News
06.06.2009 - 6th Russian Rogaining Championships race reportby Vladimir Gusiatnikov
I am happy to report that the sixth Russian Rogaining Championships were
successfully held on 30 and 31 May 2009, near the village of
Kuznechnoe in Leningradskaya Oblast', close to the border with
Republic of Karelia and Finland, some 150 km north of St. Petersburg.
The event was held on a 1:35,000 map specially prepared for the event.
The map was a composite of reduced-scale orienteering maps, Russian
topo, and World War II-era Finnish topographic data.
Planning their routes
Terrain for the event offered somewhat of a break with the typical Eastern European plain. The woods were punctuated by rocky hills, and most of the checkpoints were on tops of these hills. On parts of the map trails were sparse or nonexistent, forcing competitors to continuously navigate through the forest. Fortunately the many lakes offered perfect features to bail to should the competors have become lost. Some of the Finnish-era roads long became disused, and fields grew over, which caused some confusion and consternation. Ground was rocky and the woods were not fast, so the best teams did not spend the majority of their time running.
Weather conditions were warmer than usual for this part of the world, and it was somewhat drier than normal despite a late snow season. In all, an environment a bit more challenging physically and technically than that at 8WRC and 5ERC, but not by far. Despite a relative lack of trails, this is a popular recreation area, so the event got exposure to at least several thousand people who were in the woods for the weekend. Many sponsors were present and showed interest in the event.
The area was split in half by Elmenjoki (Begunovka) Creek, uncrossable in all but four places. Several teams swam across, and after a brief consultation it was determined that swimming was not expressly prohibited by the Rules of Rogaining.
Electronic punching was used; SFR System is a Russian take on e-punch similar to SportIdent, but with somewhat superior software/data presentation capabilities. One hundred and 12 teams took part in the 24-hour category. In a departure from rogaining tradition, solo participants were allowed to compete in the 24-hour event, although their scores were not eligible for awards. None of the solo runners were able to rival the best teams.
The course was perfectly planned so that the winning team
of Evgeniy Dombrovskiy and Oleg Kalinin found all controls except
two. Evgeniy is the reigning World Champion, and for Oleg it was his
fourth Russian Champion title. The full results of the event have
been posted at www.o-site.spb.ru.
Evgeniy Dombrovskiy and Oleg Kalinin finishing
Many compliments should be made to the organizing team headed by Alexander Shumskiy of the Gorny Cross club of St. Petersburg. The event went smoothly, results were prompt, hot food was available throughout the event at the hash house and two additional locations, no water stops ran out of water, and the participants were treated to a sauna afterwards. Some pictures from the events are attached; others have been posted at www.rogaining.ru.
Respectfully,
Vladimir Gusiatnikov
ENDS