Planning is already underway for a Rogaine to be held in Marlborough on the 1st
and 2nd of December 2001. It will be an 18-hour event with a start
time of 4pm Saturday afternoon and finishing at 10am Sunday morning,
what the Australians call an "Upside-Down Rogaine".
There will be equal daylight and moonlight, with a full moon on 1st Dec. There will be transport between the Picton ferry and the venue for North Island visitors and others if required. A lunch will be provided afterwards as well as food at the Hash House (Start/finish) overnight, which is at the centre of the map. There will be space to put up tents for those who wish to include a sleep in their 18 hours. And "proper" controls will be used.
Marlborough Orienteering Club is the organising club and entry forms and expected to be available in August. You are invited to send your email address for further information to Alan Holdaway, Ph 03 578 7137, or Susan King, 38 Holdaway St, Blenheim, Ph 03 578 7168.
A rogaine is an endurance orienteering event, held over periods of up to 24 hours. Competitors travel on foot in teams of two to five people, visiting designated sites shown on a 1:50,000 topo map, for which they accumulate points. The skill is in choosing a route that maximises points gained for effort expended, and returning to the finish on time. Rogaines appeal to trampers, orienteers and endurance athletes.
Rogaining is fairly new to New Zealand, and over the last ten years has attracted rapidly increasing numbers to events. The lower North Island has run events every year since 1991, and even runs after-work "shoestring" rogaines. The Peninsula and Plains Orienteering Club based in Canterbury has run a mid-winter 12 hour rogaine in June for three years running, attracting up to 200 people in 71 teams. New Zealand's biggest rogaine was the 4th World Rogaining Championships, a 24 hour event in North Canterbury last January.
Written by Alan Holdaway and installed on 17 Dec 00