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Have you wondered how two teenagers managed to beat all the adults at the recent rogaine? Well wonder no more because Euan is here to explain how we did it.
We started off and immediately decided that the most important task was to hit the archery field. Through a democratic ballot, Niko 'Katniss' Stoner was told he had to do it, which was good as he then went on to score a massive 50 points. We then retreated to the back of the ute to plan our route. We started off by aiming to run both the south and north maps and net ourselves a swathe of points. Upon reflection (and the wisdom of a parent's sage advice) we narrowed this down to just the northern map. We also calculated that our original plan would have been closer to 80km!
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After winning the overall Clarence Capers metrogaine in 2019, Darryl Smith and I decided to team up again on our mountain bikes to see how we would fare in the 2020 Hit or Miss metrogaine, located on the South Arm Peninsula, and taking in the spider-web like network of the Tangara Trail. The event was based out of the Hobart Archers Club at Roaches Beach, and fittingly, offered up to 60 bonus points if one team member was able to hit a target with a bow and arrow, across six attempts. I can't say I've ever started a race by firing an arrow, and wasn't feeling confident with my archery skills, so it was up to Darryl to take on this challenge. After an initial misfire, Darryl turned out to be Robin Hood in disguise, and fired nearly 5 bullseyes in a row, which gained our team 50 points before even getting out onto the course !
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The competitors moved with such unseemly haste through the Tangara trails that we the setters and vetters had perused at our leisure and saw them in many hues. We paddled on the beaches and cycled with gay abandon through flood waters, stopped at the cafés and shops and found secret connections and community cared for verges, unique architecture and were chased by many backyard dogs. In short setting the metrogaine gave us an excuse to explore our own backyard.
The machine that is Rogaining Tasmania supported us every step of the way with a clear outline of what we ‘needed’ to do by when and help with all the little tasks that seemed to be beyond us as the event got closer. If you enjoyed participating in the event, and you have enjoyed a couple of the others in the past you are a prime candidate for taking your rogaining or metrogaining to the next level and organising an event. It does take time and a bit of commitment, but it is incredibly rewarding. Need a map - I can help. Need more helpers - Gary is great at finding people.
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There was very close competition for top positions at the Hit or Miss. Results are now on-line at https://rt.asn.au/event-results. Congratulations to the organisers, all the entrants and category winners - especially to juniors Niko Stoner and Euan Best who won the on-foot category by just 10 points. On the bikes, Darryl Smith and Edwina Hughes were seriously challenged by John McComb and Ian Parker, but came out on top based on a late-penalty and finish time.
Photos from the event and of the category winners can be viewed here.
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A lot of work - and a lot of fun - goes in to putting on a rogaine. This was my second time setting an event using the same map extent, and despite living on the map, and having lived (and run) in the Kingston area the majority of my life, I still learnt things and discovered places I’d never been to before. Having three of us – Gary, Ciara and I – to share the setting and vetting made the load very manageable.
This event was a bit longer in the planning than it might otherwise have been, thanks to Covid, but having an earlier-changed-to-later event date meant I had more time to procrastinate… ahem, I mean to carefully split my setting and vetting into lots of small trips. This was convenient for me living on the map – I could go out on a state-sanctioned Covid exercise excursion and set a checkpoint or two, and then pop out before dinner and vet a nearby checkpoint some weeks later.
Our team of three approached the setting task by dividing the map up into sections, with each of us responsible for setting within our allocated areas. This was my first time using Avenza Maps (a smartphone mapping app) for setting, which was a really convenient and satisfying way of doing it (although Gary was the one collating all the information exported from Avenza and doing all the mapping, so I know that was also a large part of what made it easy for me – thanks Gary!)
The Midlands Muster