The 2011 "Lucky Seven" Regaine
Central New York Orienteering Club (CNYO) is the annual host of an interesting, one of a kind event that has something unique to offer in the realm of map and compass sports. Basically, it is formulated as a "relay Rogaine", hence the name "Regaine" in which the 24 hours on the clock are divided into four intervals of six hours each. In turn, each of the intervals is sectioned into two segments, for reasons which will become clear later in this write up. Intervals have different length segments making up the six hour total segment, i.e., 5 hours and 1 hour, 4 hours and 2 hours, 3 hours and 3 hours. Kind of like a Motala on steroids.
A central "Hash House" serves as the start/finish/refuel/fix and rethink your gear for each segment. Controls are placed over a wide area, in Rogaine format, with map scales typically around 1/30,000. The basic concept is that for any "team", only one runner is allowed out on the course during any given segment, and must return to the Hash House before the end of their segment, and then off goes the next runner at the start of the next segment. The general rules are available on the CNYO website, but each year some little twists are added for interest or to suit the particular event. This, year point values of controls were equal to the number of the control (i.e., control 88 was worth 88 points).
In reality, almost no "teams" compete in the event, since it is also open to "Lone Wolf" entries, and this presents a unique opportunity to practice a variant of Rogaining as an individual sport, over a 24 hour period of time. Because each competitor must return several times during the event, it is within reasonable expectations of safety.
Dividing each of the four intervals into two segments allows the competitors to go out on one segment of each interval, while the other interval is a required "rest" interval. It is like doing four score o's consecutively, all on the same map. What should be immediately apparent is that a great deal of strategy is involved in planning out four loops that maximize harvesting of controls. Also, since the segments are of unequal length (a 5 hour segment allows a lot more travel than a 3 hour segment), planning the best loops becomes quite a challenge. The Hash House may have limited routes of entry/exit, this means that several controls may be on route more than once during the event, but each one can only be counted once. Competitors need to consider terrain, distance, stamina, light - dark, number of hours in a segment, weather conditions, etc., to make wise decisions about which controls to "pass up" for later consideration, because runners will likely be in the area at least once more if it is within a few kilometers of the Hash House.
Some interesting features created by this format are:
1. Higher scores may be gained by choosing long legs that bypass a number of controls during a long time segment, while hitting close together or close in controls may result in a better outcome on shorter segments.
2. If finding a control is difficult, you can come back later and hit it again, perhaps from a different direction or under better lighting conditions. A great way to learn what you did wrong the first time.
3. Competitors choose which length segments they are doing on their own, so if you see someone they may not only be heading for a different control, they could be just starting or ending a segment. Following other competitors is not supported in Rogaining in general, and in this event it can be a disastrous technique for anyone tempted to fall into that particular habit.
4. Competitors get the opportunity to practice Rogaining skills, without the backup of a team mate to keep the pace count, maintain the map contact, strategize, etc. Your weak areas become abundantly apparent, which might not have been obvious when you had someone to "lean on" during other Rogaines. This is one of the only opportunities I know of that you can practice Rogaining under actual Rogaine conditions of sleep deprivation, fatigue, etc.
5. "Newbies" that would like to try Rogaining but are put off by the endurance and commitment required to do 24 hours have an opportunity to do as many loops as they like, or shorten their time to suit their capability, and still finish the event.
That said, how was the "Lucky Seven" Regaine? In a word: Great!!!. This year, it was held on June 5th and 6th in the realm of Morgan HillStateForest about half an hour south of Syracuse, New York. Organizer Pete Dady put this on, and manned the grill throughout the event, as part of the CNYO's "Trifecta" of Rogaine type events held each year. The Trifecta gives competitors a chance to do their thing in three different events - a "Sno gaine", a typical Rogaine, and the Regaine.
Weather this year was just a little bit on the damp side, very light showers at times, but the woods had received a lot of rainfall during the season. The Hash House was located at Spruce Pond, with controls placed throughout the StateForest which is typical glaciated upper New York topography of 300 ft. plus hills and ridgelines and gentle to medium slopes. Distance of controls from the Hash House ranged from several miles to one that was less than 100 meters. Of course, the lone control that was within that 100 meter distance had a little twist to it - it was on an island in the middle of Spruce Pond. For this event, travel by canoe was allowed. The particular canoe was a bit tricky, not like the river expedition canoes that this writer usually takes down the Colorado, so a minor amount of skill was involved, but fun was had by all.
