2010 World Rogaine Champs Coming to NZ

addison Posted: 14 January 2009, 12:59 AM   NEW ZEALAND AWARDED 9TH WORLD ROGAINING CHAMPIONSHIPS The New Zealand Rogaining Association has been awarded the 9th World Rogaining Championships in an announcement from the International Rogaining Federation today. The Championships are planned for 20-21 November 2010, and will be held in hill country near the town of Cheviot, 120 km north of Christchurch. The Championships will be a 24 hour team event, and will attract several hundred elite cross-country navigators from over twenty countries and all continents. IRF President, Neil Phillips, said that this will be the second time New Zealand has hosted the World Rogaining Championships, the first time being the 4th World Rogaining Championships Millenium Rogaine of January 2000, which attracted 400 participants with an age span of 70 years from youngest to oldest. In 2000, New Zealand elite rogainer, Chris Forne, first showed signs of his real ability with a second placing overall, which he followed up in 2006 by becoming World Rogaining Champion with fellow New Zealander Dennis De Monchy. They backed this up with a 2nd place in the recent World Rogaining Championships in Estonia behind a Russian team. New Zealand has a long and proud history in rogaining and cross country navigation with claim to the longest running event, the TWALK, or 24 hour walk, originating from University of Canterbury in 1967. Greg Barbour is arguably the countrys most famous elite rogainer having won the World Rogaining Championships in 2000 in NZ, and again in 2002 in the Czech Republic, and with a second placing in 1998 in Canada, and 2004 in USA. New Zealand is also renowned for its senior rogainers who routinely beat younger rivals, and seem to get stronger the steeper the country becomes. Pete Squires, Bill Kennedy and Anne Kennedy have won World and National titles in the super veterans category (over 55 yrs) for nearly a decade, and are also winning veteran categories (over 40 yrs) in the same events. It is characteristic of rogaining that champion competitors give back so much as volunteers. Pete Squires, for example, formed the New Zealand Rogaining Association (NZRA) in 2002. He continues to lead the Association. He also co-ordinated the 4th World Rogaining Championships before taking on and leading this successful 2010 bid for the World Rogaining In his spare time, he developed the Navlight system that electronically records competitors progress at checkpoints throughout the whole 24 hours of events. IRF Promotion and Development Manager, Alan Mansfield, who managed the selection process for 9th WRC, said that the sport was fortunate having four strong bids for 2010. Ukraine made a proposal based on their successful staging of the 3rd European Rogaining Championships in 2006. Czech Republics proposal built upon their successful 5th World Rogaining Championships held in countryside right up against the former iron curtain in 2002, and Russia made a bid capitalising on the fact they run more 24 hour rogaines that any other country and have many top ranked teams including the current World Rogaining Champions. The eventual choice of New Zealand reflected the global nature of rogaining and the wish of most countries and participants to rotate the prestigous World Championships between various continents. It is expected that many participants in 2010 will build holidays around the World Championships that would include competing in other cross country events in New Zealand and Australia, enjoying the spectacular countryside and friendly people.