Newsletter Number 63, December 2000
PO Box 3,
Central Park,
3145, Victoria.
neil.phillips@bigpond.com, 61-3-95721784 faxIRF Executive
President: Neil Phillips
Secretary/Treasurer: Rod Phillips
Promotions and Development: David Stephens
World Rogaining Championships Manager: Gordon Birch6th World Rogaining Championships
Three applications have been received to hold the 6th World Rogaining Championships in 2003-2004. These are from Arizona (USA), South Australia, and China. These three groups have prepared a one-page summary of their bid and this is included in the Newsletter.
On the basis of the one-page summaries, IRF members will decide which applicants should be asked to prepare a full bid document in advance of IRF voting on 6WRC. Formal bids should be completed ready for distribution in the IRF Newsletter by the end of January 2001. Some time will be allowed after this for questioning of the bid teams, then a decision on 6WRC will be made.
In keeping with past practice, the President of the IRF will not have a bid in the process of selecting the WRC, but will be available to all appying nations to assist in their bid proposals.
After this process for 6WRC, the IRF World Rogaining Manager will assume the role of co-ordinating bids for future World Rogaining Championships including 7WRC.
Guidelines for awarding the World Rogaining Championships from the Strategic Plan for the Sport of Rogaining:
"Award of the WRC should be restricted to groups with a track record of organizing major rogaines, who actively want to stage the WRC and can nominate a suitably experienced co-ordinator: if these criteria
cannot be met for any particular year, the WRC should not be awarded.
The IRF does not expect extra facilities or activities beyond those normal to championship rogaines run by the particular host association. However, this does not exclude any WRC organizers from going "a little further". The policy is to bring the staging of the WRC within the grasp of all groups who can demonstrate a history of running a series of successful rogaines and who want to stage the WRC.
The focus of a World Rogaining Championship is on:
a) enjoyable terrain (typical of local events),
b) accurate course, that is fair and challenging,
c) friendly atmosphere of the Hash House,
d) professional organization,
e) a wide cross section of participants,
f) elite and other levels of competition.The first four criteria should be met in any rogaining championship, and be established features of rogaines run previously by a group before the WRC are awarded. Significant departure from normal rogaines is not advocated for a World Rogaining Championship. The last two criteria (e and f) can be achieved by careful planning of the event date and location taking into account overseas participants and possible back-to-back activities at the time of the World Rogaining Championships. These activities need not be part of the WRC programme, and may be better organized by separate parties, even outside rogaining. The extra publicity to attract overseas and/or elite participants to a WRC should utilize IRF expertise and should target particular interest groups and countries. Organizers are expected to provide a profile to describe rogaining in their area, and may include a model rogaine prior to the championship. The WRC will be run according to the IRF Code and Rules, and departure from these will require specific IRF sanction".
The Tucson Orienteering Club would like to host the World Rogaining Championships in 2004.
The Tucson club has been holding rogaines since 1991. From our initial eight hour event, we have held 24 hour events since the 1997 rogaine which was also the North American Rogaining Championships. We have received many compliments on the quality of our rogaine maps and have a history of never a misplaced control and no course protests at our rogaines.
For the 2004 championships, the course setter would be John Maier and the co-ordinator director Peg Davis. John has set four rogaines and Peg has directed one. We will be setting and directing the May 2001 Arizona Rogaine which will also be the 2001 North American Rogaining Championships, so have quite a bit of experience at these positions and working together.
The WRC location we propose is in north central Arizona, probably the Mogollon Rim. The weather in May is quite pleasant: snow-free, unlikely to rain, with highs around 70oF. The terrain is open and runnable pine forest with only a few tiny cacti. We have found several areas with the qualities we like for rogaines: gentle rolling hills, an occassional deep canyon and only a few dirt roads. Camping and hash house are always centrally located.
Any site will be accessible by passenger car and within three hours of the major airport in Phoenix.
We are hoping that a nearby orienteering club will hold a two day event the weekend before or after our rogaine to provide more entertainment for rogaine participants. However, Arizona itself offers plenty of wonderful opportunities for visitors: the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Hopi Mesas.
While our rogaines have met with the approval of experienced and international rogainers, we will make every effort to fulfill any other requirements for a World Championship level event. We are very happy to have been invited to enter this bid and believe that beautiful Arizona would be the best place to hold the 2004 Championships.
Peg Davis, Co-ordinator
Email: pegdavis@u.arizona.eduJohn Maier, Course Setter
Email: wolffsongg@juno.comCHINA
China has many resources to hold the 6th World Rogaining Championship.
