Last Saturday I participated first time in a Rogaining race! The event was 8 hour Night Rogaining in Tampere. There were two series, one for runners / hikers and cyclists. I signed up last month to this race with my friends Kaisa and Johanna. So welcome to read story about Team Tunturituhnut (Fjell farts in English) Rogaining experience!
Wikipedia summaries the rogaining accordingly:
“Rogaining is an orienteering sport of long distance cross-country navigation, involving both route planning and navigation between checkpoints using a variety of map types. In a rogaine, teams of 2–5 people choose which checkpoints to visit within a time limit with the intent of maximizing their score. Teamwork, endurance, competition and an appreciation for the natural environment are features of the sport. Championship rogaines are 24 hours long, but rogaines can be as short as two hours.”
Route planning underway!
At Tampere Night Rogaining teams had 2 hours to plan the route and 8 hours to collect as many check points as possible. The checkpoints were valued and varied from 1 to 9. Good tip for the route planning phase is is to use pins and thread, that has been cut for your estimated total distance that you can do in 8 hours. We planned 30km route and got ready for the start that was at 22:00.
Kaisa & Johanna trying to adjust the headlamps for map reading before the start
For the next 8 hours we struggled with soggy forests muddy hills, sandy hills, hard tarmac and dark Finnish November night with couple icy rain showers. Luckily there were couple checkpoints with coffee & doughnut serving. 😛
Quick snack break
Second snack break
And after the 7hours 47minutes, couple blisters, 26 checkpoints and 35,5 kilometers later we arrived at the finish line.
First time rogaining was a nice experience and Im sure I will participate again! Maybe you can find me at the Finnish 24hour Rogaining Championship in June. 😉