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Orienteering is a form of cross-country racing in which competitors navigate from point to point using only a compass and their own map reading skills – the winner being the first to complete the designated course with at least a hundredweight (50.8 kg) of ferns in their shorts.
The sport was devised by the 17th Earl of Westmorland to train his gamekeepers in the pursuit of poachers through his 58,000 acres of woodland, and the first UK national championships in 1927 maintained this heritage by awarding the winner a bumpkin to do with as they wished for a year and a day.
Since the 1960s however, orienteering has become much more inclusive and most competitions are now open to women, ethnic minorities, deer, lumberjacks and agoraphobics.
In 2012, the UK national championships included a special class for competitors using GPS, smart phones and apps, but unfortunately, all but one were directed into a badger sett by their sat nav system and were never seen again.
In Japan orienteerring is known as whereweliveeering.