eNewsletter 213 - Friday 7^th November, 2025

G'day fellow rogainers

In this newsletter

• 2025 Woronora Explorer Socialgaine -- record participants!
• Urgent: Socialgaine recap opportunities this Sunday & Tuesday
• Early entries close Sunday: Spring Rogaine, W of Canberra, 15^th November
• Seeking fresh newsletter articles for next year
• Fine tuned: Calendar for the remainder of 2025, and 2026
• Get your ducks in a row in 2026 and come rogaining!

2025 Woronora Explorer Socialgaine -- record participants!

Winners of the best Bangor sign photo competition Nicole Mealing & Kate Klein performing their on-site rendition of “Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor?"

This year's Socialgaine was a cracking success. We had 504 participants supported by around 35 volunteers. According to archives dating back to 2003, this was a record number, exceeding all previous November NSWRA 6-hour events (and not just the socialgaines) that we have the numbers for. The closest prior to this was last year's Lane Cove Rivergaine VI, held on November 24^th with 489 participants. Only one socialgaine has ever exceeded 400 before that, which was 422 participants at Berowra in 2018. Prior to 2023, nearly all the socialgaines were in their 200s to 300s.

To an outsider, Engadine is a surprising suburb. In pre-European times, it was part of the wild steeply incised sandstone country encircling the Sydney Basin. Today, the tamed ridge-lines might be paved with streets and covered by houses, but in most directions it is only a few steps into the bushland of the past. The hillsides and creeks descending into the Woronora remain an 'urban wilderness', unchanged for thousands of years. And so we get to do our own unique brand of suburban rogaining -- Sydney style!

The event coordinator and course co-planners Zoe Melling, Peter Hopper, and Sharon Lambert created a magnificent course that made full use of the many bushland opportunities draping the ridge-lines and down into the valleys below.

There were bush tracks of varying sizes, a river to cross, giant prehistoric wildflowers, and great scenery at numerous lookouts.

In keeping with the social theme of this event, there were novelty competitions for the best Bangor sign photo and the cleverest team names.

We finished the warm day at the ANZAC oval Hash House with a good range of copious food. There were thirst-quenching Zooper Doopers; an almost bottomless supply of watermelons, oranges and chilled grapes in keeping with the weather; a variety of wraps, pies and sandwiches; and a dessert of ANZAC biscuits, crisps, banana cake, and more.

This was a record smashing Socialgaine. What a great way for the NSWRA to finish 2025!

Results

Winners by category:

Congratulations to Tristan White and Paul Olsen, the overall winners who clocked up 2210 out of a possible 3330pts with less than 3 minutes to spare. Second were the Veterans team of Ryan Armstrong & James Mcquillan with 2120pts, and 3rd was the Under 23 team of Jake Evans and Thomas Mountstephens with 2100pts. Fourth was the top Family team of Angus, Rory & Euan Shedden with 2060pts. The top mixed veterans team of long time regulars John & Mardi Barnes came 5th overall with 1860pts and the top Womens team of Melissa Robertson & Winnie Siu came 6th overall with 1790pts.

All winners by category:

Links to the full results are available from the event page.

Novelty prize winners:

Photo competition

Team name competition

A big thanks to all our volunteers

The social rogaines are particularly enjoyable to volunteer at. So many happy faces! Thanks to our volunteers, things went like clockwork. The 500⁺ participants would not have had such "a lovely time the day they went to Bangor" without the help of the following:

A very special thanks has to go to Zoe, Peter, and Sharon who were instrumental in getting the whole operation off the ground and making it run so smoothly. Well done!

We would also like to thank the following organisations for their support and providing essential services:

• ANZAC biscuits - The Station Patisserie, Sutherland
• Catering - Engadine Bakehouse,
• Kiosk Facilities Use - Engadine Dragons J.R.L.F.C.,
• Hash House Venue & Discount Entry To Engadine Pool - Sutherland Shire Council.

John Clancy is on the mend

John Clancy who was in the team - I be pro fun for all - with Chris Stevenson and John Bulman had a heavy fall on the course. It was near a road, and he was quickly taken to St George hospital by ambulance with a cut to the head, fractured eye socket and concussion. At time of going to press he is up and about but still recovering his balance. Will be discharged to the home of Chris and Di Stevenson.

