Articles

Rules of rogaining with kids
By Kerry Gigante , From the July 2008 IRF Newsletter

Rogaining with kids can be very rewarding. However, way too often over the past 16 years, people have expressed to me their disbelief and amazement that my kids actually rogaine and come back for more. Most people will tell me that their children have rogained once but refuse to go a second time. Here are my rules for rogaining with happy little people...

Rule 1: The aim of the Rogaine is to keep your child happy. All other aims such as maximizing points or checkpoints are redundant when rogaining with kids. If you cannot bow to this rule then rogaining with kids is not for you!

All other rules relate back to Rule 1.

Rule 2: Select your rogaine. If the event description involves the words thick or steep then this is not the right rogaine for taking the kids.

Rule 3: Train your kids surreptitiously. This is otherwise known as walking your child to school. If your child is not happy to walk to and from school then they are not ready to rogaine. If necessary, start by driving your child half way to school (and save the planet as well).

Rule 4: Be prepared to abort your route plan. If, after the first checkpoint, you realize that the bracken fern that is up to your waist is over your child’s head, it may be necessary to change plans and attempt only checkpoints that are situated on or close to tracks.

Rule 5: Train your child in navigation. Start by building a knoll/spur/gully/saddle in the sand pit. Use the features in the local park, even if they are small... Can you see that knoll over there? Let’s walk up the spur. Look, I’m in a gully.... On the rogaine get them to work out which way the watercourse is running or which way the track is going... Does it match up with the map?

Rule 6: Get your navigation right. This is not that hard because when rogaining with kids your head is always ahead of your legs. However, if in doubt, omit the checkpoint.

Rule 7: Where possible, walk with your child or let them take the lead, so that they dictate the pace.

Rule 8: If your child is looking tired or acting tired it is because they are tired. No surprises here! Getting back to the Hash House as soon as possible and as easily as possible should be the only priority in this situation, regardless of how close a checkpoint might be or how much time is still left in the event.

Finally I would like to say that it has taken me (and my kids) fifteen years to finally win the family section! The reason we won was because (at long last) my sons’ legs were as long as mine... So, when entering the family section, always keep the fun first and the points a far distant second.

Editor: Kerry Gigante is a champion rogainer with the Victorian Rogaining Association, but has also devoted much of her recent rogaining time to family teams. Her article is reprinted here with the VRA’s and Kerry’s permission. Maybe the Family section in rogaines should recognize participants rather than winners?

How far can juniors be expected to walk?

There is no single right answer but some observations from our rogaines
Obviously from reading Kerry Gigante’s excellent guide there is no minimum – if it is not going to be fun, don’t persist. However, when it is working, it is useful to anticipate when enough is enough and recognize a realistic maximum. A guide for ages 1 to 6 is that 1km per year of age is a level not to exceed; aged 3 means a limit of 3 km. From 6 or 7 years onwards, it is reasonable to be considering a short 6 hr rogaine – if it is fun. And after that, 1hr per year old provides a simple maximum, so at aged 10 no more than 10 hours of walking. Nothing wrong with mid-teen juniors entering 24 hour championship rogaines but certainly do not expect them to walk the whole 24 hours and select the event carefully.

There are some memorable stories when this goes wrong. ‘Situation: a 24 hour rogaine on a long thin course with the hash house at the far southern end. Somehow we (i.e. my sub-teen partner and I) became fixated on heading up the page. After an outstanding effort going for 10-12 hours we were very close to the top of the map and heading towards midnight, and suddenly junior said “I have had enough, let’s go back”. At that stage, it was a long walk back to the hash house; and this could all have been anticipated.’

...ends