News

At the World Rogaining Championship held 31 August-1 September 2012 near Prebuz, Czech Republic, 43 Australians competed in a field of 700. The first three teams were from Estonia, Finland and Russia. Outstanding Australian results were:

• David Baldwin, Julie Quinn: Second Mixed Open and first Mixed Veterans
• Jess Baker, Gill Fowler: Second Women Open
• Tamsin Barnes, Thorlene Egerton: Third Women Veterans
• Rod Gray, Geoff Lawford: First Men Super Veterans
• Derek Morris, Ted van Geldermalsen: Third Men Super Veterans.

• add Ultra-vets (65 and over) as ARC category
• carrying GPS devices for post-event analysis of routes
• mobile phones
• interstate Challenge Trophy pointscore

The 2012 Australian Championship has been won by Paul Williams (WA) and Ben Corry (ACT). Second were the Under 23 team of Sarah Buckerfield and Ben Greenwod, third Jonathan Warswick and Julie Quinn. The first Womens' team was Zara Soden and Suzanne Casanova, fourth overall. ACTRA won the interstate challenge. The Australian National University took out the top three places in the Australian University Rogaining Championship.

SARA organised the 2012 Australian Rogaining Championship in South Australia's Flinders Ranges near Parachilna Gorge on 5/6 May 2012. SARA had previously hosted the Australian Championship in the spectacular Flinders Ranges in 1991 (Wyacca Creek), 1997 (Arkaba Station) and 2004 (Black Hill). Results on the event website /arc2012...

The Australian Rogaining Association (ARA) has established an International Development Fund (IDF) to assist with the development of rogaining in other countries. This fund is managed by the ARA’s IDF Fund Committee.

The fund may apply to initiatives such as development of a national rogaining body; procurement of equipment; financial support for a major event’s up-front costs; or subsidised travel to improve communication and collaboration.

Submissions for support under the scheme are made in writing to the ARA Secretary, with applications closing on 30 April and 31 October each year. details here...

The entry process for WRC2012 Czech Republic is due to commence on 1 December 2011. A multi-stage selective entry process will be followed, similar to arrangements for WRC2010 New Zealand. The event limit is 1000 competitors.

The entry criteria and process is available at: WRC 2012 entry criteria. The list of pre-qualified entrants for Phase 1 of entry (1-14 December) has been published.

The World Rogaining Championship will be held in the Karlovy Vary region on 31 August 2012. Organisers are Czech Association of Rogaining and Mountain Orienteering (CAR). The event website is: www.rogaining.cz/wrc2012...

Phillip Gatt and Sarah Buckerfield from Australian National University won the 2011 University Rogaining Championship near Perth on 13/14 August 2011. They were also first mixed team and fifth placed overall. University teams competed from Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, ACT, South Australia and Western Australia. The event was held in conjunction with the "Schulstaad Waltz" Western Australian Rogaining Championships.

The standard of the university competition was high. The event was tough: it rained quite heavily from dusk to dawn. The subtle features and 5 metre contours meant that the navigation was a suitable challenge. Results and picture ....