Victorian 24hr Rogaining Champs
I entered my first rogaine on the weekend. I met my rogaining partner Mick Worthington, a somewhat younger and fitter looking chap than I, at a post swim breakfast about 2 weeks beforehand. Going for a 24 hour event seemed like a good thing to do at the time. The rogaine started on Saturday at noon, and concluded on Sunday at noon. Sleeping is optional. I wasn't really concerned about the race until I started packing the night before, and realised the amount of gear I needed to carry, and then saw the weather reports indicating 38oC on Saturday. Ouch, that's hot. I knew I was about to enter a world of pain, well, 24hrs of it at least.
The race started out well, we found our first checkpoint within about 5 mins, and then headed off in a direction that no one else seemed to be heading. We wondered if we had made the correct route selection. Mick seemed to have a pretty good handle on navigation, and I seemed to be able to at least agree on the bearing needed to the next checkpoint and keep up; both things I was worried about beforehand.
Things were going well, we seemed to find checkpoint easily, and Mick had a sixth sense reading the subtle clues hidden between the contour lines. But it was just so bloody hot. We were draining our 3 litre camelbacks every two hours, and with a number of waterstations strategically located on the map, we managed to barely have enough water. As darkness approached about 9pm, we started to slow. Navigation became more difficult, and finding checkpoints in the dark required a lot of patience and a little luck.
Micks feet were causing problems. We met a couple that had problems with an electric fence; 30 mins and two electric shocks later they managed to get over. A few small blisters soon had Mick limping, and extra taping didn't address the problem. A limp soon became a hobble. At about 1.30am, tired and foot sore, we trudged into the Hash House camp area, tired and sore but happy with our result for the 13 or so hours we were out there. We managed about half the checkpoints in about half the time, but were well short of the endurance necessary to keep going at the pace we had set. I was sorry for Mick, but also glad to crash out in the tent for a few hours before the sun came up.
Definitely a lot of fun, and something I'll have to try again, but maybe 6 or twelve hours this time.
The race started out well, we found our first checkpoint within about 5 mins, and then headed off in a direction that no one else seemed to be heading. We wondered if we had made the correct route selection. Mick seemed to have a pretty good handle on navigation, and I seemed to be able to at least agree on the bearing needed to the next checkpoint and keep up; both things I was worried about beforehand.
Things were going well, we seemed to find checkpoint easily, and Mick had a sixth sense reading the subtle clues hidden between the contour lines. But it was just so bloody hot. We were draining our 3 litre camelbacks every two hours, and with a number of waterstations strategically located on the map, we managed to barely have enough water. As darkness approached about 9pm, we started to slow. Navigation became more difficult, and finding checkpoints in the dark required a lot of patience and a little luck.
Micks feet were causing problems. We met a couple that had problems with an electric fence; 30 mins and two electric shocks later they managed to get over. A few small blisters soon had Mick limping, and extra taping didn't address the problem. A limp soon became a hobble. At about 1.30am, tired and foot sore, we trudged into the Hash House camp area, tired and sore but happy with our result for the 13 or so hours we were out there. We managed about half the checkpoints in about half the time, but were well short of the endurance necessary to keep going at the pace we had set. I was sorry for Mick, but also glad to crash out in the tent for a few hours before the sun came up.
Definitely a lot of fun, and something I'll have to try again, but maybe 6 or twelve hours this time.
posted by pastyboy at 11:00 AM
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