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Eco City Challenge - a 4 hour urban rogaine

Show Profile  runningbeast Posted: 3 April 2008, 8:26 AM  
The Waitakere Eco City Challenge is a 4 hour urban navigation challenge (rogaine) exploring the the extensive track network joining the parks and other greenspaces of Waitakere city. Waitakere City Council has commissioned the event to show off this new track network (including the Twin Streams Project) and the the public transport available in the city.

Teams of 2 to 5 people will navigate their way (staying together as a team), using the provided map, to as many checkpoints as they can by either walking, running, or traveling by bus. Checkpoints are visited in any order, with checkpoints being allocated differing points.

Event organisers, Lactic Turkey Events, say it's great to have Mayor Bob Harvey entered with a mayoral team, "he has done one of our bush rogaines in the Waitakere Ranges before so will know how it all works".

It's going to be great unique event for the area and a real challene with the added option of taking a Go West Bus (using the sponsored day passes that everyone will get) just making it even more interesting. Will you wait at the bus stop for the bus, which is due in 5 minutes or sneak off to get that checkpoint just down the road, and risk missing the bus.


WHAT IS A ROGAINE?

IN SUMMARY - Rogaine is the sport of long distance cross country navigation in which teams of 2-5 members visit as many checkpoints as possible within a given time limit (just 4 hours for this event).

Teams travel entirely on foot (or by bus for our event), navigating by map and compass. Checkpoints may be visited in any order, with checkpoints being allocated differing points. The highest score wins. Teams may return to the event centre as many times as they like and do not have to stay out for the entire time allowed. Penalty points are deducted from a teams overall score for a late return.

NOW..PRACTICALLY - HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
You turn up to register 1 hour before the start and pick up your race pack (9am) and start planning your route. Included in your race pack is a map to plan where you are going to go. On the map there are lots of checkpoints, each worth a different number of points.

The object is to get as many checkpoints in the time allowed (4 hours). So in the planning time (1 hour) you have to decide if you will go far away from the event centre to get a few of higher points or stay closer and get lots of lower points. The catch is that you have to plan to be back on time, because for every minute that you're late after the 4 hours you lose 10 points (a big incentive to get back on time) and if you are more than half an hour late you get "timed out". You may find that you change from your planned route as you go because the tracks are faster than you thought - that's fine, you don't have to stick to your original plan. And you can come back to the event centre as often as you like.

So at 10am everyone heads off in lots of different directions - its a crazy start!. The teams of 2-5 people must stay together at all times.

Then at 2pm everyone should be finishing all at the same time. When you finish you add up all your points.

The navigation is very easy as all of the course is on a sort of road map but with more details (like small tracks, parks, playgounds etc). Checkpoints are on features like seats, tracks, buildings or other obvious features. Below is an example of what the map will look like - just like a street map aye!

Usually these are really social events with teams comparing where they went afterwards and debating the best route. The teams thing is great for the competitors too because you have to get along and take turns at navigating.

This event is open to teams of every type - business teams, social teams, family teams, schools and sports clubs. We're setting up the event centre in Henderson Park and offering tent sites to those that want to set up for the day.

EVERY ENTRANT RECEIVES:

1 specially prepared colour map with checkpoint locations marked
1 b/w map with checkpoints marked - for planning, 1 plastic map bag,
2 Leppin squeezies c/o Leppin Sport,
an all day bus pass from Go West to use to get around if you wish
and a challenging, interesting, and satisfying 4 hours activity!!
a chance to win some great spot prizes inlcuding New Balance shoes and two LCD/DVD combo TVs!

Check out the Eco City Challenge website (www.ecocitychallenge.co.nz) for information and to enter on-line.



Show Profile  Michael Posted: 3 April 2008, 11:05 AM  
That wouldn't be the event talked about in "North and South" Apr 08 would it? "Run Rugged. Around gnarly coastlines, over mountains and through bush - trail running is taking off."

On p59: "Coming soon, West Auckland's Waitakere City Council is right behind the inaugural Waitakere City Eco Challenge (April 13). Organised by Lactic Turkey Events, it will follow a similar format to the safari: team up seek checkpoints by train, bus and foot; and have fun."

And that safari referred to: "It's no surprise, then, that city and regional councils nationwide have jumped on track, seizing the chance to promote open spaces as well as their local economies. Wellington City Council, for example, backs the City Safari (May 18) where hundreds of map-toting competitors scoot around the region hunting down checkpoints. To travel between green areas, there's free rein to nip on to buses and trains."

