A major international orienteering event will be held in Harrogate and Knaresborough this weekend.
The City Race Euro Tour includes orienteering contests in major towns and cities across Europe every year.
For the first time, the Harrogate area has been made one of the nine stops on the tour, which also includes places such as Córdoba, Ancona, Vigo, Ghent and London.
More than 600 people have signed up for the race, which takes place on July 15 and 16.
Kay Hawke, project officer at British Orienteering, said:
“Participants from across the UK and Europe will be tackling the orienteering courses set around the locations with different length (and difficulty) courses for different age groups, meaning that there is a course suitable to the very young, families and beginners to the elderly”
The weekend event will start with a sprint race around Knaresborough Castle and, on the following day, participants will tackle an urban course set in and around Harrogate Ladies College.
Ms Hawke added:
“Funding has been secured from North Yorkshire Council to create an accessible course at the Sunday Harrogate event which is wheelchair and limited mobility friendly.”
Orienteers have also been invited to a free guided tour of Harrogate led by local guide Harry Satloka as well as a meal at the Old Bell pub on Saturday evening.
Prizes will be provided by local companies and artists, including the Harrogate Chocolate Factory – a social enterprise helping young people with learning disabilities to gain valuable work skills.
To learn more about the European City Race and how to take part, visit the website here.
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Harrogate and Knaresborough to host international orienteering race
An international orienteering event is set to be held in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
The EuroCity races will be held this July and see participants compete in multiple locations including Cordoba, Vigo, Ghent and Sopot/Gdansk.
Harrogate and Knaresborough are set to host parts of the race on July 15 and 16.
The event is set to see between 300 and 500 participants take part.
Kay Hawke, project officer at British Orienteering, said:
“It is a typical orienteering event where participants wear an electronic timing chip and receive a map at the Start (they are not allowed to see the map beforehand).
“They must visit all of the controls (checkpoints) on their map in numerical order, choosing what they think is the best way between the checkpoints, simple – fastest time (and controls completed correctly) wins.”
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She added:
“The beauty of the sport is that following someone may not be the best option anyway, especially if they have chosen a longer route to a control.”
The Saturday will see a short sprint event based from and around the grounds of Knaresborough Castle, while Sunday will see an urban event around the streets of Harrogate.
For more information on the EuroCity race and how to take part, visit the website here.