Looking at the map, it is clear that there are several routes in and out of the Hash House - one to the west which would only be useful once, and the others that would get repeated travel. With ten minutes to plan before takeoff, I made the decision to tackle the western route first because it had to be done at some point, the first few controls were basically to be taken in order, and it would give me time to plan out the rest of the 5 hour segment "on the fly". Beautiful forest, up to the top of a ridgeline catching control 30 off to the south along a boundary marking on the way - a great confidence builder at the start of the event.
Before going any farther, I should explain something about boundary markers. The northeast uses these a lot - the Department of Environmental Conservation marks the trees along the property line with yellow or white paint, and liberal use of Private Property, Do Not Enter, No Trespassing signs put up by landowners. Where the boundary markers take a turn, the trees are marked with three paint slashes. These are invaluable landmarks to use in navigating through the sometimes thick forest, serving as handrails and sometimes as control locations. Of course, sometimes these markers are close together, sometimes they are spaced farther apart. For no apparent reason, sometimes they aren't there at all. Either they have "weathered" away, the tree has fallen down, or nobody put them up to start with. This is interesting, because you can be cruising along on a bomb proof handrail when all of a sudden you are in a large area of trees that all seem to have the same parents, and no topography to speak of. Woe and begone to those who have not been doing their pace counting, compass sightings, and time estimation. During the Regaine, you have to use all of your skills just about all of the time, or you will end up running back to the Hash House repeatedly with very little on your punchcard to show for it.
Other navigational "aids" so to speak, are the inholdings and small farms. Rogaining allows crossing private property, although crops and cultivation are of course off limits. The event organizers make it clear that permission has not been asked or obtained to cross these areas, which often extend well into the mapped region. You are on your own in this, and signage may suggest that you think twice about crossing a 100 meter field that separates you from a control that is reachable by a kilometer traverse through thick forest around the edge of the property.
The wise competitor also considers the realities of UpperNew YorkState farming. Since the growing season is about two and a half days long (summer is so brief that the locals have no word for it, last year it was on a Tuesday, I hope you didn't miss it), many farms are typically just pastures. Their major crop appears to be farm dogs. Farm dogs are only fed every other week, so there are always several in the group that would find a Rogainer quite tasty. Each dog has its own unique pattern of teeth marks that it leaves on the calves and thighs of fleeing Rogainers, and the organizers can match these patterns up to award special points for awards ranging from antiseptic to coupons for Advil.
If the competitor decides not to try for special points ala farm dogs, the areas are still useful landmarks, and are good audio clues during night navigation - the wails and sobs of other Rogainers collecting special points from the farm dogs carries well in the forest at night.
But I digress, back to the course. I chose to loop around the western and central southern part of the course,hitting controls 56, and 48. My route continued down marked trail, and then 300 foot descent down a fairly steep slope to get the 88 pointer down at TinkerFalls. Although the trail down was solid, I opted to take the hillside a little bit south for my 300 foot climb back up to the ridgeline, to cut off some distance. A faint trail was marked on the map, but for once faint turned into workable, and it was an easy ascent.
Continuing to the south and then east, I picked up controls 70, 54, 65, 46 with very accurate navigation. It was quite evident that travel on the major trails and roads was far superior to cross country, due to the ground softness and occasional thickets of dense pine and blackberry. Control 21 looked a bit tricky to do by contouring for such a long distance, so I opted for the slightly longer route of using the road and then up a (very) faint trail. 53 was on a fairly well marked boundary corner, easy to locate since it was also in a broad re entrant. A northwest cut across some "out of the park" land keeping well clear of housing and possible farm dog points got me to the main north - south road. Jogging on the road felt very comfortable, and when I reached the major trail going to the west, a quick glance at the watch indicated that I had about 8 to 10 minutes extra time, so I decided to get 21 which was about a half kilometer up the road and then up a well marked stream. Did that (but looking back, not sure why), then came back down the road past the pond to the east and headed west on the main trail. All went well up until control 41. I was on trail, heading west and north in the general direction of the Hash House, with enough time to keep the pace down to a fast walk/slow jog to conserve endurance for later on, and cut to the southwest as soon as I came to a small stream bed heading that way from the trail. Arriving at the junction to the larger stream - no control. Thinking that I had perhaps taken the turn off the trail too early, on too small a stream, I followed the larger stream trending north, towards the Hash House. Time was beginning to get close, so when I found no control in about 200 meters, I bailed for the main trail knowing that I had taken the original turn off too late, not too early. I'll get that one next time out, I am thinking, since I will need to come down this way again leaving the Hash House later on.
Arrived back at the Hash House with 50 seconds to spare, and changed socks. Another great thing about the Regaine is that you get to use 4 pairs of socks without losing time on course!! Comfortable!!
