The 17th World Rogaining Championships were recently held at Lake Tahoe in California. Many familiar Australians were prominent in the results, including Tasmanians Thorlene Egerton and Christine Brown who won the Women’s supervet category. It was a close call; they had the same score as their Latvian competitors but returned to the hash house twelve minutes sooner. All the results are online here, and you can also view the tracking website that shows where the entrants went here. The next World Championships will be in 2025 and will be hosted once more by Spain. So, start training. 

Entries are now open for RT’s premier event for 2023, the Midlands Muster, which is a farm and bush event on 28-29 October. Last year, this event was postponed a week before the event. Conditions were very wet, with soft saturated paddocks and shin-deep water close to the hash house. La Niña conditions are behind us now, so we are looking forward to running this event. 

The Australian Rogaining Championships this year will be held near Parkes in NSW on the 30 September and 1 October. Details are here. The Australasian Rogaining Championships returns to New Zealand this year. This event is on 16-17 December in the Lake Tekapo region on the South Island. Details are here. Both these 24-hr championships have shorter duration options. I encourage you to consider entering these well-organised and scenic events.  

The deadline for Tasmanian university or TAFE teams to nominate for the NAMSF travel subsidy is the Sunday the 3rd of September. $1900 is on offer for your team to visit the 2023 Intervarsity Rogaining Championships which is being held in conjunction with the Australian Championships near Parkes.

Looking ahead to 2024, Rogaining Tasmania have the following events in planning. More details will be forthcoming in an upcoming newsletter but add these dates to your diary now: 

• Sunday 25 February – The Arthurs Lake Aqua-gaine paddle event will be held in the central highlands. Simon Allen and Karen Wild-Allen are organising this fun event. You will have to BYO watercraft and be prepared to hop in and out more than a few times. Camping at Jonas Point has been booked for the night before. 
• Sunday 5 May – The Gorge Us Gaine metrogaine will be held in Launceston thanks to organisers David Cole and Andrea Schiwy. 
• Saturday 16 November – The likely date for a 12-hour bush event organised by Jon Sutcliffe and our very own World Champion Thorlene Egerton.

Gary Carroll

Let’s try that again. We will be having another crack at running the Midlands Muster Rogaine that was postponed last year due to various problems that quite literally flowed on from heavy rain.

We look forward to sharing with you some of the best of the Midlands. There will be expansive open and grassy paddocks, rolling woodland hills, some big hills with dazzling views, wet gullies, and historic huts. The event area extends from near Ross to Lake Leake. Everyone will enjoy navigating in this unique Midlands environment. There are lots of critters to be seen. There are many native species, as well as herds of cattle and sheep, and you’re likely to spot some deer. The hash house (assembly area) is located off the Lake Leake Highway. Allow 2 hours from Launceston, and 2 ½ hours from Hobart. 

There will be multiple sub-events: the 24-hour State Championships, a roving 15-hour (choose your own up to 15 hours during the event) and a 6-hour, which would be ideal for those who’ve just attended metrogaines previously as you should be back well before sunset, and there are plenty of checkpoint sites close to the hash house.  

Detailed event information and online entries are now open at the RT website. 

Regular entries are closing on Friday night, 20 October. Late entries will be accepted until the following Sunday night, 22 October, at twice the price. After this, entries will be absolutely closed and we’ll permit only team member substitutions. 

Your entry fee includes camping from Friday night to Sunday, as well as catering during and immediately after the event for the 24-hour and 15-hour entrants, and Saturday dinner for the 6-hour entrants. 6-hour entrants can order Sunday meals for an additional fee. 

Get a team together, polish up your optimal route algorithms, dig out those course planning pins, pack a pair of spare socks and get your entry in for the event. 

By the Midlands Muster Team