Thanks for your helpful response copepod.
I will follow up on the orienteering, for sure!
Parkrun unfortunately doesn't work for me as I have classes every Saturday morning - and it looks like all the events are 9am Saturday only (I've checked a number of parks). That's probably why I've never spotted them in the local parks. The issues I have with running is partly being bored to death by all the locals I know who jog, because all they ever talk about is that (especially the blokes) - which is why I call them obsessive
. And partly because I've sustained leg injuries that make pounding hard surfaces somewhat problematic. I've always been a hiker and a cyclist.
parkruns are only ever at 9am on Saturday in England & Wales or 9.30am in Scotland & Northern Ireland, so not suitable if you have classes every Saturday morning. Except for Christmas Day and New Years Day, when some parkruns have extra sessions, not just at 9am eg NYD in Leeds it was possible to run at 9am at Woodhouse Moor and 10am at Roundhay Park.
Orienteering is definitely easier on joints, as usually much of running / walking is on trails or completely off road, with only very short sections on tarmac. Some urban events have relatively more on hard surfaces, but even these have considerable sections in parks and you can often run on verges beside roads.
You might also enjoy some longer mountain navigation events eg Great Lakeland 3 Day last weekend - you can compete as solo or pair in courses from Elite, through A and B to C for cafe. Cake, beer. cider, tea, coffee all provided free of charge at overnight campsites. Your kitbag of tent, sleeping bag & mat, stove, pot, mug, spare clothing, food for other days etc is transported by vans, so you only need to carry a small backpack with hill essentials. Trail Rush Sheffield on Sun 24th May is by the same group of people - see
http://www.trail-rush.com/ 24.5km with 700m ascent, 79% off road. £25 entry now or £30 entry on day.
Some orienteers are obsessive, like some runners, some cyclists etc, but there are always a range of personalities in all sports, so don't be put off running by a few men you consider obsessive.