The Baltic States’ most popular rogaining event starts on 23 March — Riga Spring Rogaining 2019
March 2019 will not be an exception to welcome spring with an exciting and sporty adventure by the sea. That's right, you didn't listen - this spring, on the Baltic scale, the most popular rogaining competition, or Riga spring rogaining, will go even further, over the hills and borders of the big city, to meet the rippling sea, at the northernmost point - in the area of Northern Lights, already on March 23!
Original publication date: 20.02.2019
Absolutely everyone is invited to join the spring rogaining – sportsmen and orienteering enthusiasts who are already masters of this competition and whose core is mostly orienteers, as well as lovers of an active lifestyle and also simply active people who like to spend their free time in the fresh air and being active. Rogaining in its essence is a very democratic activity in which anyone can try themselves, because, firstly, participants can choose a distance suitable for their abilities and, secondly, it is possible to collect as many checkpoints in the distance as they consider necessary. In short, rogaing can be called a team running and orienteering competition in the open air and in great company. And we don't see any reason not to meet you on March 23 at the Riga spring rogaining!
What will make this Riga spring rogaining special? As we mentioned earlier, we have finally broken through to the sea border and are ready to conquer the Northern Lights area, where the competition will start this year. The next adventure will take us across Ķīšezer - straight into the sandy dunes of Kalngale. We will also have to cross the mouth of the 16th-century Daugava, or the present-day Vecdaugava, on the way we will have a look at one of the tsar's army bunkers hidden in Mangalsala.
We have also made some changes with this season. One of the innovations of 2019 is a new age group for young people. Now junior groups will be not only 6h, but also 2h and 4h distances. This will certainly serve as an encouragement to all those who have looked at rogaining with great skepticism until now, not being sure whether the 6-hour distance would be up to them. By making such changes, we have also decided that the participants of each distance will not start at the same time, but with a difference of one hour, i.e. each group will have its own start time. Also, the rogaining run has become a little longer and will be within 14-16 km, or about a 2-hour run. This will allow participants to become more familiar with the principles of rogaining and will be a bit more challenging.
All 5 competition distances: Rogaining walk (2h; ~5km) for children up to 12 years old (inclusive), rogaining walks are made in groups with children who are accompanied by an adult provided by the competition organizers - Instructor. If a child under the age of 7 participates in the rogaining walk, the presence of one parent or guardian accompanying the child is mandatory. 2h rogaining, 4h rogaining and 6h rogaining take place in teams of 2-4 participants, at least one of whom has reached the age of 18 on the day of the competition. If the team consists of participants under the age of 18, then the participants must have written permission from their parents or guardians to participate in the competition. The Rogaining race is a ~14-16km long distance as part of Rogaining, which the participants perform by individually orienting themselves - running, walking or walking and marking the necessary checkpoints along the way. Checkpoints that must be visited are indicated on the map that participants receive at registration on the day of the race. Rogaining run time limit is 6 hours.
We are really proud that every year Riga Rogaining with orientation in the capital's territories is becoming more and more popular. Each time, the number of participants is measured in a four-digit combination, because domestic orienteering enthusiasts, companies of friends, company groups, families with children, people who love sports and active recreation and also, of course, foreign orienteering enthusiasts come to the competition. It should also be noted that if participants in rogaining distances participate in teams of not less than two but no more than four people, then, for example, in a rogaining race everyone can participate individually and start according to their level of preparation.
We think so - if you don't try, you won't know what a great adventure a completely ordinary Saturday in March can turn into. Therefore, come, apply and see you on March 23!
Registration for the competition is available on the website www.rigasrogainings.lv