British Orienteering announces exciting new collaboration with SportsShoes

From the team that brought you Podium 5K, QUID GAMES: The Dark Edition is here to shake up the trail running world with a fast-paced, fun, and utterly unique orienteering race experience in January.

The aim? To pitch the best athletes from across the running communities against the mega athletes of Team GB, and see who comes out on top! What’s more, the event is sponsored by top brands such as Scarpa, Rab, Silva and OTE Nutrition meaning there are thousands of pounds worth of prizes up for grabs. The format is simple – a 60-minute Score Course, 10 controls – stacked with prizes.

Making a festival feel will be an event village where participants can try out equipment on the night, prize giveaways and a pizza truck, all set in the beautiful surroundings of Broughton Hall – never previously used for an orienteering event.

The collaboration is the result of months of behind the scenes work from people that share the same passion about orienteering as ourselves, and a chance to take a version of it to new audiences in an exciting and modern way.

Kay Hawke – Partnerships Manager – ‘Over the last six months we have been working closely with SportsShoes and the team behind the famous Podium 5k races, with the same aim – to take the brilliant sport of orienteering to an untapped market, albeit with a twist. As we have seen with the rise in popularity of races such as the Unsanctioned Athletics events which see participants dropped off at a location and having to find their way back via a couple of checkpoints – (essentially orienteering) there is a growing popularity with the younger generation for ‘something different’.

The event is aimed to not only bridge the gap between running and orienteering, but to showcase the sport via exciting content – and will raise awareness that the sport is out there for those looking for that ‘something different’. Who knows – we may find our next GB star coming across from the athletics world, that may have never previously have known the sport was out there before. Quid Games is not only an opportunity for our own GB athletes to be recognised for their physical abilities but a chance to possibly earn prizes to help them in the upcoming 2025 season. With entries open to all, it is a chance to test yourself against the best. This will also be an opportunity to understand further, what our events and event spaces can do better to engage participants and make an event a spectacle for those attending.

Two main arms of British Orienteering’s Strategic Plan are ‘Changing the Perception’ and ‘Creating Engaging Experiences’ focused on one aim – increased participation in the sport we all enjoy. What better way to reach new audiences than to partner with SportsShoes who are equally as passionate about the potential our sport has?

SportsShoes and Podium 5k are leaders in creating events and races which draw inspiration in the ‘something different’ and we are excited to work together crafting these events with them. They may be a bit different, they may use a hybrid map (who hasn’t?) and be that little bit different to a ‘traditional’ event, however there are thousands of events each year which are. This one is a little bit different – however, consider the quote –‘If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got’. What an opportunity, fully backed by brands who are passionate about driving the younger generation into the sport as we are, to work together.

To find out more about the event visit - https://tinyurl.com/n92ru8cs