eNewsletter 191 - 5th November 2024
G'day fellow rogainers, Don't miss out: ENTRIES CLOSE Monday 18thClick here and you can enter right now 
The latest in our series of 6-hour 'socialgaines' (the 6th LaneCoveRivergaine) has finally reached the sea. This years' LCR VI covers the area from the Spit Bridge to Manly and North Head. The course has some of the most spectacular harbour and beach scenery in the world. The Hash House (start & finish) will be at St Paul's College on the edge of North Head with its natural bush, historic relics and spectacular views as you hunt for controls in iconic locations. This is also the perfect event to dip your toes into rogaining if you are a novice, and an excuse to get out and wander with kids, teaching them the basics of navigating by map as you go. Then, afterwards, there will be good food. Good food is crucial for a successful rogaine, so we'll have the 3-star professional chefs from the 1st North Sydney Scout Group preparing gourmet food for our hungry rogainers. Plenty of socialising is sure to follow. A great way to complete the rogaining year. Our friends and sponsors, Paddy Pallin, will again be providing winners' and lucky door prizes. We also need to acknowledge our Lane Cove Rivergaine faithful. These people have done all five of the Lane Cove Rivergaines held to date:
A magnificent effort! At the coming rogaine we will be recognising all those who have competed or volunteered in each of the six LCRs. If there is anyone we have missed could you please email Ted Woodley at ted@woodley.net.au. Ted Woodley reflects on his Lane Cove Rivergaine series*Ted Woodley, a serial course setter and event organiser, has been the identity behind the 6 rogaines in the Rivergaine series. We've invited Ted to reflect on his time at the helm, and asked him some questions: Back in 2015, when you organised a rogaine that started at the Baden-Powell Scout Centre at the head of the Lane Cove River valley, did you have a vision for how future events might develop? Being an engineer and a meticulous planner, I'd like to say yes. But no, the idea of proceeding from the source of the Lane Cove River, in Pennant Hills, down to its mouth (sort of) at the Heads, evolved over the years. And I was fortunate that no one else had organised a rogaine near the river recently, so I could proceed down its course. As course setter, how do you go about planning a course that is both enticing for the novice, but also allows a long enough route choice to test the gun teams so they think they might just clear it? The first step is to sketch out an area that is of sufficient size so that the elites can't quite complete all Controls, though I often fail to allow for the incredible speed of some gun teams. The next essential requirement is to find a Hash House site with adequate covered space for all participants in the event of torrential rain, with parking on-site or nearby, and preferably towards the centre of the map. It really is quite difficult to locate venues that satisfy those three criteria. Then when planning a course, find all the interesting and special locations from talking with locals and your own research, and set the Controls so that ideally there is a choice of at least two routes between every Control. We also need to put sufficient high scoring Controls within reach of the teams that will cover the least distance so as to maintain their enthusiasm. What special features can we expect on the 6th event of the series? Ocean views at last? The map covers North Head, and Manly to the Spit Bridge, with arguably some of the best harbour and beach scenery on the planet. I can guarantee that no one will have been to all the Control locations. And the highest scoring Control (120 points) will be at the Manly Croquet Club, where all team members will need to score a hoop before the Control can be punched. Having now truly run out of river, do you have any ideas for a future event? One wit, 'Julian', (although this might be a pseudonym) suggested that the next LaneCoveRivergaine could be at Lord Howe Island. We'll see, but plans are afoot for LCRVII, and more, to be revealed later. If you want to experience more of Ted's Lane Cove Rivergaine series, LCRI, LCRII and LCRV are available as Maprun events here.
* We are rogainers. We know that this event is being held nowhere near the Lane Cove River but if Ted, the event organiser, wants to call it "Lane Cove Rivergaine VI" then we are not going to argue. If you want to organise an event, you can name it whatever you like as well😂.2025 CalendarThe 2025 calendar has been locked in - check it out below or grab one of the flyers at the next event. You can also download the 'fridge-friendly' version from the NSWRA Website.
Thinking of volunteering in '25?Note all the blanks in the Where and Being set by columns above? There are lots of opportunities for you to help delivering our events next year. Please drop an email to the Volunteer Coordinator - volunteer@nswrogaining.org or register to help in any event here. (NSWRA celebrates its volunteers. Volunteers earn points. 100 points earns entry to a subsequent event. There is a volunteer rewards points table where you can monitor your progress toward a free entry voucher. For more info see the Volunteer Rewards Policy.) A few useful linksSubscribe your new email address You have received this email because you have opted to receive newsletters on a NSWRA entry or have subscribed via the website. If you no longer want these, you can unsubscribe below. |