1. Championship Locations: We have already chosen three optional sites for the 6WRC.
1) Southwestern China located at Leishan county of Guizhou Province. The place is characterized by very green mountain landscapes and the strong and colourful and profound minority nationality culture--Miao Minority. This place is regarded as the mecca in China for Back to Nature people. The place has all the requirements for a world championships. And this place will leave a lasting beautiful memory for all the participants. Seeing is believing. Once all the relevant officials come to inspect the site, you cannot help but strongly agree to have the 6WRC here in China.
2) Northern China: It is located in the suburb of Beijing, the site area is 300-500 square kilometres. There are mountains and trees. The place is called Tangzhishan in Beijing, the capital of People's Republic of China. Beijing is the centre of China's politics, economy, culture, transportation, education in China. Beijing is bidding for the Olympic Games 2008. Beijing's fast changes could be seen day by day. If the 6WRC is given to Beijing, rogaining will become very popular through all over China.
3) Northeast China: The place is called Beidahu in Jilin Province. If rogaining is held in October here, the rogaining could be conducted in the small patches of snow (plus skiing if necessary before the early winter). Beidahu has held large national ski meetings. Many local business companies would like to sponsor the 6WRC if China wins the right.
2. Organization: China International Sports Travel has held several orienteering events, and we have enough such professionals to hold the rogaining in China under IRF instruction and direction.
3. Capital: China International Sports travel is one of the government company. If we hold the 6WRC in China, we can get the strong support from Chinese government. And part of the operational capital can be raised by us from society.
China International Sports Travel greatly looks forward to holding the 6WRC, the reason is that rogaining has not come to China, and if China is not given the chance, the rogaining will come into China and thrive. If China is given the chance, we will keep the closest contacts and extensive and intensive exchanges with all your organizers. In the next two years, we can lay enough foundations for the most successful 6WRC in China.
Zhang Jianping
The South Australian Rogaining Association proposes that WRC6 be staged in the northern part of the Flinders Ranges. The Flinders Ranges are world-famous as one of the most beautiful of Australia's arid-zone mountain regions. Their most well-known landmark, the vast cauldron of Wilpena Pound, continues to achieve high international exposure as a tourist destination. Other parts of the Flinders Ranges are less well-known and much less accessible, but no less beautiful. SARA proposes to set a date for the event between the months of July- September.The 2002 Australian Orienteering Championships will be held in the Flinders Ranges. This event is scheduled just a few days before the World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) which will be held in Victoria. Consequently many international orienteers will visit the Flinders Ranges as part of the WMOC carnival. SARA sees this as a prime opportunity to impress an international group of competitors in the navigation sports with the standard of the area.
The terrain of the Flinders Ranges is unparallelled in Australia in terms of its suitability for championship rogaines. The ranges contain intricate spur-gully terrain which is covered in sections with native cyprus pine, mallee and other eucalypt species. Many watercourses wind their way through the rolling hills and the area is capped by rocky quartzite outcrops and mudstone on the lower slopes. In most places the vegetation cover is sufficiently light that it poses no obstacle to the progress of rogainers.
SARA's two previous Australian Championship rogaines, at Wyacca Creek in 1991 and at Arkaba in 1997, have both been held in the Flinders Ranges. The Wyacca Creek event has become famous as arguably the sternest navigational challenge that has ever been set at an Australian rogaining championships. The rogaine at Arkaba was held in the "Valley of a Thousand Hills" between the western wall of Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range. It, too, was a navigationally complex rogaine with very fast terrain, well-remembered for the perfect moon and weather conditions.
For the World Rogaining Championships, SARA has selected an area farther north into the heart of the ranges which has extremely complex contour features at the scale at which the map will be prepared.
The map will be based on a 1:50 000 existing state topographical map with 10 metre contour intervals and with appropriate corrections if needed. With constant ongoing mapping programs in these areas and the digitizing of maps onto CD Rom, a world class event map can be ensured.
The South Australian Rogaining Association has a history of supporting the world rogaining championships. For one of Australia's smaller associations, the number of SARA members that have travelled to all of the WRCs is impressive. On the competitive side, SARA won the interstate trophy competition between Australian states at the first WRC in Beechworth and its members have achieved placings at every world rogaining championships since that event. The womens and mixed open champions at the first two WRCs were South Australian.
SARA will be able to draw on a wealth of knowledge and experience to host a world-class WRC. The previous two presidents of the ARA serving terms totalling eight years were SARA members. The proposed course setters and vetters for the WRC have each set the Australian championships, more than one South Australian Championships and a number of other rogaines. We have a minimum number of 10 keen volunteers who total over 250 rogaines. This wealth of knowledge and experience ensures that SARA is more than qualified to host an event of such standing.
For further details & pictures of the Flinders Ranges & SARA bid, check out the ARA web page: http://www.ma.adfa.edu.au/~gnm/Rog/ARA/WRC/WRC6.html