2023 Australian Champsionships

Welcome to the Australian Rogaining Championships
30-Sep. & 1-Oct 2023

NSW are hosting the 2023 Australian Rogaining Championships, a 24-hour rogaine on Wiradjuri country, in Goobang National Park and adjacent private land. It’s about 300km WNW of Sydney and a similar distance from Canberra.

In addition to the 24 hr event there will be an 8 hour non-championship event for those who want to participate in a shorter event.

The Intervarsity Championships will be held in conjunction with the 24 hour championship event.

What is Rogaining? The sport of cross-country navigation. Teams of two to five members travel entirely on foot, navigating with the aid of a map and compass. Read more about the sport of rogaining here.

Everyone is Welcome! You do not need to be a roginer to enter. You do not have to compete for 24 hours, in fact most teams come back in for a sleep at some time during the 24 hours. We will have volunteers on hand to help any newcomers.

Why “The Edge”? Goobang National Park sits at the western edge of the Central Tablelands. That change in altitude is obvious on the map, as are the panoramic views across the western plains when you are there. It is also an ecotone, a transition zone with flora and fauna species from western New South Wales as well as those more commonly found on the Great Dividing Range. Hence we could have called the event “An Edge”.

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The Location

The base camp (Hash House) is between Parkes and Orange, 300km north of Canberra and 330km west of Sydney CBD.

Detailed instructions regarding the site access and any special conditions will be attached to this website on the weekend prior to the event.

The Course

A mixture of grazing farmland with plenty of natural bushland in Goobang NP. Altitude varies from 400 to 800 metres above sea level.

David Williams and Ronnie Taib are the course setters. They are the best long-distance rogainers in NSW, having finished in the top ten at every AusChamps since 2014 (apart from West Australia 2016 which they didn’t attend.) David and Ronnie’s last course creation was the memorable NSW Champs at Kanangra in 2016.

Camping and Accommodation

The Hash House will be on a level, cleared space with ample room for camping, from Friday 29-Sep until Monday 2-Oct, noting that the Monday is a public holiday for ACT, NSW & SA.

Getting There

Most people find their own way to the site, but we encourage use of the buses provided especially for the event. Cost for this service will be $25 per person each way.

1. A coach will run from Canberra Airport, departing at 3pm on Friday;

2. A coach will will run from Sydney Domestic Airport, departing 2pm on Friday;

Both coaches should arrive at the event site by 8pm.

For the return journey, expect buses to depart the event site at 1:30pm on Sunday, which will get you to:

1. Canberra Airport, by 6:30pm on Sunday; or

2. Sydney Domestic Airport, by 7:30pm on Sunday.

We can negotiate pickups along the way (such as Lithgow Station or Yass) if you advise us via the email address below. If there is demand, a connection can be arranged from the Orange or Parkes Airports.

Intervarsity Championships

To participate in an Australian Intervarsity Rogaining Championships, students must be enrolled at a tertiary education institution recognised by UniSport Australia.

Teams consist of 2-5 students from the same university. Both part-time and full-time students are eligible. There is no age restriction, ie. under-graduate, mature age and post-graduate students qualify.

The Intervarsity rogaining competition began in 1969 and from 1981 was coordinated by the Australian Rogaining Association.

The Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation (NAMSF) sponsored the re-establishment of the Intervarsity competition in 2007. NAMSF has provided a perpetual trophy for the winning Intervarsity team named ‘The Nigel Aylott trophy’.

The Foundation has in the past paid the travel costs for one university team from each state so that there can be a well-represented national competition.

State Rogaining Associations are responsible for determining their own selection criteria for the NAMSF subsidies (ie. a single qualifying event, or a cumulative point score from multiple events, whether 24 hour or shorter qualifying events). However, for the purposes of the subsidy, preference must be given to under-graduate full time students.

Entrants should contact their state rogaining association as soon as possible for details about their selection process for the state representative team.

Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation

NAMSF is the Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation, set up in memory of Nigel to encourage engagement in the outdoor sports of rogaining and adventure racing.

NAMSF activities may include the following:

Promoting outdoor sports, health, safety, enjoyment and fitness, particularly supporting participation in Australian rogaining and adventure racing;
Payments and distributions towards team travel expenses for participation in rogaining and adventure racing events;
Subsiding and funding mini-adventure sports races and rogaines for young novices;
Organising, subsidising and funding training sessions and coaching clinics for skill development in skills related to rogaining and adventure racing;
Promotion of safety in rogaining and adventure racing by encouraging the worldwide application of safety audits and standards for developing and conducting events;
Distributions, funding and grants to other organisations for projects or activities that meet the purposes of the Association.

Who was Nigel Aylott

Nigel Aylott showed some talent as a long-distance runner at school but at university got into the full range of outdoor activities available through the Monash BushWalking Club, which included skiing, kayaking, and rogaining. As his endurance and navigation skill developed, so did his success at rogaining, eventually winning the World Rogaining Championships in 1998 and the Australian Rogaining Championships in 2000 and 2001.

As adventure racing developed, Nigel saw it as the natural progression from long-distance running and rogaining. He loved experiencing the different locations in which the adventure races were set. Nigel competed in several Southern Traverse and EcoChallenge events before teaming up with Tom Landon-Smith, Alina McMaster, and Matt Dalziel to form the successful team AROC. Nigel was tragically killed in the 2004 Primal Quest race after being hit by a large boulder dislodged at the top of a gully.

Nigel was highly regarded in the community and friends encouraged Nigel’s family to set up this foundation to leave a legacy by supporting the sports Nigel loved and gave so much to.