Bungonia - 12 hr Rogaine

I've officially decided.  Rogaines are great AR training!  Where else can you - run or walk your guts out - crash through bush, climb steep hills, cross rivers - navigate in the light and dark - pick your route - test your skills, race to a clock, make strategic decisions on the fly, get a big feed at the end and have a bunch of fun? 

Well you could do an AR race but in the absence of one - then Rogaines are the answer!

A stomp around Bungonia with Robbo was no exception!  NSW Rogaine created an awesome course on the plateau above the Shoalhaven River.  About 60 CPs spread over about 50 sq kms.  A "relatively" flat open and fast course - absolutely delightful to run and trek through.  Navigation in daylight was a gift.  Night time was somewhat harder!

Robbo reckoned we could get through about 60 km in the 12 hrs but being old and testy I suggested that 40 km might be a more reasonable outing.  Part of the challenge of Rogaining is working out a route that will get you through as many CPs in the time allowed and return to the Hash House without incurring an overtime penalty - 10 points per minute late.  This can add up to a significant penalty if you screw up your timing!  Each CP is worth between 30 - 100 points.  Not surprisingly the higher the number the harder it is to get to that CP!

With 10 mins to race start we had a route plan and our goal was to stick to it - we would evaluate our effectiveness afterwards.  Clearly this was a good training hit-out for ARers - there were a number of GEO and XPD teams present - it was great to catch up with old mates and race the course together!

Tip number one for gumbies - always identify where you are on the map before race start.  After running off in the wrong direction and 15 minutes of "this doesn't look right" - we found ourselves on the map - and the race could now start!

Easy Nav and running

After this, we made no more mistakes for the next 12 hrs.  It was a pleasure navigating with Robbo - we worked in tandem with two sets of maps.  We nailed each CP and as dark closed we raced to get one more CP on a knoll before darkness fell and our speed was halved.  We sat down an had "dinner" this was the first time we had stopped in 6 hrs.

Now the real challenge began - the next 12 CPs would be difficult - one in particular - we debated whether or not to go for it - a 90 pointer at the end of a VERY convoluted ridge system.  Do we cut our losses - blow off the plan and go for an easier CP or do we toughen up and use it as hard Nav training for GEO?

Hard Nav training won out  - our plan was to micro navigate our way along a 1.5 km ridge with a mass of side ridges to confuse us!  Accurate topographical and compass work nailed the CP.  Now all we had to do was reverse it!  The next 10 CPs were all done on compass marches.  Because it was dark we walked the next 18 km on bearings.  So good was our accuracy that many times we literally walked onto the CP - after trekking for over 1 km on a fixed bearing!

We were the last team to cross the line at 12.01 am and with 1550 points - 6/18 in the mens and 11/44 in all classes.  We had covered 44km - the last 18km in the dark.

Terrific navigation and footwork training.  I love Rogaines!