Families, groups of friends, scout troups, and school groups often participate. Athletes enjoy the conpetition. Young children enjoy the search for the controls. Many people just enjoy the walk in the woods looking for controls. Participants range in age from young children to senior citizens.
Competitors start out one at a time or one group at a time.
The winner is the person who completes the course in the shortest time. In this type of meet, a number of controls are set out over a large area. Each control is given a point value. This type of meet can be particularly challenging because the teams must plan their course to get the maximum number of points. This requires taking into account the terrain and the physical conditions of the team members.