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Since being elected as President at our Annual General Meeting, held at the finish of the Metrogaine, I have moved in to the presidential palace. Very nice it is too. Actually remarkably similar to where I was living before. Except, of course, now I have a staff of 800-odd members working for me.
The Metrogaine went off really well, thanks to Bronwyn and Paul Batten, Ellie the Dog and all their helpers. For me, it was again an opportunity to explore another part of Sydney I had never visited before. Until then I never knew there was a Lake Parramatta. Or that Parramatta is protected by strange flood-control dams such as at 201. I enjoyed the pizza at the finish - the organisers took the opportunity of trying a different catering format than usual and it worked well.
The next event is The Flaming Quads 12 hour, over on the west side of the Blue Mountains. Another event being set and vetted with canine assistance.
I've just come back from the Polaris Challenge, a two day mountain bike event very much in the style of a rogaine. The map covered no less than 450sq km, and was based at Pretty Beach on the S Coast. The course included the area of last year's NSW Champs and a lot more besides. It was a very wet weekend. If you think you've ever got muddy in a rogaine, it's nothing compared to MTB in the wet! Delightful.
Teams separating and The Rules
Madeleine Schultz's article in the last newsletter 'Two trips and a
whinge' drew out a couple of responses which are printed in this newsletter. I strongly encourage members to contribute to debates on such
issues.
It leads me to ponder the question: Is rogaining a sport or a recreational activity? I would hazard a guess that if we polled our members one third would say 'sport' and two-thirds recreational activity. It's clear to me that many people enjoy the informality of rogaining. With this informality comes the idea that rules are not too important, or only apply to competitive people. This attitude has its attractions and perhaps fits in with the idea of rogaining as a bush activity - an exploration in the bush, where people only go as far they want to go.
However, from the event organiser's point of view, it is problematic. First there is the safety issue. As we all know, things don't always go according to plan in rogaines. Even a brief separation can escalate into a real problem. Fortunately we have had few serious incidents in rogaines. But it would only take one really serious incident to put an end to rogaining. Refusal of insurance would do that. Also it would cause real stress to those involved, including our volunteer event organisers.
Secondly, of course, for those in it for the competition, there is the competitive aspect, where teams can get an advantage by separating. Clearly this is cheating. In the absence of a referee to blow the whistle, we are dependent on (i) honesty and (ii) other teams reporting cheating. We have to encourage both.
The letters in this issue make me wonder if we should modify the style of our courses, to better suit the variety of abilities of our participants. Perhaps we need a few more easy checkpoints on or near tracks. We all know what it's like, in the last couple of hours of an event, tired but finally on the return journey: one team member wants to pick up more points, but the other doesn't fancy that scramble through the bush down to some steep creek junction, and back up another 5 contours or whatever. It's worth thinking about this and I welcome people's suggestions.
Celebrity rogaining
Can you imagine TripleJ's Adam Spencer doing a 24 hour rogaine? Well, one of our members, by the name of Sarah, has challenged Adam to do the NSW Champs with her. It's now on Adam's list of Ten Things To Do in 2004. Great publicity for our sport. And Adam might find he meets another ABC broadcaster and supporter of rogaining out there - Phillip Adams. I understand the Olympic cyclist Kathy Watt has rogained in Victoria. What other celebrities could we see taking up such a challenge? Perhaps some action heroes from the movies. How would Russell Crowe look if he really had to 'get his hands dirty', I mean, without the help of make-up artists!?
NSWRA Committee
We welcome Philip Groom to the committee, as volunteer coordinator. Philip has recently moved over from WA where he has rogained for a number of years. You may hear from him through the year. If you've done a few rogaines but haven't yet helped out, please consider volunteering.
At the AGM several committee members retired. I'd like to thank Nihal Danis, Bronwyn Batten, Sue Clarke and Andrew Pope for their efforts over the years, it has been greatly appreciated. And I know we will see them all again at some time in the future. In fact Sue and Nihal are involved in a big way at our very next event!
Last but not least, a special thank you to Andy Mein, my predecessor as President. He brought great energy and enthusiasm to the many tasks he took on in recent years - on the committee and organising several events. For me the most memorable was Andy's Paddy Pallin rogaine in the spectacular surroundings of the Wolgan Valley, a very special place. Andy's taking a break from rogaining this year but we'll see him back again in the not too distant future.
The new committee is listed with their contact details elsewhere in
this newsletter. (It is also here
on this site.) While we have filled the key positions, there are some vacancies which we would like to fill. There is only the one special qualification required to join the committee - a love of our sport, rogaining.
Mike Hotchkis
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