Discover Orienteering, "the thinking sport". You use a map and compass to navigate a course through unfamiliar terrain. People of all ages enjoy orienteering as a leisurely walk in the woods or as a competitive cross-country race. Newcomers are welcome at our meets. We offer beginners' courses suitable for both individuals and families.

Quantico Orienteering Club
Serving the Orienteering Community in the Greater Washington,DC
(Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC)


QOC Singlets


The club is looking for meet directors and course setters for the upcoming year. Check our Schedule and pick an event. Then email one of our vice presidents: Maryland (events with green background) or Virginia (events with yellow background).
Results from Learn-O, Annual Meeting & The Chase, Balls Bluff, College Park, Robious Park, Fountainhead, Susquehanna Stumble Fort Pickett, Wahrani, Wheaton, Little Bennett night & day, Rosaryville, Pocahontas, Happyland, Rockwood, Meadowood, Greenbelt, Great Fall MD, Manassas, Oregon Ridge, Pohick Bay, Turkey Run, Orange Grove, Dorsey Park, Patuxent, Hemlock Overlook, Eppington Plantation, Dutch Gap,
MAP FEES
Check out RouteGadget and add your route choices to the database.
Click on picture to
Order new QOC uniform


New QOC singlets manufactured by Champions Systems made of CS Tech Polyester Wicking fabric. Order your today! Just $32. Contact Kathleen Lennon .

From the Summer Short Series, Sidney Sachs's route in 100 degree weather at Fort Hunt Park.

Pictures from Winter Meeting

Video and pictures from QOC 2005 to 2009 Events


QOC has a Yahoo group used to distribute late-breaking news and announcements related to club events and for discussion among members who are so inclined. The group is located at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quantico_Orienteering_Club
Anyone can read messages posted to the group there; only members receive posted messages by email and post messages to the group. You may become a member by clicking on the "Join This Group!" link there and providing the requested information or by sending email to
Quantico_Orienteering_Club-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please report any difficulties joining or changing membership settings to Vic Culp.


A QOC team consisting of Tom Nolan, Nadim Ahmed and Jon Torrance (all pictured, courtesy of budding photographer extraordinaire, Max Ahmed age 4 1/2) competed in the recent Arlington 9-11 Memorial 5K, finishing third in the Open Team category.
QOC's Volunteer of the Year 2010

Mike Newman
Lost Phones

In the A meet kit were found two Motorola phones, without a charger. Are them your?
We're glad to see the start of the new QOC Fall 2009 orienteering season. While many of us were enjoying our summer vacations and catching-up with our love of other sports, some QOC members were actively orienteering too.

There were altogether about 15 QOC Summer Short Series training events hosted by club members on Saturday afternoons, Wednesday evenings after work and a few Sundays. Many of these were on new maps and those that are only used for the Summer Short Series. While many of these low key and somewhat informal events were focused on building advanced training skills, they were also preparing a few club members for international competitions.

QOC member Jon Torrance competed in the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) that were held this year in Miskolc, Hungary in August. Jon's return was as a member of the Canadian national team. He competed in both the Long, Sprint, and Relay events. For more on the WOC, see (the US Team did improved quite a lot this year):

http://tajfutovb2009.hu/index.php
QOC member Patti Mace missed the QOC Fall season opener as she competed in the Deaflympics held in Taiwan. QOC member Mark Mace accompanied her as coach of the 3 member US Team. This was the first years that the United States had ever sent an orienteering team to the Deaflympics. The team encountered difficult hot, steep and thick terrain that was made more difficult by typhoon damage a few weeks before the competitions. For more, see:
http://usdeaflympics.com/articles/article/2009/sep/09/orienteering-struggles-forest-rainy-day/
http://www.usdeaflympics.com/articles/article/2009/sep/12/orien/


On Saturday, March 14, 2009, 20 PE teachers from Maryland and Virginia attended our 'Orienteering for Educators' workshop held at Longfellow Middle School in Falls Church VA. The teachers - coming from as far away as Virginia Beach and Roanoke - spent their Saturday learning how to hold and read a map, how to teach orienteering to their students, and how they can use maps to set courses at their own schools. They were very enthusiastic about it!

"I have always liked maps – I really like this,and my students will too!" replied Michelle Breedy when asked why she was doing so well on her first orienteering exercise. Another teacher, Patty Dokken, showed up the following day (Sunday) at our Wheaton Regional Park event with her 6 year old son, Andrew, willing to take on more than just the schoolyard. Though on the White course, they deliberately took an off-trail route between two controls just for the adventure (and did fine).

Many thanks go out to all the people who made this happen. REI awarded QOC the Educational Grant, funding our attendance at the MD and VA State PhysEd teacher conferences held this last October and November. The primary workshop presenter was O4 Schools' Chris Cassone, who helps promote orienteering in both educational and corporate settings worldwide. Longfellow MS teachers Carolyn Hudson and Todd White graciously arranged for their school to be used as the workshop venue. As QOC co-Presidents, we created and manned the PE teacher conference display and organized the workshop. Most importantly, many thanks go out to the teachers who got up early on a dreary and cold Saturday morning and through their motivation and enthusiasm made it a fun day for all.

So if you have children, let's hope they come home someday from school with a smile on their face, telling you about the fun they had that day in PE – orienteering! And if you know of teachers (especially PE teachers) who didn't hear about the workshop, have them contact us and we'll be sure to get them involved in the future.

- Greg & Kathleen


In Remembrance of Captain Michael Steven Haskell


QOC member Andy Strat has been selected as a member of the US Junior Orienteering Team for the 3rd straight year. Andy will be competing at the Jr. World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) to be held June 29 - July 7, at Göteborg, Sweden. Andy is a long-time QOC member and currently the top-ranked junior in the US (Category M-20).

Good luck, Andy!


New Permanent O-Course at Hashawha & Bear Branch Nature Center

A few months ago, at SVO's Susquehanna Stumble, a reporter from Penn State's NPR radio station covered the race and talked with several race participants and organizers including QOC's very own Heidi Onkst. The show includes discussions with Heidi, Brad Whitmore, and Eddie Bergeron. For those who are interested, you can find an mp3 copy of the feature at http://www.wpsu.org/radio/features.php?bookmark_id=111&view=2 if the link doesn't work, just go to WPSU's website and navigate to Cynthia Berger's show "Sports that Aren't Football" under the radio section of the site. The program is only 5:30 long and is fun to listen to, except there's some club named DVOA (and their bright new shinny uniforms) that is featured too prominently. Oh well, can't have everything ;-) At least orienteering is getting some publicity!!!

Our booth at the Hudson Trail Outfitters "Outdoor Club Extravaganza"

Thanks to our co-presidents for arranging and designing the booths and to the volunteers who manned them.


QOC is now a 501 (c) (3) organization. Contributions to QOC are tax deductible! This includes out-of-pocket travel expenses that you wouldn't have incurred if you hadn't been volunteering on behalf of QOC. However, map fees and rental fees are NOT deductible.
IOF symbols use for control descriptions on Orange and above courses.
An online interactive quizes for learning or reviewing the IOF symbols and map symbols.