Many of us have hazy childhood memories of school trips spent orienteering, thudding through woods and bracken, breathless and lost like a scene from a budget Blair Witch Project.

Back then you were armed with a crumpled map and a drooping piece of card that would get stamped at each designated point on the course. This was almost inevitably set against a backdrop of relentless drizzle which quickly rendered said map soggily obsolete or the kind of crisp winter day that turned your fingers to numb, useless lumps within minutes. I remember finishing second in one inter-school event. My prize: a bubble wand.

It's all a far more high-tech and slick affair these days, with Scotland due to host a one-off series of world-class orienteering races in and around some of the country's most iconic castles.

As a prelude to the 2015 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness next August, this weekend will see high-octane urban racing in Edinburgh and Stirling, then classic orienteering from October 18-19 through the surrounding forests and sand dunes of Balmoral and Forvie in Royal Deeside.

The event, Race The Castles, is part of the Year of Homecoming Scotland 2014 and will attract a field of more than 1000 top international competitors.

It includes the 2013 World Orienteering Championships sprint silver medallist Scott Fraser and reigning British sprint orienteering champion Murray Strain, both competing for Scotland, and Tessa Hill, the British women's sprint champion, representing England.

The current men's sprint orienteering gold, silver and bronze medallists Soren Bobach (Denmark), Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland) and Tue Lassen (Denmark) as well as women's bronze medallist Maja Alm (Denmark) will also be in action.

But it's not simply for the elite ranks either - all races are open to the public with courses for every level of experience.

As an Edinburgh native, Strain says he is looking forward to welcoming the sport's leading athletes to his home city. "The alleyways and closes of the Old Town will make for a great challenging sprint race and the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle will provide the most spectacular arena I've ever competed in," he says.

Reigning sprint world champion Soren Bobach is similarly enthused. "I'm really looking forward to seeing all the castles," he says. "I just watched Braveheart and am feeling inspired."

Visit www.racethecastles.com