2008 ACT Championships
"Take a Gander at Tallaganda" 2008 ACT Championships, Tallaganda National Park - 17-18 May 2008
Story by Phil Whitten: Strange but true - I have not returned home as excited as I am now from a rogaine for 8 or 9 years. I have been bouncing about all week, taking glimpses of the map and remembering different parts of the course. The last couple of rogaines that I have entered have felt a bit mechanical, as opposed to last weekend, which was refreshing.
The last Rogaine that had me this edgy was in the Barrington Tops at Lostock. It was a memorable event for many reasons: one crazy team swam across a dam in order to get to the other side of a flooded river, on the course we found an echidna train (a line of 4 or 5 echidnas) and were confronted by a loud and very unhappy koala in the scrub at night - I know who was more scared at the time- me.
Why this Rogaine was so good has got me puzzled?
It certainly wasn't success. Having a 2 hour split between checkpoints is a new experience - previously this happened only when stopping for sleep and food, or retreating to the Hash House due to exhaustion or injury. Checkpoint 55? I still don't know what happened there - found watercourse, found spurs, found orange tape but could not find the lovely checkpoint.
The weather sure didn't have anything to do with - certainly the coldest I have experienced in a rogaine. The North Western corner had sleet and wind on Saturday night. It was simply unpleasant, wandering about in the dark looking for controls on the broad saddles. We ended up attacking both of the broad saddle controls twice - I'd love to know what secrets the old and cunning have for finding these? I now fear broad saddles more than head of the gullies, a control description that made me nervous for many years. To top off the silliness, when approaching 67, we went up the wrong creek from the road - perhaps tired and fatigue? Or perhaps just stupid?
Perhaps it was things being much better than expected?
The course was great and consolidated without impact from out of bounds. The forest and terrain were much better than the reputation of Tallaganda. Some of the Wollongong Rogaine crowd are scared of Tallaganda and talk in unimpressed tones of endless fallen timber and constant patches of tea tree. Ok, it was hilly, and the rocks were slippery in the rain - but a lot of the forest was very open and pretty.
We certainly finished much closer to the top teams than expected. My Rogaine partner, Stu Adams, was a pleasure to be with. I had not met him prior to Saturday. Stu contacted me through the partner finder service - originally I was going to team up my mate Nicolai for a more relaxing approach� I had been fatigued from work and did not want to participate in the night long epic that Joel had offered. However, Nicolai got pulled by family commitments; Joel teamed up with Mike, and so I was lucky to team up with Stu. Now Stu is prone to lazy navigation like myself, and so we stuffed up and fluffed around more than we should have however his spirits always remained high from my observation, I don't think that he cared if we hit controls or not he derived an unhealthy happiness from the pleasure of crashing through the bush by moon light. Stu is also one very fit and strong person - it was definitely the hardest that I have ever gone in a rogaine - all this after we knew we had fluffed 55 and no longer had a reasonable chance of being competitive.
Maybe the excitement is from the stories that will last for years? Belinda and Jackie only finding one control in the dark, and sleeping the night away at the hash house in the sleeping bags reserved for hypothermic people. Of the story of Mike and Joel following the road in the wrong direction at the end, and consequently arriving 2 minutes late and loosing the championship - awesome stuff. Although, to be fair - It looks like Julie and David were out in front for most of the rogaine, and deserved to win. Perhaps they are all lucky that Selina and Mark did not continue on with their fine form - looking at the splits they were definitely on par with the leaders at midnight. I hope that for whatever reason they retreated to the hash house is not permanent, and that they will be out and taking on the competition soon.
Thanks to the organisers for putting on a fine and memorable rogaine.
Read MoreStory by Phil Whitten: Strange but true - I have not returned home as excited as I am now from a rogaine for 8 or 9 years. I have been bouncing about all week, taking glimpses of the map and remembering different parts of the course. The last couple of rogaines that I have entered have felt a bit mechanical, as opposed to last weekend, which was refreshing.
The last Rogaine that had me this edgy was in the Barrington Tops at Lostock. It was a memorable event for many reasons: one crazy team swam across a dam in order to get to the other side of a flooded river, on the course we found an echidna train (a line of 4 or 5 echidnas) and were confronted by a loud and very unhappy koala in the scrub at night - I know who was more scared at the time- me.
Why this Rogaine was so good has got me puzzled?
It certainly wasn't success. Having a 2 hour split between checkpoints is a new experience - previously this happened only when stopping for sleep and food, or retreating to the Hash House due to exhaustion or injury. Checkpoint 55? I still don't know what happened there - found watercourse, found spurs, found orange tape but could not find the lovely checkpoint.
The weather sure didn't have anything to do with - certainly the coldest I have experienced in a rogaine. The North Western corner had sleet and wind on Saturday night. It was simply unpleasant, wandering about in the dark looking for controls on the broad saddles. We ended up attacking both of the broad saddle controls twice - I'd love to know what secrets the old and cunning have for finding these? I now fear broad saddles more than head of the gullies, a control description that made me nervous for many years. To top off the silliness, when approaching 67, we went up the wrong creek from the road - perhaps tired and fatigue? Or perhaps just stupid?
Perhaps it was things being much better than expected?
The course was great and consolidated without impact from out of bounds. The forest and terrain were much better than the reputation of Tallaganda. Some of the Wollongong Rogaine crowd are scared of Tallaganda and talk in unimpressed tones of endless fallen timber and constant patches of tea tree. Ok, it was hilly, and the rocks were slippery in the rain - but a lot of the forest was very open and pretty.
We certainly finished much closer to the top teams than expected. My Rogaine partner, Stu Adams, was a pleasure to be with. I had not met him prior to Saturday. Stu contacted me through the partner finder service - originally I was going to team up my mate Nicolai for a more relaxing approach� I had been fatigued from work and did not want to participate in the night long epic that Joel had offered. However, Nicolai got pulled by family commitments; Joel teamed up with Mike, and so I was lucky to team up with Stu. Now Stu is prone to lazy navigation like myself, and so we stuffed up and fluffed around more than we should have however his spirits always remained high from my observation, I don't think that he cared if we hit controls or not he derived an unhealthy happiness from the pleasure of crashing through the bush by moon light. Stu is also one very fit and strong person - it was definitely the hardest that I have ever gone in a rogaine - all this after we knew we had fluffed 55 and no longer had a reasonable chance of being competitive.
Maybe the excitement is from the stories that will last for years? Belinda and Jackie only finding one control in the dark, and sleeping the night away at the hash house in the sleeping bags reserved for hypothermic people. Of the story of Mike and Joel following the road in the wrong direction at the end, and consequently arriving 2 minutes late and loosing the championship - awesome stuff. Although, to be fair - It looks like Julie and David were out in front for most of the rogaine, and deserved to win. Perhaps they are all lucky that Selina and Mark did not continue on with their fine form - looking at the splits they were definitely on par with the leaders at midnight. I hope that for whatever reason they retreated to the hash house is not permanent, and that they will be out and taking on the competition soon.
Thanks to the organisers for putting on a fine and memorable rogaine.
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