Control 82 looking north

For more photos by Bruce Sutton and Michael Watts go to the event page.

Socialgaine recap opportunities

Nicole Mealing writes:

Have you been poring over your map post-event and evaluating the route choices you made? There are two social opportunities to meet up, reflect on Sunday’s course, and to learn from each other.

We’ll discuss the strategies for the routes we chose, how we minimised climbing contours, and the decisions we made to cut or add checkpoints while out on course. You’ll hear from experienced and newer rogainers and there will be opportunities to comment and ask questions too.

Choose from:

• An in-person gathering at The Royal Hotel in Springwood from 16:00-17:30 on Sunday November 9. We’ll be sitting on the terrace out the back and near the bistro. Look for the enthusiasts staring at maps! You can even check out the nearby bush trails beforehand, including the Victory track which has reopened in recent months.


• An online gathering from 19:30-20:30 on Tuesday November 11 using Google Meet. You do not require a google account to join. The link is: https://meet.google.com/dmk-qzmf-ynr.

Last event of the year: join us for the ACT Spring Rogaine

Early entries close this Sunday

For your calendar: add event date & early bird entries close

ACTRA have stepped up to complete your rogaining year with the upcoming Spring 6/12 hour event. It will be on Saturday 15^th November in the Bondo State Forest west of Canberra. The access options from Sydney are via Yass and Wee Jasper if you don't mind driving on dirt through the forest, or via Tumut for sealed roads (apart from the last 5 km). The Hash House is 50 km east of Tumut (~45 mins). See the Final Instructions on the ACTRA website from Saturday evening for more detail.

This will be the last 2025 rogaine in both the NSW and ACT calendars.

The area features a mix of native and pine forest with some fire-trails and tracks. The area is unburnt and looks fantastic after all the rain. The flowers will be blooming too, including lots of orchids. Altitude is around 1100 metres and there are patches of snow grass, so despite being late in the year it is unlikely to be too hot.

The course has been designed to provide easier routes that use the well-defined features, and more challenging loops for those looking for a physical and navigational challenge.

It will be a good event to step up to a 12-hour as there will only be a few hours of darkness.

The Hash House site will be a basic clearing in the forest. There'll be plenty of camping sites and you are welcome to camp on both the Friday and Saturday nights. Make a weekend of it and collect controls on the Sunday!

Catering will only be available at the end of each event so please be self-sufficient for any other time you will be camping.

Key info at a glance:

Course times

Saturday 15^th November 2025

Enter Here

In case there are any late changes, stay up to date by regularly visiting the event page on the ACTRA website.

Info for novices with advice on what gear to bring for a bush event and other information can be found on the website.

Please bring along a PLB or similar (e.g. Garmin Inreach) if you own one to carry on the course as there is no mobile reception.

Still looking for a team?

If you need to find a team, contact the event organiser Julie Quinn with your category and level of competitiveness for the event. Julie will match people up where possible but we make no guarantees and recommend you keep asking around people you know.

For many more course photos visit the Image Gallery.

Help still needed

We are still looking for two more people to help on the day. Please contact Julie if you can help out.

Note that NSW Rogainers who volunteer for this event will earn NSW reward points for their efforts. They just need to let Robin (the NSW Volunteer Coordinator) know as well.

Seeking fresh newsletter articles for next year

In 2025 a number of people contributed some excellent articles but we need more next year to keep things fresh and interesting.

For example, do you have any event reports, tips & tricks, personal rogaining experiences to share, or been to any interesting places? Just about anything you think would entertain this readership would be great.

Drop an email to: newsletter@nswrogaining.org — we’d be thrilled to feature your contribution. The more the merrier.

Calendar for the remainder of 2025, and 2026 (so far)

Thanks to our friends at the ACTRA we still have one more event to go this year. The dates for two more very important interstate rogaines coming up in 2026 have also been set. Planning an interstate trip? Check out the ARA's National Rogaining Calendar.

In all cases, remember to check the respective websites should there be any changes since some of the events are almost a year away.

Get your ducks in a row in 2026 and come rogaining!

(Novice training on the fly -- great pacing but wrong direction)

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