 Michael
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Posted: 5 June 2008, 12:03 PM
With two days to go, the record participation for a NZ rogaine is hanging by a thread. The Piha Rogaine near Auckland on Saturday has 417 entrants already, and looks certain to break the record of 419. This was set at the same event in 2006.
Not sure if another mighty turnout has been noted in this forum - the MADeventz Christchurch afterwork rogaines reached 183 earlier this year. You certainly started something, Old Timer...
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Greig
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Posted: 5 June 2008, 3:08 PM
Heights of Winter (next weekend) has 332 people entered between the 6hr and 12hr. That seems pretty large to me! Looking forward to it. Not quite as good as the Piha rogaine though.
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runningbeast
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 4:41 AM
The 7th annual Lactic Turkey Piha rogaine to be held on the 7th June currently has 433 confirmed entries - a new world record for the largest rogaine in New Zealand!
And as per another thread on the number of orienteering people taken from true orienteering events - the teams with orienteers in could be counted on half a set of hands. A heap of the 160 teams are new to rogaine - a navigation sport
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runningbeast
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 5:25 AM
A bit more of a story...
158 teams of 2-5 people will descend on the bush-clad Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland. This area offers great terrain for a rogaine. With vast networks of walking tracks (ranging from nice wide tracks to very indistinct trails) and plenty of hills using the planning time to plan a good route is crucial.
25 teams will do the 6 hour event and the rest will complete a 3 hour rogaine. The Auckland Regional Council have reduced the area available for use in this rogaine as this is the first event under the new management plan which restricts the numbers of events in different sector of the Waitakere Ranges. This has made course setting tricky but the Lactic Turkey Events team think they still have a map where not all of the checkpoints could be collected (although it's not guaranteed like in prior years!).
The Lactic Turkey Events boys are going to have to update the pizza order for the post race meal - last year the 50 pizzas were delivered to Piha (40 minutes drive from Auckland) was a memorable trip for the delivery boy!
A rogaine involves teams of 2-5 people navigating to a series of checkpoints in a set amount of time (either 3 or 6 hours). The checkpoints are allocated different points and the winner is the person with the most points who finishes in the allocated time. Penalty points are taken off your total score for arriving back to the event centre after the allocated time. Competitors get an hour planning time before they start to try and plan the route that collects the most points in the allowed time.
The beauty of a rogaine is that they they offer something for everyone because you set the distance you want to go and how long you want to be out in the bush for. All walking/running is on tracks so no bush bashing involved! The navigation is easy because all the tracks are marked on the map - if you can read a road map then you can do these rogaines.
No disrespect to the teams entered but there are no gun rogaine/adventure racing teams entered so far - no Orion team so it will be wide open. The Horsemen (Michael Hale and Todd Calkin) have emailed event organised claiming a 3 hour event win already. They can run but navigation will likely be a challenge.
For a 6 hour event winning teams would have to be either the mixed teams of Rob Garden and Karyn Burns or Shelley Gosse and Ross Friedrich or maybe all women's team of Marquita Gelderman and Erin Roberts.
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Michael
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 8:31 AM
As far as I'm concerned, rogaines are "true orienteering", Runningbeast. Just as are 12-minute orienteering sprints, and the new 90-second "Orient-Show" format.
But hey, I want to claim a record for the City Safari. 100 pizzas. You gonna beat that?
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Old Timer
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 9:55 AM
Well done Lactic Turkey etc. I will hold off claiming a licence fee for these evnts for now!
And BTW, thanks Sean for helping to promote the NZ Rogaine Champs through your website. We owe you one (again!).
Now, any bright ideas how to "transition" the 3-6 hour recreational rogainers to the National Champs and other 24 hour events? It is a tough one.
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addison
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 12:02 PM
To be honest, I suspect the easiest method is not to convert the masses, but to convert the few hardcores.. i.e. make the national rogaine champs 3-6hrs :-P
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Greig
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 2:16 PM
Converting people to 12hr rogaines seems to be quite easy here in the South Island.
I think people see 24hr rogaines as a lot of suffering through the night when it's cold, dark, and navigation is a lot more difficult for most people.
I'm not sure what would convert people to 24hr events. Perhaps more of them. :-)
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Michael
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 2:18 PM
I don't know that we need to convert anyone. A pyramid has always been narrower at one end than the other.
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Michael
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 2:23 PM
Is there a sense of "they should like what I like" running through a lot of the discussions about the shape of orienteering? Why not say "let's see what THEY like, and run more of that."
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Greg
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Posted: 6 June 2008, 3:51 PM
I like orienteering in summer, run more of that
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Jamie
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Posted: 7 June 2008, 1:22 AM
Orienteering or rogaining or AR in new and beautiful places that doesn't cost too much and involves some element ofgetting on the turps with my mates...
But yeah whats the history with Old Timer? My memory only goes as far back as the rogaines (or similar) Shaun and Darren? used to run when they were known as some other name like the pheromone bunnies or something....
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Michael
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Posted: 7 June 2008, 3:01 AM
If I've guessed his identity right, Old Timer invented the the low-key afterwork rogaine. Which has the fortunate combination of lots of people liking it and low organising input - I heard someone describe it as "a gold mine". Jamie you should be sending him royalties...
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Michael
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Posted: 8 June 2008, 12:26 AM
Piha: 445!
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Jamie
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Posted: 8 June 2008, 3:43 AM
when, where were they invented?
If its a goldmine and has low organising input why is there only currently one regular series in the country? (the Taylors Mistake series)...not that I'm saying more wouldn't be a good idea....
I think after work darkness rogaines would work superbly in Akld, Vegas, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Dunedin...It'd be a great way of getting people who wouldn't be seen dead at club orienteering out there navigating in the hills.
Fortunately I once foolishly began an LLM on the intellectual property issues associated with formats etc so even if Old Timer is a lawyer and was so inclined I suspect he would have difficulty establishing any rights...just as the inventor of orienteering mapping at 1:10,000 scale with specialised symbols would struggle to get any of your hard earned cash Michael.
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mick finn
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Posted: 9 June 2008, 1:03 AM
There is a regular series in Wello Jamie, a spring/summer, autumn/winter Ridgerunner series (couresy Mike Sheridan). But you knew that.
Interesting phrase that, about "people who wouldn't be seen dead at club orienteering". Some regular rogainers do try their hand at orienteering and tell me that it doesn't appeal, particularly in the 'social' aspect; a long way to travel for not much atmosphere.
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