Ķekava Legend Rogaining to open the new season

Original publication date: 04.02.2025

Ķekava has been chosen as the venue for the first Legends rogaining competition, where rogaining was held last time in September 2021. Therefore, after a break of four years, this adventurous team orienteering competition returns to this very center of Ķekava!. Blakus Baložos Rogainers visited in May 2024.

Last time, the participants received their cards and did the planning work at the Ķekava sports club, but this time the competition center will be located in a romantic place - the Ķekava apple orchard near Nākotnes ielas. From the last time, Ķekava will have shared areas such as Alejas, Krogsils, Skujenieki and some others, but this time instead of Medemciem and Baloži, participants will be able to go more towards Bauska, not forgetting Vimbukrog and two “kalniem” – Augškalna and Odukalna, where you will not have to get rid of mosquitoes during this time period.

At the moment, due to climate changes, it is difficult to predict whether Rogainers will not have to run through a layer of snow on March 22, because the expected and missing winter does not come so late to the end of winter and the beginning of spring in the second half of March. But it is even more interesting, because every year the weather conditions are different in the first rogaining competition, for example, at the end of March 2022 there was a very strong wind, at the end of March 2023 it was humid, but last year on April 1 the sun and steam of almost 30 degrees, which can rarely be found in summer.

However, the biggest news in this area will be the island of Doles, where XEvents has not yet held its orienteering competitions and the top scorers will go all the way to Annushka. This island used to be called the King's Island, because a liv tree castle was located there, while the crusaders burned it down. But the island got its current name from Dolen, the lord of Vecdol Castle. On the other side of the island, near the Dry Daugava, Riga churchmen also built another - Jaundole Castle, which was blown up during the Polish-Swedish war. In its place, a manor was built, which later turned into a primary school, then into a fishermen's collective farm club, and in 1977 into a Daugava museum, where you can see a fisherman's farm "Mellupi" with salmon and lampreys, as well as evidence of the flooded Mārtiņas, Nolpes islands and the far end of the Doles island, where "Vīķu" the homes of our country grew former president.

To the participants, according to their abilities and wishes, the organizers offer the usual team distances - 6h Garmin and 4h Isostar, but the rest will be with other sponsors - 2h TVNET+ rogaining distance, 2h Magnesia rogaining race and 3h Gerble MTB distance. You can register for membership and find out more information on the website rogainings.lv.

This year, an innovation has been introduced - the TVNET+ Enterprise Challenge Award, the purpose of which is to determine the best enterprise teams in rogaining, to promote the collective cohesion, endurance and mutual cooperation of enterprises. There will also be “Leģendu klubu balva” with a very good reward at the end of the season. You can read more about the news at rogainings.lv

In Rogaining competitions with 2 to 4 participants, the team includes both athletes and orienteering enthusiasts who are already masters of these competitions, as well as lovers of an active and sporty lifestyle who like to spend their free time in the fresh air and be active. That's why several families also use this option, because rogaining is a very democratic activity in its essence, since the participants can choose the distance and the number of checkpoints suitable for their abilities.