Waitangi21, the multi-stage rogaine around Wellington to mark the 21st birthday of rogaining in New Zealand, was a huge success, according to participants.
"That was one hell of a weekends racing", "Absolutely brilliant weekend", and "Top stuff Michael and team! The maps Simon and I rode were top notch as usual" were some of the comments made by participants in the 21-hour event.
Teams of 2-5 took part in 1, 3, 7, 6 and 4-hour rogaines, on foot or mountainbike. Some did all five, including Erin Roberts (Rotorua) and Pete Swanson (Auckland) who beat local women Debbie Mansfield and Julie Gordon for best overall. Mansfield and Gordon are the current national womens rogaine champions.
Four rogainers who took part in the first event on 3 Feb 1991 returned for the finale, run in the same area. They were Rob van der Poel (3rd in 1991 with Ruth Sparling), Ross and Frances Bidmead (4th) and Peter Watson. Watson ran solo in the first event, so he had no-one to blame for returning half an hour late!
The event was run by Orienteering Hutt Valley, pioneer of rogaining in NZ, and also a major influence in MTBO and sprint orienteering. Results and maps are at http://waitangi21.ohv.org.nz
Installed Michael Wood 13 Feb 12