Sara Lemanski caught the orienteering bug after watching her wife compete. (Photo public domain)

Earlier this year, the Washington Blade spotlighted noncompetitive sports clubs in the area. One of the sports profiled, orienteering, also has a competitive side.

Orienteering is an outdoor sport suitable for all ages and fitness levels and Quantico Orienteering Club is the largest and most active orienteering club in the nation. Orienteering is similar to a scavenger hunt in which you use a compass and a detailed map to find checkpoints (controls) that have been placed at locations marked on the map.

The club is primarily straight but is becoming wildly popular with the LGBT community. Last weekend, the orienteers hosted the Patapsco Granite meet at Patapsco State Park which offered advanced courses and a special granite sprint course. Upcoming events are online at qocweb.org.

Immediately following the event, LGBT participants posted their appreciation on social media: “Awesome time orienteering this morning at Patapsco State Park!” (Steve Marker); “Orienteering!?? Love it!” (Matt Mitchell); and “Great job guys!!! We escaped mostly unharmed.” (Jared Silk).

Orienteering offers participants the option to just walk along at a leisurely pace or race against other competitors. Quantico uses an electronic timing system called an epunch that records your start, control check-ins and finish. After the results are posted, you can log-in and check your times compared to others who competed that day.

The group has established sites throughout the Maryland and Virginia region and operates primarily from September to June with events on three weekends per month. The cost is inexpensive and there is no pre-registration. Along with standard orienteering, Quantico offers night orienteering, ski orienteering and mountain bike orienteering.

The group suggests that participants leave their phones in their cars and club member Sara Lemanski can attest to that being a good idea.

“When I first started I walked a lot because trying to read the maps was giving me fits,” Lemanski says. “Now that it is easier for me, I am moving faster and one flying jump over a stream ended with me in the water and a dead phone.”

Lemanski’s partner Amber is a world-class orienteering athlete and they traveled together to the North American Orienteering Championships in 2012 where Lemanski watched as a spectator.

Once she tried it herself in 2013, Lemanski was hooked and enjoys the way the sport challenges her both physically and mentally. In an effort to reach out to more people, Lemanski suggested that the orienteers join the LGBT-based Team D.C. list of sports.

“The members of Quantico Orienteering are very welcoming and don’t care if you are LGBT,” Lemanski says. “When Amber and I got married in March of 2015, they were so happy for us.”

Her wife may be the world-class athlete in the family, but Lemanski has an impressive sports background herself.

Originally from Michigan, Lemanski grew up on military bases including Fort Sumter and played any sport she could get her hands on including softball, basketball and soccer. While she was attending University of Texas at San Antonio she played club lacrosse and soccer.

She moved to D.C. in 2008 and is now working as a program analyst for the Asia Bureau of USAID. She has played softball with Chesapeake and Potomac Softball, soccer with the Federal Triangles and went to nationals with the D.C. Diplomats Team Handball Club.

Lemanski says her main sport is ice hockey and she plays in a Laurel adult rec league which she refers to as the “beer league.” She will attend an adult hockey camp near Niagara Falls for a weekend of camping with friends and playing hockey.

As for orienteering, Lemanski is continuing to hone her skills with Quantico Orienteering and has traveled with her wife to compete in places such as West Point, N.Y.; Kentucky, Georgia and the Czech Republic.

“When I am orienteering during the day, I try to run through the entire course,” Lemanski says. “At night though, I walk because it is so peaceful and there are stars and different noises. It can be a Zen experience.”