Gordon's comments:
On a clear dry night I suspect a few competitors would have achieved the total score of 1350.
However the night was wet, windy and 50% dark. Hence it was no surprise the a relatively small
field of 41 took up on the challenge.
The course was geographically long and narrow. With a high percentage of on road running, the inclement weather was maybe a blessing. Not a pleasant introduction to those that were first time competitors. The wet conditions made it difficult to record results on score sheets that were falling apart, pens that wouldn't write, pencilled recording that rubbed off. I hope the results are a fair interpretation.
Glen's comments:
We had a good turn out with 38 teams taking part, 5 of those from Upper Hutt College.
Everyone made it back with one sprained ankle & a few wet rogainers who crossed the Hutt
River on their way home in some deep sections. It would seem we under
ordered on the pizzas as the last few rogainers missed out, our apologies for this
as we didn't factor in the hungary students (of all ages).
Our winners for the night are the regular pair of Anton Marsden & Gerry Whitehouse (the Peru altitude training paying dividends) with a total of 1130 points out of a possible 2280, they even returned home with 11 minutes up their sleeves. The controls they visited are (not in race order) 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 35, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 52, 60, 65, 70, 81, 82, 91, 100. Well done guys.
The top 8 places were covered by a mere 140 points with the first three positions separated by 5 points each. Bill Edwards gained the most points on the night with 1250, but after 125 for solo penalty it placed him 2nd by only 5 points. Those who worked on the east side of the course produced better results, filling the top 14 places. No one got all three 100 hundred points, although Bill Edwards & the team of Adrian Walker & Merisha Moora did collect controls 100 & 101 which were on opposite sides of the valley.
Most popular Controls were 60 "Pine at back of clearing" & 42 our famous car part. The only Control not visited was 15 Pine tree south of track, this was a steep track so obviously you lot wimped out on this control. Other Controls of note are listed below:
As a final note, we’d like to wish the following teams from the Wellington area all
the best in next month's Rogaine World Champs in NSW Australia, think of us all starting
at noon Friday the 13th of October for this 24 hour event:
Dave King & Greg Thurlow; Michael Wood & Tony Gazely;
Mike Sheridan & Chris Tait; Debbie Mansfield & Glen Warner;
Jenny Cossey & Fanny Lariviere; Dorothy Kane & Neil Kane;
Ross Bidmead & Hazel Bidmead.
Greg's comments:
First up I thank everyone for turning up and hope that the experience
(controls not where shown) didn't put people off.
Sometimes it is difficult to determine what is represented
(side creeks etc) on the map and what is there in the real environment.
These things happen on the bigger events as well and one
of the key rogaining skills is deciding when to "give up" on a control and move on...
The purpose of the bonus was to send people down the Takapuwahia Stream as it is one of the cleaner streams I've found in the Wellington area. The number of tyres in the stream was actually 6 however I gave it to people who had been in the stream from 51 to 46. I have also credited those who claimed 46 and 81. 91 was also there as well, just a bit tricky to find in the mist.
The other bonus was the meaning of the rock formations made out of stones at 49 and 91.
No-one got these right and only one team attempted to
guess - better sleuthing next time... The answers were
49 - a circle with a stone in the middle - means end of trail, go home
91 - a triangle about 5 m south of the shrub with the flag, on the top of the
rocky knoll - means caution, in reference to some ugly bush lawyer that got me
near this track.
I did apply the solo and planners penalties of 10% .
For those with an asterisk by their totals - please put your name on the control
sheet next time, its an important part of our safety procedures.
I think I have learned quite a bit from this, not to faff around with double points and silly rock formations. In the end what I thought was a reasonably balanced map turned into a bit of a farce. The feedback was worthwhile and I now know that what people want is more navigation practice so I will concentrate on getting those things sorted first. I will be revisiting the stream as it was more difficult than I had hoped. On a lighter note the pizza was all wolfed down very quickly so there must have been energy expended (maybe in frustration ?) Apologies for those who missed out.
It's interesting to note that if one had run round the streets they would have picked up 650 points - good enough for 3rd.
Greg's later comments 8 Sep:
Mark and I went back into the stream last night, and we found the following:
There was nothing at circle 46. 46 was at circle 81 . In the main stream above that there was
an s-bend that wasn't marked on the map, and around there was a side stream also not on the map
which is where I put 81. So coming from the top I can see how I got geographically confused.
Don't see how I missed the stream junction further down.
Webmaster's comments:
If you are sure you are in the right place and can't find the object of the question,
write down something else about the locality, or if its in the bush simply write "claim".
If you're the only claimant you're probably out of luck, but a raft of claims means the planner
has made a mistake, and will want to know who to credit with the control.
These events are deliberately low-key, they don't have an independent check.
Greg's comments may have overshadowed a challenging event with much more bush navigation than is usual in these afterwork events. Following a stream is easy in principle, but not every gully with water has a blue line on the map. You have to use supporting information, such as major changes in direction or travel time. And the 5m visibility on the open tops made simple track-following a challenge - the pond 49 was just off the track, but where were you on the track? Greg's bonuses encouraged most teams to tackle this part of course, and your skills will benefit.