Kaiwara Rogaine
25 July 2015
The controls are in, the results have been tallied and the dust has settled on the Kaiwara Hills after the latest instalment of the Canterbury Rogaine Series.
Saturday dawned with weather reminiscent of summer, and an impressive field of almost 300 keen rogainers flocked to the Kaiwara Woolshed to get ready for a day in the hills. By all accounts the rolling hill terrain with a mix of open country, pine plantations and pockets of native forest proved good challenge for rogainers of all abilities and enjoyed by all. The three hour event also doubled as New Zealand’s first rogaine-themed hen’s party for world champion adventure racer Sophie Hart, who is soon to marry fellow rogainer Nick Ross.
In the six hour event, the Flying Falcons (Chris Forne and Tane Cambridge) made an ambitious plan to collect all the controls. Much to their delight the duo returned to the finish with all checkpoints visited and ten minutes to spare, outscoring their nearest rivals, Team Horleys Ultimate Direction (Marty Lukes, Shane Thrower) by 370 points. In the mixed category the Sneaky Weasel Gang (Stru Webb, Mitch Munro and Georgia Whitla) narrowly beat rogaine legends Jamie and Penny Stewart. In the woman’s field, Ye Bandits of Kaiwara Hills (Katie Bolt, Lara Prince and Emily Forne) took the win. In the highly experienced ‘Senior’ category team Missing Bits (Douglas Woods, Colin Dixon) took a 160 point win over Knees and Toes (Emma de Lacey, Viv Prince).
In the three hour event, experienced rogainers Laura Young and Robert Holdaway proved that being pregnant and decrepit was no barrier to success, narrowly beating Stephanie Smithson, who scored highly, despite returning very late. The woman’s grade was highly competitive at the top, with only 20 points separating the top three teams. Kaiwara farmer, Doug Johns took the top score in the men’s grade with teammate John Broomfield, however were narrowly beaten by ‘Sophie’s Hilly Hens’. Whilst exact details of their adventure are sparse, it looks like the hens found a suitable range of extra on-course challenges for Sophie.
Thank you to all who took part in this inaugural event. We are heartened by the strong support from you all, the local rogaine community and were pleased to see two young school-aged teams taking part in the six-hour event. We, at the Canterbury Rogaine Series are very keen to see the next generation of the sport develop and grow and have provided two local teams with funding support to travel to the New Zealand Secondary School Rogaine Championships near Levin. Good luck to both teams travelling to this event.
We would also like to extend a big thank you to the Kaiwara and Hemmingford landowners who provided access for this event. These landowners have recently experienced one of the toughest droughts on record, and we could not run these events without their support.
See you all next time!
Tim Farrant and Jordan Pearson
Full results now available at http://www.canterburyrogaine.com/Results.aspx