Show Profile  SteveO Posted: 3 April 2008, 1:42 PM  
10am April 13. So, same date and time and just up the road from OY2 then?

Show Profile  pete s Posted: 3 April 2008, 2:23 PM  
Yeah, shame about the clash with OY 2 - would have been keen if not for that!

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 3 April 2008, 2:44 PM  
Who was it who said - event not on Maptalk - he not exist?

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 9 April 2008, 7:52 AM  
Runningbeast says 130 so far in the Eco City Challenge, I'm sure that will rise by Sunday. A great start, the City Safari had 70 for its first one, planning for 500 this time. Entries now open via www.citysafari.org.nz



Show Profile  runningbeast Posted: 10 April 2008, 2:36 AM  
Entries are up to 55 teams or 160 people and still coming in. A big turnout for a first time event.

Finished the map last night at 2.30am and its a beauty! A great resource for the future too as we have only managed to fit 2/3 of the Waitakere City on an A3 map (in order to make it readable). So next year we can use the southern section of the City.

Show Profile  runningbeast Posted: 14 April 2008, 2:00 AM  
The inaugural Eco City Challenge was a great success with 250 people in 83 teams taking part in the navigational challenge (rogaine) around the streets of Waitakere City by foot or bus.

The winning team, open mens team "3 Guys" (Matthew Nye-Hingston, Paul Grayson and Gordon Pope) gained the most points in the 4 hour event by scoring 1,520 points out of the possible 3,200. This shows the size of the area mapped and potential for further exploration by participants in later years. The newly created map was A3 sized and covered an area roughly 11km long by 8 km wide.

Second was mixed veteran team “Nga Rakau” (Mark Struthers and Annette Windross) who score 1450 and third equal was another mixed vet team “Michels and Michels” (Roel and Di Michels) and open mens team “Cullenfest” (Todd Woods, Dan Cullen, Tim Lucas and Matt Landreth) who both scored 1,420 points.

The corporate competition was taken our by the Perry West team (Steve Hanna, Neil Macfarlane and Jocelyn Crosby) who won with 1,160 points, just 60 points more than second place “WE Warriors” from Waitakere Enterprise (Roxi Pringle, John Wadsworth, Bevan Dudley, Danny Morris and Sophie Heighway) who actually sponsored the corporate event.

Event Supporters Waitakere City Council, who contracted Lactic Turkey Events to make the map and organise the event were impressed with the turnout and could see huge potential for growth in future years. They were happy that the main objectives of the event were met, namely:
1 To promote health and fitness in a novel and attractive way
2 To foster knowledge and use of the increasingly comprehensive network of walk and cycle ways in Waitakere
3 To promote knowledge of public transport in Waitakere
4 To promote Waitakere City
5 To generate funds for WESTY Trust to disburse to talented young Waitakere residents and/or youth organisations (according to criteria established by the trust) is one of the objectives of the event

Participants were impressed with the network of tracks and parks and even locals were amazed at how much off-road running they were doing, that they didn’t know about previously.

Buses, although limited on a Sunday did prove popular with the best story coming from a bus at the end of the day racing back from Te Atatu towards the event centre with 30 participants on it. Upon seeing a couple of guys running to a bus stop trying to hail the bus, the whole bus yelling to the driver “don’t stop!”. Apparently the bus driver pulled into the bus stop and then quickly pulling out (to a cheering busload of participants), leaving the two runners having to continue running back to the event centre, trying to beat the four hour deadline.

Participants were given an all day bus pass from Go West buses and a complete set of timetables. This made the one hour planning time for the event a challenge with teams sprawled around the event centre, with maps and timetables laid out around them as they planned their route. Passers by must have wondered what they had come across.

Just seven teams arrived at the finish after this 4 hour deadline incurring the 10 point penalty per minute late.

The encouraging aspect of the event for the organisers was the variety of teams competing. There were some from the usual Lactic Turkey bush rogaines (like the Piha Rogaine on the 7th June and Huia Rogaine on the 12th July) and some trying out a rogaine for the first time. For some teams this was the first competitive event they had competed in at all, let alone something involving navigation. There were plenty of families including babies in buggies and backpacks and teams with 3 generations of the family included.


Show Profile  addison Posted: 14 April 2008, 3:18 AM  
Hey Shaun,

Would be awesome if you posted news on infonews so this would come through to maptalk as well as endurancesport!

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