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ACT ROGAINING ASSOCIATION BULLETIN‍

A‍pril 2026

In this edition:

• Paddy Pallin Rogaine and ACTRA AGM - 19 April 2026
• ACT Champs Wrap Up
• The 24-Severn - ARC 29-30 August
• Realm of the Owl - 2026 Virtualgaine
• Volunteer Thanks
• ‍President's Piece
• ‍ACT/NSW Calendar

Paddy Pallin Rogaine and ACTRA AGM - 19 April 2026

A view of the valley from the Mt Orroral trig, hopefully there wont be a control up here!

The 2026 Paddy Pallin rogaine and ACTRA Annual General Meeting will be held on 19 April.

Explore the open grasslands meandering along the river or challenge yourself on the granite-strewn slopes above. Then stick around for the prize raffle for goodies donated by Paddy Pallin.

Entries are open to 11:59 pm Sunday 12 April without late fees. Entries receieved between then and complete close at 11:59 pm on Wednesday 15 April incur a late fee of $10 per person.

If you would like to nominate for a committee position, please contact us using the button at the bottom of this email.

ACT Champs Wrap Up

Teams braved some blustery morning weather last weekend but were rewarded with an excellent course down in the very south of the ACT. The ultra-precise vegetation mapping assisted with route planning and help teams avoid getting stuck in thick patches. Congratulations to Jean Douglass who did an outstanding job coordinating the event, with Ron Simpson and Keith Thomas assisting with setting/vetting. 

Congratulations to the overall winners, for the 24 hour event it was Julie Quinn and David Baldwin, and for the 8 hour event, Zac Mendaue, Tom Etherride, and Ethan Grills.

The 24-Severn - ARC 29-30 August

The Australasian Rogaining ‍Championships are in SE Queensland on 29-30 August, about 3.5 hours SW of Brisbane. The course for the 24-Severn Australasian Rogaining Championships will be set by the highly experienced team of Tim McIntyre and Paul Frylink. The event area spans open sheepgrazing country and parts of Sundown National Park near Nundubbermere, approximately 30 minutes from Stanthorpe. Teams can expect a mix of terrain, with hills offering impressive views alongside flatter, gently undulating sheep country for those who prefer it. Route choices may include crossings of the Severn River. The course will provide excellent navigational challenges while remaining enjoyable and accessible for teams of all levels of fitness and experience.

This event is also the 2026 Inter-Varsity Rogaining Champs.

Entries are open now. Put in your entry now and plan a couple of days leave.

Realm of the Owl - 2026 Virtualgaine

We are heading to the Belconnen region for the 2026 Realm of the Owl virtualgaine. That title should give you a clue to the actual part of this region but you will have to wait until mid-May to find out exactly where. In the meantime Jon Glanville, setter, and Julie Quinn, vetter are tempting us with photos of hidden gems. Check out the Virtualgaine gallery.

The event course will be open for you between Saturday 23 May and the end of Monday 8 June 2026. That gives you three weekends, two of which are long weekends as well as other times to have a go at the course. ‍

Scoring in a virtual rogaine works using MapRun on your phone. See the event page for more information on how to use MapRun and where you can get a teslin copy of the map.

Volunteer Thanks

As you all know, rogaining runs on the efforts of volunteers. Many of these are visible and thanked at events (setters, coordinators, caterers etc). Here we would like to say a thank you to our behind-the-scenes web master, David Baldwin. David keeps our website functioning with upgrades of software and quietly puts up content such as the calendar and things on web pages when others forget. 

Thank you David.

‍President's Piece

‍It’s hard to believe how quickly my first year as ACTRA President has gone by! I’ve had a great time in the role – my highlights from the year have been that I got to work closely with a group of passionate rogainers on the committee and learn all about the work that goes into our events, as well as having the opportunity to connect with other state associations across Australia to talk about the future of the sport, including the excitement of hosting the World Rogaining Championships 2027 in South Australia!

After a great championship event in southern Namadgi thanks to Jean and Ron, and all the volunteers (shoutout to the ANC – my team’s nap there was much needed!), I hope everyone is ready to go to the Orroral Valley for the Paddy Pallin event. This will be my first time coordinating, and with help from our mapping and rogaining legend Ryan Stocks I think it is going to be a lot of fun for everyone heading out. 

I’m planning to stick around for another year as President, and I’m looking forward to a great year of events. I’m especially excited to see how ACT and our intervarsity teams go at the Aus Champs in Queensland. Reach out to me if you would like to nominate for the Nigel Aylott Memorial travel bursary.

If you’ve ever thought about getting more involved, I’d definitely recommend joining the committee. It’s a great way to give back to the sport with a group of dedicated rogainers, and the best part is that meetings always start with a pot-luck dinner at a committee member's house and finish with dessert!

Happy rogaining,

Ollie

President ACT Rogaining Association 

‍ACT/NSW Calendar

Note: there have been changes to the NSW calendar. The Nightgaine and NSW Champs and ACT/NSW Springaine have all moved from previously published calendars.