2015 at Pulau Ubin.
What is an orienteering race?
Dating back a century, orienteering is widely known as the sport for the “Thinking Runner”. Tapping into one’s physical and mental capabilities, it is a navigational sport that focuses on agility, endurance and concentration.
A more familiar term for an orienteering race is an amazing race or treasure hunt. Both have fundamentally similar concepts: to travel in unknown terrain in search for clues or checkpoints.
Recognised by the International Orienteering Federation, Osportz first brought the sport of orienteering to Singapore in 2013. Since then, they have done various urban orienteering events within local heartland areas.
Why Ubin Wayfinder?
This year’s Ubin Wayfinder will be Osportz’ biggest and first ever orienteering race on Pulau Ubin, one of the last remaining “Kampung” or village settlement on Singapore soil.
A new sporting experience combing both physical and mental development, it’s also a great way to bond with loved ones – 250 racers participated last year, with families and couples comprising of the majority. This year, the race is anticipating about 600 sign-ups, including professional international racers.
All racers will be entitled to a goodie bag, finisher medal, and racer tee.
Outdoor adventures galore!
There will be four categories:
- Ubin Open Solo (10 km) – Run and navigate alone. Recommended for experienced trail runners.
- Ubin Sprint Duo (8 km) – Run and navigate with a partner of the same gender. Recommended for experienced runners.
- Ubin Mixed Duo (6 km) – Run and navigate with a partner of a different gender. Recommended for active couples.
- Ubin Explorer (4 to 6 km) – Run and navigate with your family or a group of friends. Minimum three, and up to six participants per group. A non-competitive category, recommended for families and beginners to orienteering.
So how do the solo and duo runners win? They have to clock in the fastest amount of time taken to navigate the fixed sequence from start to finish, and accurately navigate all checkpoints prescribed on the race map.
Not that easy considering that all teams will not receive additional help aside from a compass and the information on the map with the checkpoints!
The Open Solo category will flag off at 7:00 a.m. (estimated), followed by half hour intervals for the subsequent categories.
Prizes will be given to the top three teams of each competitive category.
Registration is open!
Early Bird registration is open from now till 16 September with fees going at S$66 for the Ubin Open Solo, S$120 for the Ubin Sprint Duo, and S$113 for the Ubin Mixed Duo. Ubin Explore tickets start at S$158 for 3 persons, with an additional S$35 per person.
All registration fees are inclusive of a one-way Ubin Bum Boat Transfer onto Pulau Ubin on Race Day.
If you have never or rarely visited Pulau Ubin, this is a great adventure race for you to sign up for today!
