News

The Western Australian Rogaining Association is excited to announce that the 2024 Australasian Rogaining Championships will be held within the Mid West "Golden Outback" region of Western Australia, around 4.5 hours north east of Perth, on the weekend of 7th and 8th September 2024.  This is stunning red dirt and blue sky country, in a recently founded Park new to rogaining, with complex topography ranging from 250m to 500m.  The predicted average daytime temperature is 23°C, and wildflowers may be abundant. Bus / coach transport will be available from Perth Airport.

WARA respectfully acknowledges the Badimia Yamatji people as Traditional Custodians of the land we will rogaine on.  Visit the WARA Website https://wa.rogaine.asn.au/ for ongoing updates and information as this becomes available.

Julian Ledger has provided this account of his experiences rogaining in WA, it's well worth a read:
Go West for the Australasian Rogaining Championships

The 2023 Australian Rogaining Championships were held on Wiradjuri country in Goobang National Park and adjacent private land on 30th September/1st October. NSWRA did a great job organising the event in challenging conditions with temperatures over 30 degrees on Saturday and Sunday.

The overall and mixed winners were Julie Quinn and David Baldwin (ACT), second and winning mens team were Eric Lambers (VIC), Paul Monks (VIC) and Tim Cochrane (ACT). First womens team were Shelley Bambrook and Deanna Blegg (VIC).
The Intervarsity Championships was won by the team of Xavier Scott and Will Whittington and  from University of Tasmania. The Interstate Challenge Trophy was a tie between NSW and ACT.

Organiser was Trevor Gollan, and the course setters were David Williams and Ronny Taib. The event website with results, analysis and photos is: nswrogaining.org/2023-aus-champs.

Australians performed outstandingly at the 2023 World Rogaining Championship held on 29/30 July at Lake Tahoe, California, USA. A superb performance from the "Dream Team" of Joanna George, Abigail George and Meredith Norman to again win Womens’ Under 23. Two Aussie teams Rod Gray and Geoff Lawford, Richard Robinson and Vivienne Prince, took home 2 trophies, won against much younger competitors.
The Northstar ski resort was surrounded by 250sq km of hilly pine forest from 1900 to 2600 metres elevation. Most teams survived the expected hot dry summer weather during daytime and moved faster in the night, especially with the help of the reflective controls.
The top teams overall were from Estonia, Spain, Latvia, USA and Ukraine. The following were the Australian placings:

• Joanna George, Abigail George, Meredith Norman - 1st Women Under 23
• Gill Fowler, Elizabeth Dornom – 1st Women Veteran
• Thorlene Egerton, Christine Brown – 1st Women Super Veteran, 2nd Women Veteran
• Rod Gray, Geoff Lawford – 1st Men Ultra Veteran, 1st Men Super Veteran
• Richard Robinson, Vivienne Prince (NZ) – 1st Mixed Ultra Veteran, 1st Mixed Super Veteran
• David Baldwin, Julie Quinn – 2nd Mixed Veteran
• Sharon Crawford, Robin Spriggs (USA) – 2nd Women Ultra Veteran

NSWRA are hosting the 2023 Australian Rogaining Championships, held on Wiradjuri country, in Goobang National Park and adjacent private land. The event date is 30th September/1st October. This is the long weekend in NSW and clocks change to summer time during the event!
Ominously named "The Edge", the event is about 300km west of Sydney and a similar distance north from Canberra. Nearest towns for accommodation are Parkes and Orange. Transport by coach is available at low cost from both Sydney and Canberra airports.
The Intervarsity Championships will be held in conjunction with the ARC. NAMSF are again providing subsidised travel for one university team per state or territory.
The terrain promises a mixture of grazing farmland with plenty of natural bushland in Goobang NP. Altitude varies from 400 to 800 metres.
Organiser is Trevor Gollan, while the course setters are NSW's most successful Mens' rogaining team: David Williams and Ronny Taib. Entries are now open. The event website is: nswrogaining.org/2023-aus-champs.

The 2022 World Rogaining Championship took place on 26/27th August in the Rychleby and Kralicky Sneznik Mountains along the Czech/Polish border.
The organisers provided a very challenging planning exercise, with bunches of high value controls interspersed by massive gaps of low value. Terrain was hilly and navigation straight forward by Australian standards, with lots of tracks.
The event started on a warm, sunny and humid afternoon that developed into massive electrical thunderstorms with hail during the afternoon, turning the tracks into rivers. Fortunately, it became mild and fine for most of the rogaine and competitors enjoyed sunshine for the closing meal (with Czech beer) and the presentations.
There was only a small contingent of 16 Australians in the field of 567 (271 teams) from 22 countries. A superb performance from Australia's "Dream Team" of Joanna George, Abigail George and Meredith Norman who won Womens Under 23 by 610 points.
The following were the Australian placings:

• Joanna George, Abigail George, Meredith Norman - 1st Women Under 23
• Thorlene Egerton, Shari Hymes (USA) - 1st Women Super Veterans
• Rod Gray, Geoff Lawford - 2nd Men Ultra Veterans
• Robin Spriggs, Sharon Crawford (USA) - 3rd Women Ultra Veterans