Tasmania won the challenge trophy!

Congratulations to the Tasmanian rogainers who competed in the recent Australasian Championships held at Long Plain in Kosciuszko National Park earlier this month. The area was spectacularly scenic  – large grassy plains with some gnarly hills and vegetation. The daytime weather was warm (high 20s), and this proved to be the demise of many teams. However, a few Tasmanian teams toughed it out. In particular, Jon Sutcliffe and Thor Egerton won open mixed, mixed vets, and mixed supervets. Also, Christine Brown and Karen Pedley won women’s vets, women’s supervets, and placed 3rd women’s open. The results of these two teams were sufficient for Tasmania to win the Interstate and Trans-Tasman trophy for the third time in 5 years, so well done to us! Many other Tassie teams had a great event and achieved their goals, like staying out all night for the first time.

In this newsletter, you will see an appeal for volunteers for the December bush event. Rogaines can’t happen without volunteers, so I ask that you consider helping.

We will also need on-the-day help at the Launceston Coffee Bean Metrogaine (18th of May), so consider this, particularly if you are from the north. Some tasks will take just a few hours of your afternoon. Volunteering is fun, so give it a whirl.

Finally, we sadly say farewell to Kristin Raw and Lucy Hawthorne, who have departed the committee. Thanks for all your work over the years! We welcome Stephen Yam to the committee.

Rogaining Tasmania is no longer using our Facebook Group and has switched to a Facebook Page. This will make administering our social media presence easier, but there are some differences in how you can use it. Firstly – you must like and follow the Page. This isn’t automatic for group members and you will need to go to the page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573722106884) and click on follow.

You won’t be able to post to the Page, but we have set up Events on the Page, and you can comment on these. For example, if you are seeking a teammate for an event. You can contact the committee on Facebook by messaging the Page,  and by using the form at https://rt.asn.au/contact-us

Rogaining Tasmania will be organising a bush event during this weekend in December. The likely location is pretty forested private farmland west of Oatlands.

Whilst the final duration is yet to be decided we will be trying our hardest to run a 24 hr State Championships. Ultimately the duration chosen will depend on our ability to get multiple landowners on board!

If you would like to volunteer to help at the event in some capacity please contact the Event Director, Bernard Walker - email or phone 0417 163961
If you have any specific role you would like to be involved in please let me know. There is plenty to do before, during and after the event!

By event setter Christine Brown

Have you ever wondered how many coffee shops there are in Launceston? The short answer is, lots! In the Coffee Bean Metrogaine, you will get to visit a fraction of these. The course will suit those who want a leisurely stroll around the city, perhaps stopping to imbibe a brew with your teammates or those who are using the caffeine fix to visit as many checkpoints as possible.

Event co-organiser Paul Pacque pictured checking the course accuracy

The course will take you to the north, south, east, and west of the city. Some checkpoints are located in iconic parts of the city, and others, hidden in alleys and courtyards. 

All questions will be related to coffee. The question might be about coffee or the shop selling the coffee. Some might be straightforward; others may be cryptically related to coffee, but all will be on the coffee theme. This will be a question and answer-style event (e.g. “How many beans in a standard cup of coffee?”) in which you navigate to the point on the map and answer the question correctly to prove that you’ve been there. The navigation will not be too difficult.

For those new to rogaining, there will be a special novice category. Instructions and map-planning assistance will also be available on the day. A metrogaine is a terrific introduction to rogaining and a great way to boost your navigation skills.

Celebrate autumn the active way and start organising your team of 2 to 5 people now. 

The start is at the Launceston Bowls & Community Club, 5 Home Point Parade, in Launceston. There is plenty of room for parking.

Registration opens at 8:30 am and the 4-hour event starts at 10:00 a.m on Sunday 18th of May. You should arrive at least an hour earlier than the start time to register and to allow time for route planning.

Entries are now open.

Jon Sutcliffe and Thor Egerton. Open Mixed winners.

This event came around quickly. It was only 6 months ago that we last had an Australasian Rogaining Champs, then held in WA. On that occasion, we had come away with rather more than we expected. Aiming to just defend our Mixed Super Vets title, we came away with three trophies - the Mixed Super Vets plus Mixed Veterans & Mixed Open titles. It was the rogaining equivalent of “doing a Bradbury”. The perennial winners of these titles David Baldwin & Julie Quinn didn’t race, with Juile sidelined by injury. Other notable mixed teams also hadn’t entered. We had to work hard for the score of course but we knew we weren’t in the same league as some of these absent teams.

