Vienna Orienteering Challenge
Austria's most fun orienteering weekend

Objective

The aim of the Vienna Orienteering Challenge (VOC) is to offer a high-quality orienteering event that is attractive to newcomers, recreational athletes, young athletes, and competitive runners. VOC is a multi-day event with 3 stages in Vienna. The sprint orienteering format attracts international participants, world-class athletes, and Austrian orienteers.

Das Ziel der Vienna Orienteering Challenge (VOC) ist es, eine hochqualitative OL-Veranstaltung anzubieten, die für Neulinge, Jugendliche, Breiten- und Leistungssportler*innen attraktiv ist. Die VOC ist ein Mehrtagebewerb mit 3 Etappen in Wien. Die Wettkampfform Sprint-OL zieht internationale Teilnehmer*innen, Weltklasseathlet*innen und österreichische Orientierungsläufer*innen an.

Start Times

Preliminary times, small changes possible:
Friday 18:00 - 19:10
Saturday 10:15 - 11:30
Sunday 10:00 - 11:10
Sprint Relay 12:45

Maps

Scale 1:4000. Scale 1:3000 for age classes 50+. Maps are drawn according to the latest sprint map standard, IOF ISSprOM 2019-2.

Courses

Sprint orienteering courses, max. 4 km.

Sprint Relay

5-7 min per leg. 2 legs per person.

Locations and Event Details

The final details with event locations and instructions will be published a few days before the event.

Open Training takes place on Thursday from 19:00 to 20:00 at Türkenschanzpark. No registration is required.

Timekeeping

Sportident electronic timekeeping will be used with mixed punching. Competitors with a classic Sportident card will punch in the ordinary way. SIAC users can use touch-free punching. You can purchase a new SIAC touch-free card at OL-Shop .

Sportident Card

Rental SI cards for classic punching are available at no additional cost for participants without their own chip. The charge for a lost Sportident card is €75.

Results

Live results will be available online. Overall results will be published on the website after the final stage. Split times will be available on Winsplits Online after each stage.

Race Format

The event is a 3-stage sprint orienteering competition with an overall ranking based on total time. In competitive classes, the start list for stage 3 is based on the overall ranking after 2 stages: reverse order, with class leaders starting last and a 1-minute start interval. Early start times on stage 3 are available on request.

For the overall ranking, mispunched runners will receive either the time of the last ranked runner plus a penalty, or their own time plus 3 minutes if this is slower than the time of the last ranked runner.

The non-competitive classes Direct and Experience have no overall ranking.

Awards

The prize-giving ceremony is for the overall ranking. VOC medals and prizes will be awarded to the top 3 in each class. In the Experience class, prizes will be drawn randomly among participants. All Kids class participants receive a small prize. There are no prizes for Direct starters. Participants must be present at the award ceremony to collect a prize.

Accessibility

All venues are outdoors and accessible by wheelchair. Participants who need a wheelchair during the course should contact us at info@viennaochallenge.com before the event so that we can plan a suitable course according to their needs. We are happy to make participation possible.

Childcare

No childcare is provided. Playgrounds are located close to or directly at the arenas. Separate start times for parents are available on request.

Risk and Safety

Participants are not insured by the organiser. By taking part, competitors accept the hazards associated with the event and participate at their own risk. Each participant is responsible for their own safety.

Event officials do not accept liability for injury, accident, loss, or damage to competitors or their property that may arise before, during, or after the event as a consequence of participation.

Please note that there will be no road closures during the event and that streets with traffic may need to be crossed.

Minimum Age

For safety reasons, the minimum age for competition classes is 10 years. Younger athletes may only participate when accompanied by a person aged 18 or older in the Newcomers, Team Challenge, or Open class.

For the Kids class, we will try to avoid road crossings. However, we ask parents and guardians to instruct their children about possible hazards before the start of each event.

Entries and Payment

Entries and payment are handled through the online entry platform OL-Sport Alpha ( booking terms ).

The entry fee applies to the VOC 3 Days competition. Open Training is free of charge. The Sprint Relay must be booked separately.

One-day and two-day entries are possible in all classes except Elite. Individual stage starts cannot be transferred to another competitor.

Entries after the deadline and entries at the event centre are only possible if the participant limit has not been reached and subject to the organiser’s possibilities.

Entry fees increase by €5 at each entry deadline. Last-minute entries cost an additional €10. Sprint Relay entries are possible until the day before the relay at the same price.

Amendments

Amendments affecting the entered class or name may be made free of charge until the final entry deadline. It is possible to transfer an entry to another person until 29 August 2026.

Other amendments that do not affect the entry fee or class are free of charge at all times.

To request an amendment, please email info@viennaochallenge.com.

Withdrawal

After registration, withdrawal from the event is not possible in accordance with § 18 (1) 10 FAGG, the Austrian Act on Distance Contracts and Off-Premises Contracts. There is no right of withdrawal for leisure activities and events.

If a registered person does not take part in the competition for reasons for which the organiser is not responsible, or due to neutral reasons, or if the person informs the organiser in advance that they will not participate, the registered person is not entitled to a refund of the entry fee.

Each participant is solely responsible for having suitable insurance if they wish to claim a refund from their insurance provider.

Rules

The event follows the IOF competition rules and VOC special rules, which will be announced in the final details.

Fair Play

We reserve the right to disqualify runners in case of violations of fair play.

There will be no quarantine areas, and maps will not be collected after finishing. To ensure fair competition, we expect runners not to share information with runners starting later. We believe this makes for a better challenge.

Personal Data

When you enter we will ask you for the following personal information:

• Contact details: name, year of birth, email address
• Participation details: class, club, country

Why we need your details

We need to collect your personal information so that we can enable you to participate in the event. If you do not provide us with all of the personal information that we need to collect then this may affect our ability to manage your entry.

We also process participants’ personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interest to:

Promote and encourage participation in orienteering by sending participants communications and entry information for upcoming events. Our events may be filmed or photographed and your personal information may also be used in images captured from our events, which we use for promotional and development purposes. Provide competition in orienteering by accepting and managing entries for our events and checking your personal information to ensure you are entered into the correct category. Where we process your personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interest, you have the right to object to us using your personal information for the above purposes. If you wish to object to any of the above processing, please contact us.

Who we share your personal information with

If your personal information is included in any images or videos taken by us at our events, we may share this with our event partners for promotional and/or journalistic purposes.

Participants’ personal data

We publish the results of our events on our website. This includes competitors’ name, club, age class and result.

Your rights

You can exercise any of the following rights by writing to us. Your rights in relation to your personal information are:

• You have a right to request access to the personal information that we hold about you by making a “subject access request”;
• If you believe that any of your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you have a right to request that we correct or complete your personal information;
• You have a right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information for specific purposes; and
• If you wish us to delete your personal information, you may request that we do so.

Any requests received by us will be considered under applicable data protection legislation.

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The table below explains the cookies we use and what they do.

Vienna Orienteering Challenge

info@viennaochallenge.com
+43 664 2254915
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Presented in cooperation with Orientierungslaufclub Wienerwald (ZVR-Zahl: 461999384)