School Sprint: Individual Race on a Sprint-Style Map
An individual sprint race around campus with staggered starts, two courses, and a finish time for everyone. It mirrors the urban sprint format: short legs, quick decisions, and out-of-bounds zones.
How to play
- Briefing: review the legend, olive-green out-of-bounds zones, campus boundaries, and rules for doors and hallways (4 min).
- Race 1: two start lines with courses A and B of 10–12 controls; one runner leaves every 30 s per line, and the teacher logs start and finish times (12 min).
- Quick review: each runner writes down their total time and marks the leg where they hesitated most (5 min).
- Race 2, shorter: switch courses A and B and apply what you learned (7 min).
- Wrap-up: compare race 1 and race 2 times and name one technical fix per person (2 min).
Rules
- No crossing olive-green zones and no jumping walls, fences, or planters.
- Walk through hallways and doorways and yield to others.
- Each control is punched in its own box; an empty or wrong box disqualifies the run.
- If you get lost, go back to your last sure control or to the finish.
Variations
Easier
8-control course with short legs and no out-of-bounds zones.
Standard
10–12 controls with staggered starts and out-of-bounds zones.
Harder
Course with two route-choice legs and a map at a smaller scale.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: an accessible-only course with the same number of controls and its own timing.
- Hearing impairment: starts are given with a visual signal (hand drop), not by voice.
- Low confidence: runs race 1 with a partner who has no map and just tags along.
Learning goals
- Complete a sprint orienteering course accurately at a high pace.
- Respect out-of-bounds zones as in real competition.
- Compare two races and apply one technical fix.
Equipment for a class of 25
- school maps: 60
- control markers: 14
- crayons: 14
- control cards: 60
- stopwatches: 2
Teacher tip
Build the map from the evacuation plan and add walls and fences with sprint symbols. Hang the controls before class and photograph them so pickup is easy to check. The typical mistake is sprinting off without orienting the map in the first few meters.
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