G'day Rogainers,
NSW Rogaining eNewsletter, 1st December 2019
Compiled by Tristan White
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“Garigal Gasper” Socialgaine 24-Nov-2019 Results Available on Website
Massive thanks to Robin and John Cameron, John Havranek, Richard Green and all other volunteers who helped pull together an excellent tour of the bushland in a little-known part of Northern Sydney at last weekend’s event. A great rogaining finale for 2019. Deep Creek was a course highlight, and the intricacy of the mountain bike trails tested teams’ navigation.
The teams who forgot it was a Social-gaine. Here’s the top five routes for the event. Andrew Brown and Richard Mountstephens won with 2,630 points, short of the available 3,040 due to fun on the many walking tracks and mountain bike trails that made up a large part of the event.
With teammates Peter Watterson and Bruce Borchardt, President Trevor Gollan shows how a Socialgaine is done.
Women’s Super Veterans winners Karen Jameyson and Anne Minogue win their first mug, with a very respectable 1,000 points, sensibly planning to mostly stick to the easier roads.
Sydney Summer Series Bush Events in Northern Sydney
The next two Orienteering Sydney Summer Series events will be bush dominated, and a great excuse for solo navigation practice! For those who haven’t tried one out, these are 45-minute orienteering events (score or Rogaine style) on Wednesday evenings. I am hosting the next event for Garingal Orienteers which starts at Cliff Oval, North Wahroonga on Wed 4th December, the same location as the 2016 Socialgaine. The map will have new tracks with some spectacular views you won't have time to experience as you race around the course, but I got to appreciate them when recently taping control locations.
Bushland in North Wahroonga, part of the next Sydney Summer Series course
Then on Wed 11th December, Gill Fowler has set a course using the bushland trails around Pennant Hills Park. NSW Rogaining is hosting this Sydney Summer Series event with support from Bigfoot Orienteers. The event start is at netball courts off Britannia St, Pennant Hills.
For both of these events you can start anytime between 4:30pm and 6:45pm, with map handouts from 4pm for planning. The Sydney Summer Series contains 26 events from October to April. The full calendar is on the SSS website here.
Gill’s Summer Series course in Roseville from last year saw many NSW Rogainers challenge the Orienteers. Come back Wednesday 11th December at Pennant Hills for a rematch!
2019 Series Points Score
With the final rogaine of the year complete we can now announce the winners for each age category. Congratulations to everyone who did a rogaine in 2019. Check out the full results and rules at the Series Point Score website, compare your effort with your friends, and consider how you can improve next year.
Honour List to Most Fanatical Rogainers!
A shout out to Chris Stevenson (pictured below in the Paddlegaine!) and Marg and Rob Cook who are the only NSWRA members to have made it to all 9 NSW events in 2019. In addition to doing most of the organising to the Nyctophobia Buster, Chris is our webmaster.
Chris Stevenson and his team mate, training for the Paddlegaine
Marg and Rob Cook, doing what they love, finding controls on a rogaine
Also, an honourable mention to the following members went to 7 or 8 (including volunteering) events:
- Andrew Smith
- Gill Fowler
- Pam Montgomery
- Toni Bachvarova
- Tristan White
If we were to include interstate and international events, Toni Bachvarova and Andrew Smith certainly must take out the honours of spending the most time rogaining in 2019. With a combined 176 hours spent doing events this year, including six 24-hour events: NSW, ACT, Oz, NZ, World Champs and Navshield! This doesn’t even include the many hours they spent setting the “Pagoda Palooza” and vetting the “Nyctophobia Buster”!
Congratulations to Toni and Smiffy who won the Mixed Veterans in the NZ Championships - not sure how the Kiwis felt about having Aussies taking the win, but Well Done guys
Making Rogaining Professional – A History of the Navlight Scoring System
If you started rogaining in the past decade, you will most likely only know the electronic scoring system known as “Navlight,” used at all NSW (and most other Australian) rogaines.
But just like almost any piece of technology, there was a time that it did not exist, and people knew a world where rogaine scoring was done manually - with pencil, scorecard, nuts and washers. At the recent Australasian Champs in Tasmania I had the privilege to meet Peter Squires (pictured below), the Kiwi who invented the system in the early 2000s. He kindly offered to share his story in a bit more depth over a series of emails.
2020 Calendar on Website - here...
The dates for our ten NSW rogaines in 2020 are listed on our website, as well as the Australasian Champs in South Australia. We will also have flyers of these, including the ACT rogaining calendar, to hand out at our next events, ideal for sticking to your fridge or handing to your friends!
Volunteers are the driving force behind the sport
A total of 140 people volunteered to bring you rogaines in 2019, and 21 of these stepped up three times or more in various roles. Special mention to the Event Coordinators, Course Setters and Committee members who put in the biggest efforts to make all the events happen. We thank them for all their efforts. Without their time, energy and imagination (and support of their families), we would not have events.
The volunteers’ picnic will be held on January 18th 2020 in northern Sydney so if you are one of those people you can expect an email with more details very soon!
The picnic to thank last year’s volunteers, at Audley.
We also thank those who have already put up their hand for events in 2020, helping us anticipate what may lie ahead. But there are still many gaps for events that need key positions filled, such as a coordinator and course setter. Remember there are roles that require minimal experience and time, and there are plenty of long-time rogainers who can help mentor you should you take on a larger position. Please consider messaging Graham Field, our volunteer coordinator (volunteer@nswrogaining.org), if you would like to find out how you can help.