Events
UCOC Camp: 14th-15th March 2026
Kick off your year with a bang at our annual overnight orienteering camp! Camp is one of the big highlights of the UCOC calendar, and it’s an epic chance to explore the great outdoors, sharpen your skills, and meet new people! Activities include coaching and training, punching races, indoor-o, the annual UCOC quiz, and eating lots and lots of nachos. There are a variety of difficulty levels within each activity, so all UCOC members, from beginners to experts, are welcome! UCOC Camp 2026 will take place around Canterbury with training on maps ranging from the North Canterbury Coastline to Castle Hill in Arthur’s Pass! We will be staying overnight at the Ashley Gorge Holiday Park – a great location for our infamous punching race and indoor-o!
Ready to test how lost you can get while exploring more of Te Waipounamu? Find out more below:
Ultralong: 2nd of May
It’s in the name! Ultralong is an annual event where UCOC coordinates with PAPO to provide the most spectacular long orienteering course of the year! Courses can range in length all the way up to 14km on gruelling terrain. It’s an epic challenge for anyone who’s keen to test their orienteering skills to the limit! At UCOC, spending quality time lost in the forest is our favourite activity – enter Ultralong and make it yours too! Don’t worry, for those who would prefer a slightly shorter course, we have a great range of courses to choose from that will still put your orienteering skills to the test!
Ultrasprint: 8th of August
Ever wondered how many sprint orienteering courses you can do in a day? Wonder no more! Ultrasprint is a day of fast-paced mini-sprints around the local uni area, ranging from parks and schools to the uni itself. It involves 9-11 mini sprint events, including crowd favourites like mazes and the iconic indoor ‘flat O’ (because yes, you can still get lost in a student flat.) Ultrasprint is Ultralong’s more relaxed cousin, and it’s a great day of short and fast racing. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to seasoned pros!
NightNav: September 9th, 16th, 23rd
As clichè as it sounds, UCOC truly saves the best for last. Night nav is a series of 3, 1-hour rogaines around Christchurch. All competitors have 1 hour to collect as many controls as possible and return to the finish before time runs out! Oh, did we mention it’s at night – because nothing says fun like getting lost with your friends in the dark! Everyone is welcome, whether you’ve never touched a map in your life or you think you can clear the whole course (good luck). You can compete as an individual or group and run or walk; it’s up to you! Like Ultralong and Ultrasprint, NightNav is open to the public as well! We also usually have heaps of epic spot prizes from our amazing sponsors (yay!) So mark it in your calendars and dig out your head torch because NightNav is truly an event you don’t want to miss!
Other Events:
Alongside UCOC’s 4 large events, we also hold many other smaller events throughout the year, including our SGM and AGM, trainings, Monday Night Runs ‘skills, snacks, and games nights, BYOs, and more! Sign up for UCOC and check your emails for social events and upcoming trainings. Information about all our events, Monday night run, carpooling etc., is also shared via the UCOC Messenger Group Chat. If you are a UCOC member but are not part of the group chat, please email info@ucoc.nz, and we will add you!
