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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
 The Lactic Turkey Rogaine Series is
in its 8th year and has become something of a must do for anyone in the greater
Auckland area and beyond who wants to have a go at some navigation. Regularly
attracting crowds of 400 plus people
... in teams of 2-5 people - this is a event
that helps get people hooked into adventure type events. Says Shaun
Collins from Lactic Turkey Events "Each year we have a whole bunch
of people trying a rogaine for the first time, and then we see them start to
turn up to our other events each time getting bolder in the type of event they
do - its great to see!"
| The first event of the two event
series was held on Saturday on some private farmland and forest north of Auckland.
Traditionally the first event is held at Piha but the Waitakere Ranges
are still out of bounds due to the Kauri Dieback disease. Unfortunately
the replacement venue was not large enough to cater for a 6-hour event so only
a 3-hour event was on offer. |
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Numbers were down on usual (250
people) due to only a 3-hour event been offered and there was something about
Piha that always attracted more than other venues used for the rogaines.
The terrain was rolling to steep
mainly pine forest with an extensive network of beautifully kept mountain bike
tracks that the landowner has developed over the last few years.
This presented a good challenging
course with some detailed planning needed to pick the right course - minimising
hill climbs and optimising the route to get the most checkpoints. The
course won on the day though as it should, with the top team - vets men team
called "Mizone 7 in 7" (Malcolm Law and orienteer - Pete Swanson) getting all
but one of the checkpoints and scoring 3,120 points for their efforts.
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Second overall was mixed open team "Hot & Cold" (Joanna Gosse and Nick
Harris) with 3,080 points and third was "Phil and Geoff" (Phil White and Geoff
Parkin) with 2,950 points.
There was a good turnout from the
schools with 8 secondary school teams competing. "Team Fideliter" from
Whangarei High won this category with 2,480 points.
The top womens teams was once again a
veteran team - "Going Going Goose" (Shelley Gosse and Elke Haag) who scored
2,080 points. Nearly 500 points behind was "On a Mission" (Sarah Bryant
and Vicki Coles) and "Toasted Veges Ride Again" (Cath Heppelthwaite and Fujine
Wolken). Both teams finished on equal points so it came down to when they
finished and "On a mission" finished first so they secured second place.
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The landowner Rob Garden took part in
a two person vet team and scored 2,850. Rob is a long time orienteer and
more recently mountain bike orienteer. After the event Rob said "This was
one of the best set and difficult rogaines to work out that I have seen, and
even though I know the place better than anyone, having made all the bike
tracks, I did not get the best route." So although set with beginners in
mind it was a challenge for even the most experienced.
The day was enjoyable for all levels,
including five families taking part as teams.
The next rogaine in the series is at
Riverhead on the 11th July. For this event there will be a
3-hour or 6-hour course to choose from.
Photos - Click here
Results & more - click here
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