Orienteering Hutt Valley organises this series of midweek rogaining events monthly from April to November. The OHV Rogaine Coordinator is Nicola Mitchell, Phone 027 2070895.

There is a 3 hour event and a 90 minute — the 3 hour starts at 6pm and the 90 minute at 6.45pm. 

Your team can choose to be either runners or walkers — results are tabulated separately. 

Read the event information below and read and follow the Safety Rules.

Event dates

• Refer to the event calendar on OHV's main rogaining page.

Event times

• 3 hours: Maps available 5:15pm; briefing 5:50pm; rogaine 6–9pm.
• 90 Minute: Maps available 6:10pm; briefing 6.35pm; rogaine 6:45–8:15pm.

Locations

As advertised. Usually urban, they will use a mixture of streets and bush tracks with the occasional off-track control. But we also have bush areas close to the city and these will have more challenging control points.

Teams

Rogaining teams are usually 2–5 people.  There is nothing magic about 5 — if you think that 10 of you can make decisions together then go for it :-) — mostly it's 2–3 people per team though.

We no longer allow solo entries.  Having a team member is a health and safety requirement.

All teams must pre-register. Registrations close at 7pm on the prior SUNDAY. No late registrations or additions are accepted.

Pizza

There will be pizza at the finish line for the three hour teams.

Entry fee

ALL TEAMS MUST PRE-REGISTER FOR THESE EVENTS

Club Membership Discount

ALL orienteering clubs and the NZ Rogaine Association extend "members rates" to each other.

But if you would like to join the club which pioneered rogaining in New Zealand and has run way more than any other, you can't go past Orienteering Hutt Valley. Subs for first-time orienteers/rogainers are half-price (just $15 for adults and $7.50 for juniors) and if you're a member elsewhere in NZ you can join as an associate member (also for half-price). Become an OHV member here.

Scoring

The standard rogaine system is that each control point is worth the first digit times 10, i.e. control 44 is worth 40 points.

Get as much as you can in the time, but lose 10 points for each minute you are back late.

With Q-and-A controls you need a pen/pencil to record the answer to the (simple) question at each one. It will be about a distinctive feature in the middle of the circle.

Ribbon Controls

Sometimes (e.g. in the bush) there's nothing suitable to ask a question about, and we tie a bright orange ribbon on a tree. The question will be "what are the code letters on the ribbon?" The ribbon location will be described, e.g. gully, spur, stream etc. and the ribbon shouldn't be hidden.

Limitations of Q-and-A controls

Sometimes the question isn't crystal clear - e.g. the feature that was obvious to the course planner doesn't stick out to you. Occasionally we even get the circle wrong. If you believe you're at the right place and you can't find the subject of the question, don't spend more than a few minutes. Write the answer as "Claim" and carry on. If a significant number claim, that's fine. If you're the only one, welllllll....

Safety Rules

Gear requirements have been tweaked. We've reviewed our experiences over the years and the check-in practicalities. 

The onus is on you to carry the COMPULSORY gear and to consider the RECOMMENDED gear. Re-read the Safety Rules.

Facebook Group

Event reminders are sent to the Wellington Afterwork Rogaine Facebook Group.

How It All Began ...

Once upon a time, rogaines used to be all out in the country, miles from anywhere. Some rogainers thought they should do some practice for a big one, and they decided to meet after work at Belmont Regional Park. One of them arrived in his suit with some photocopies of the topo map, with some circles and numbers.

"These are all clear features (like Belmont Trig) but there's no control marker there. I haven't even been up there recently myself. Scoring is by honesty. I'll say go, and as soon as I can, I'll be out of this suit and out there myself."

So began the Wellington 3-hour after-work rogaines. They've been a HUGE success and have spread throughout New Zealand. At some stage honesty was replaced by question-and-answer controls - not so much for mis-trust but to enable everyone to know when they had found "it". Gradually the topo map was put into the computer and the missing tracks were filled in. (And the wrong ones taken out.) The Wellington RidgeRunners mailing list became the de facto advertising medium. Orienteering Hutt Valley (which had pioneered rogaining in NZ) was the organisational umbrella.