2023 Australian Rogaining Championships
30-Sep & 1-Oct 2023
ENTRIES CLOSING SOON
You’ve only got a few days left to register for the pinnacle of Rogaining competion for 2023 – the Australian Rogaining Championships, brought to you this year by the NSW Rogaining Association.
This event has been researched and created by David Williams and Ronnie Taib – one of Australia’s top teams, so you’ll be both challenged and educated as to what a championship course should be.
But... it’s not just for the hardened, 24-hour guns .. you can get a sample of the superb country in daylight and a bit of night with the 8 hour event, or just go out for as long as you like in either the 8 or 24. This is a real opportunity to build and refine your bush navigation skills in day and night conditions.
The weather looks like it‘s going to be dry - a bit warm during the day and pleasantly cool overnight. There’ll be hearty food and good company in abundance. The Final Instructions will soon be on the event website, along with any other information that you need for the event.
Get your team entry in before Monday night – we may consider late entries with a reasonable timeframe, but there will be a cost penalty.
Graham Field (President)
And from Trevor Gollan (event organizer)
The 43rd Australian Rogaining Championships are in final preparation, located in a new area between Parkes and Orange, at The Edge of NSW’s central slopes.
Many of Australia’s top rogainers, the top competitors from the ARC 2022 in Victoria’s Pyrenees, are registered for this event. We look forward to seeing whether Canberrans David Baldwin & Julie Quinn can defend their open win. They certainly have had The Edge over the competition in the last decade.
David Williams & Ronnie Taib (NSW), who placed second last year, won’t be competing because they are the course setters this year. Reciprocally, Vic Sedunary & Mervyn Trease (Vic) were course setters last year, and will be very competitive in their Men’s UltraVet category.
Shelley Bambrook (Vic) was 4th last year with Elizabeth Dornom, winning the Open Women’s trophy. This year Shelley has teamed with Deanna Blegg (Vic) to compete in the Women’s Veteran category. Deanna has form too… she won the Women’s Vet category last year.
Fifth last year were Gill Fowler & Joel Mackay (NSW). Gill returns this year, teamed with Brendan Davies (NSW). Sixth last year were Eric Lambers, Alaster Meehan & Paul Monks (Vic), and two of them return this year … Eric & Paul have included another Victorian, Tim Cochrane. Paul Guard & Amanda Koopman (Qld) placed seventh last year return in their Mixed Veteran category.
Mike Hotchkis & Tristan White (NSW) were eighth last year. They are both competing again at The Edge, Mike with Andrew Duerden in Men’s SuperVet, and Tristan with Keelan Birch in the Open Men’s category. Tenth last year were Richard Robinson & Tamsin Barnes (Qld). Richard returns this year with Brett Davis (NSW) in Mens UltraVet, while Tamsin has teamed with Susan Brown (ACT) in the Women’s Veterans. It’s good to see such interstate mingling.
Of the 21 rogainers in last year’s top ten, 14 will be again competing this year.
There’s many other category winners returning to defend their titles. Rolf Boswell (NZ) won Men’s Veteran last year; he has teamed with Glenn Taylor (WA) this year. Thorlene Egerton & Jonathan Sutcliffe (Vic/Tas) return after winning Mixed Supervet last year, while Gary Carroll & Ken Mclean (Tas) are returning to defend Men’s SuperVet.
Jean Douglass & Peggy Douglass (ACT) are back to defend the Women’s UltraVet, Grant Battersby & Tony Slatyer (ACT) are defending Men’s UltraVet, and Sue Hearnden & Philip Hearnden (SA) are back for their Mixed UltraVet trophy. Yes, all the UltraVet winners from 2022 are bringing their trophies to the event, and hoping to carry them home afterwards. The UltraVet category, 65 years and over, may be the most competitive of all.
There are two other competitions that are unique to the Australian Championships. Currently enrolled university students compete for the Intervarsity Championships, and every participant represents their state in the Interstate Challenge. You could come last but still gain points for your state if you are in the top three in your category.
It's a great rogaining area, in which we expect everybody to find new beauty and challenges. How will you match up against the competitive teams?