Six months later and we had wrestled the three trophies by car, plane, plane, hotel and car to the Snowy Mountains area. Julie & David were again out of the running to get the X and XV titles back as they were the setters and organisers of this event. But there was strong field and the maximum entry limit of 400 had been reached. There was also a very strong mixed super vets category (particularly from Tasmania with Simon and Karen, and Bernard and Sara entered), so we knew winning even one category was going to need a big effort out there. 

The area was tough - few quick track routes, lots of thick bush and a very warm start on the Saturday. Maybe all this helped us - we drew on our experience and we decided on a fairly conservative plan - just 65km (straight-line) for the 24 hours, and focussing on the highest pointers.

For the first 6 hours we were on track and all was going well. We were on schedule at 4km/h (about 24km clocked) and had been through some nice country. We expected to slow after 6pm to about 3km/h and a bit slower still after dark. But when we hit the bush at about 6.30pm, we found it very tough. We stumbled through 58-96-105-74-86 (about 5km in total), found them cleanly but took 2.5 hours. We arrived at Water2 about 9pm and significantly behind our plan and with a big climb up into the bush ahead of us. This was no longer an option - we just didn’t have the will to bushbash uphill again. We knew we had to adjust the plan. 

We stayed at the water point for 20 minutes to look at options, get water and tend to feet. We spotted that there was a low route to the east, going in and out of open areas. It looked about 200 points less but we thought we could pick them off more quickly and be back on schedule by 94. This turned out to be a good estimate. Again recalculating along the route, we then decided that 44-92-101-52-W1 was better than our intended 81-72-W1 and was only a shade longer so we deviated again. A slight error reading contours in the dark took us off course near 101 and so we decided to get 53 as well. A lucky error perhaps.

We stayed at Water1 for another 20 minute break - water, foot care, a short rest and (yay!) head torches off. From there we brought it home. We lost time in the slow bush between 82-73 but began to speed up at the end, knocking off the last loop quicker than expected. I (Jon) wondered whether we could fit in an extra loop of 71-51-40 instead of just 31, on the way back but we were probably about 10 minutes short of attempting that.

Our strong finish and our recalculated route that we did at probably the ideal time, made us competitive. In a race of attrition, we held our nerve didn’t do too much wrong. We had some luck with control spotting in the dark and we both stayed reasonably healthy throughout. Many good teams weren’t so fortunate. 

Amazingly we retained the XSV title, and (thanks to the long list of injured/ill competitors), we took the X and XV titles again too. The margin we had from Richard Robinson & Tamsin Barnes (QLD) in all 3 categories, was just 60 points! We want to give them a shout out for the almost equal performance out there as another XSV team. Looking at the points accumulation data, Tamsin and Richard were ahead of us the whole time until the last 90mins. 

There was plenty about the event that wasn’t much fun much at the time, but it was a good test of our mental strength and experience. Conservative route planning, good navigation, the flexibility to change course, and regular stops to keep feet in good shape are the take aways from this one.

The results and teams' routes can be viewed on the rogaine-results.com website.

Jonathan Sutcliffe & Thorlene Egerton

By Gary Carroll , President, Rogaining Tasmania, 28th February 2025

2024 was an excellent year for Rogaining Tasmania! We held a variety of well-attended events:

• The Arthurs Lake Aquagaine (25th Feb). Set and vetted by Simon Allen and Karen Wild-Allen. A fun and innovative event. 87 entrants, which was more than expected. Special thanks to Karen who organised and delivered scout kayaks, which made the event possible for many entrants.
• The GorgeUs 4-hour Metrogaine (5 May). Setting by David Cole and Andrea Schiwy. Vetted and mapping by Paul Pacque. 129 entrants enjoyed perfect weather. The previous Launceston event was held in May 2008. This event went like clockwork, and we are returning to Launceston in 2025.
• The Lenah Valley Hops Again Metrogaine (25th August). Setting by Lucy Hawthorne, with vetting by Neil Hawthorne, Gary Carroll, Bernard Walker, and Sara Brain. A near-record attendance for an RT event with 308 entrants (97 in 3-hour and 211 in the 6-hour).
• The Deddington Dilemma 12-hr and 6-hr bush rogaine (16th November). Setting by Jonathon Sutcliffe and Thorlene Egerton. Vetting by Jack Marquis, Guy Marquis and Kris Clauson. A total of 188 entrants (94 in each of the 6-hr and 12-hr). A well-set course, with an excellent map by Jon.

