Because orienteering runs score events that are essentially very short rogaines, we have adopted three hours as our definition of the shortest rogaine and we won't put the results of this two-hour event in our table of all NZ rogaines. Instead we'll include their full report here...
Reefton Rogaine gets people thinking!!
The first ever Reefton Rogaine was a great success for the 40 competitors who pushed themselves to the limit on the Murray Creek tracks on Saturday. The Sport Buller event was the first rogaining event to be held in the Buller, and for those that took part they realised that there was heaps of fun to be had.
All the teams seemed to have similar strategies for the first two minutes as they charged from the start line to find their maps amongst the Golden Fleece mine buildings. From there on the similarities ended, as some teams headed straight into the hills after a quick glance at the map, while others took the time to have a good think about how they were going to take on the challenge.
Nobody was seen for the next two hours as competitors ran and walked their way around the maze of tracks, always thinking of how they could maximise the number of points they could collect in two hours. The first team home was the Push Play Trolls (Pete Fuller and Sarah Clifford) who had taken a more casual approach to the event than some, but still managed to have a really good time. The next thirty minutes saw all but three teams make it in before the cut off time that resulted in disqualification from the event. Ironically a team who went by the name of “Practise Makes Perfect” (whose names I won’t mention) didn’t make the cut-off, so we hope to see them back again next year to prove that Practise does make Perfect!
The good thing about a Rogaine is that everyone finishes very close together, as the aim is to get back by a certain time, not complete a specific course. Once everyone had returned and caught their breath everyone headed for the Inangahua Arms for some post race refreshments and the prizegiving. It seemed that everyone had thoroughly enjoyed the day, as teams had heated discussions about the best routes to take, the tactics behind their decisions, and what they would change when they do the next one.
Congratulations to everyone who competed on a fantastic effort, and hopefully we will see you all there again next time. For those that didn’t make it, the Reefton Rogaine is an event for everyone, as you can go as fast or as slow as you like, there is no fixed course, and the entire course is on well marked tracks. If you didn’t make it this time, make sure you don’t miss out on the next one!
Glenn
Results:
U20 – 1st: Sam van Barkle / Nathan Topp (283 Points)
- 2nd: Todd Nielon / Joel Clark (188 Points)
20 – 30 years – 1st: Nigel Boydell / Aaron Edwards (131 Points)
30 – 40 years – 1st: Phil Hamill / Paul Comeskey (313 Points)
- 2nd: Lynn Irving / Grant Weston (305 Points)
40+ – 1st: Chris Coll / Karl Barlow (297 Points)
- 2nd: Jackie Knight / Annie Kolf (101 Points)
Family Teams – 1st: Abbey’s
- 2nd: Jelley’s
This page was assembled by Michael Wood, and installed on 9 Sep 03.