Our major innovations in 2024 include:

• Ross Kelly organised our move to ANZ Banking which has streamlined the approval process required when making payments.
• Bernard Walker designed a Lithium battery and inverter system which allows us to run administration computing and printing in the field without the complications and noise of running a generator. Thanks to the Australian Rogaining Association for the 50/50 grant that helped fund this project.

The 2024 Australasian Champs were held in the southwest of Western Australia following approval difficulties with the intended event site. A small but high-performance group of Tasmanians attended and for the second time in four years Rogaining Tasmania won the Interstate and Trans-Tasman Trophy. Points for this competition are awarded to podium positions, so well done to Gary Carroll & Andre Morkel (WA) 1st Mens SuperVets; Xavier Scott & Sam Woolford 1st Mens Under 23; Thorlene Egerton & Jonathan Sutcliffe 1st Mixed overall, 1st Mixed Vets and 1st Mixed SuperVets; Christine Brown & Karen Pedley 3rd Women overall, 2nd Women Vets and 2nd Women SuperVets; Simon Allen & Karen Wild-Allen 3rd Mixed SuperVets. Xavier Scott & Sam Woolford were the recipients of the NAMSF funding to attend the Intervarsity Champs held at this event, at which they came second.

We are fortunate that Rogaining Tasmania has a steady flow of volunteers to help at events, however we are having problems finding volunteers for large roles such as overall event coordinators. The same people repeatedly perform this role, and those same people already have prominent committee positions which is not ideal. Tasmania is scheduled to host the Australasian Championships in early 2027 and we need to get started on this soon, and identifying the event coordinator is an urgent issue.
 
Kristin Raw and Lucy Hawthorne are stepping down from the committee.

• Kristin joined the committee in 2019, served as vice president, ARA representative and has been running our on-line introduction to bush rogaines.
• Lucy joined the committee in 2021 and has served as newsletter editor and social media guru. Lucy and her intrepid dog Basil are responsible for the “Lenah Valley Hops” metrogaines which have been the two most popular events ever run by RT.

Sincere thanks to them both. Just because they are leaving the committee doesn’t mean we won’t be calling on them to help again.

It is risky to single out thank yous – but I’d like to acknowledge:

• Nicolë Carpenter for her dedication to admin duties and grappling with Navlight.
• Adele Winslow for her ongoing help and photography at events.
• John Dawson for his efficient work on the website and newsletter distribution.

Thanks to all the other volunteers. Whether you buttered bread at a metrogaine or collected checkpoints in adverse conditions, your efforts are recognised and appreciated.

In 2025, RT entrants can look forward to an on-foot metrogaine in Launceston in May, a bike or on-foot metrogaine in Hobart in August, and a bush event in early December.

Behind the scenes, the committee will be addressing safety practices, upgrading our documentation and replacing outdated equipment. Stephen Grey of SARA has completely rewritten the Navlight software. This is an opportunity to get more people familiar with the electronic punching system used at bush events.

Good fortune to our members travelling to Kosciusko National Park for the Australasian Champs in March, and also to those travelling to Spain in July for the World Champs.

Coffee Bean Metrogaine

18 May 2025

Follow the waft of coffee around Launceston. All checkpoints in this 4-hour on-foot metrogaine relate to coffee in one way or another. Set by legendary rogainer Christine Brown. 

 

19th World Rogaining Championship - Spain

July 5th and 6th.

 

Roche's Rumble

24 August 2025

Return to the Tangara Trails on-foot or bike for this 4-hour event set by Jaymee Knoll and Rowan Tilley.

 

Intervarsity Championships 

13 and 14th September in Mt Werong NSW.

NAMSF funding for a Tasmanian tertiary institution team will be available.

 

Midlands Bush event [name TBC]

6-7 December 2025

A 12- or 24-hour bush rogaine, location to be confirmed.

 

For a full list of rogaines in other states, visit the Australian Rogaining Association calendar.