With an hour to plan, had a quick burger from Pete Dady's grill, and then did some serious map analysis. Knowing my speed limitations (I qualify for Ultra Veteran this year, although that is not a category in this event), I quickly decided to sweep the upper two thirds of the map, leaving the bottom one third to the younger, quicker, and those more likely to misunderstand what a pain blisters really are.
Out on second loop at 6 pm, planning a four hour circuit clockwise starting witha longish run out to control 29 then cleaned the far northeast section of 33, 66, and 54 before doing another "out of the park experience" transit up a broad spur to catch 45 without having to go way back and around. Then it was simply a matter of following the boundary markings to the little stream and east to control 57 ("spring"). Midway through, boundary markings dwindled and then apparently left the building, following Elvis. Nothing but intermittent stretches of very tenacious blackberry, some face high. Some, my face ended up not so high, due to tripping and ripping. I am searching for "spring", but finding "fall" instead. Was that my right shoe that just almost ripped off? Some of those blackberry patches were really fierce, Peter Dady mentioned afterward that this was the gnarliest area in the event.
After plunging ahead with force and little dignity, I was a little unsure if my pace count was accurately reflecting the distance, with so many missteps and sideways lunges. Nothing looked promising, and time was getting past where I should be turning toward the Hash House. No sign of a spring or a small stream flowing east to west. Finally, I found a rocky bed with some trickling water in it, but I was clearly well to the west of where it originated, and looking east, the terrain and vegetation looked like it was frowning at me. I decided to dump the control and head for the road, since I was now at the point where I would need to run all the way in or be late. Being late means three times that number of minutes is subtracted from your start time for the next interval.
Darkness came during the long and strenuous bash through the gnarly stuff heading west to a main road. North on the road and then west on a wide trail past an easy control - 69, control feature "ruin" within 100 meters of the trail. Headlamp on, scanning, looking, no ruin, spent a few minutes cruising alongside the trail about 50 meters in, nothing. Save it for later. Back on the trail, a look at the watch, my how time flies when you are having fun. I am going to have to run full senior citizen tilt to get to the Hash House on time. Trail is wet and soggy, full tilt becomes medium slog.
When you're late, you're late. Decision time again. Quick look at the map to confirm an idea I had developed back at Hash House before leaving. The next 3 hour loop would fit in nicely for an area to the northeast of the Hash House, but it would be difficult to catch significantly more controls to the east and a bit south, all of which could be scooped up in the final loop instead. I could do that little loop to the northeast in an hour and 45 minutes or so, the rest would be just running around for stuff I had to pass close by next time. So, decision was, let's be late. Took the time to go back down to 41, which would not be near any reasonable route of travel for leg 3 or 4, so it was either get it or say goodbye forever. Leaving the trail and heading down to the main stream, I took the stream south instead of north, bagged the control. Back to Hash House, I am about twenty minutes plus late, but instead of checking in I head for the canoe and catch number 19 out on the island. Hand the card in, 28 minutes late, which is an hour and 24 minutes off my 3 hour loop. But, my plan will fit that, and it also gives me an extra hour and a half of sleep!! All in all, I liked getting those extra two controls for 60 points and taking the penalty. Coming in on time, I would have likely ended up with a lower score!! The Regaine definitely has a lot of strategy to it.
After some good napping, another sock change, and stripping my pack down to minimum water/a snack, and a headlamp, I took off on leg 3 to the north to catch controls 31, 39, and 75. The first two had strong features around them, so I left my SWAT style Fenix TK40 flashlight in the car, going only with the Fenixheadlamp. It casts a good bright beam when you want one, and false dawn would come as I was on course, so no need for the heavy weaponry. I had no trouble catching number 31 at the east end of a logged over area. No trouble, unless you want to count the knee deep muck and man eating tadpoles that infested the area near the main road. I am sure that there are millions of feet of timber down in the depths of these mudholes left by the logging equipment, I know several of those millions of feet on a personal basis. Returning to the main road, it was easier to go through the forest than risk getting attacked by the vicious tadpoles that were out to get me by turning into slippery goo in the soles of my soon to be worn out Montrail Hardrock light hikers. North on the good road, then bearing off to intersect an easily found stream bed, a little farther north to nail control39. Up around the top of the map, I took a risk on another trail section that looked on the map like it could be a mud logging leftover, but wasn't. It was a trail, and it took me to the Northeast corner of this forest section, where there was a series of rectangular logged out areas. Control 75 was on the east end of one of these, and I missed it first time through. For some reason, I decided in my head that East meant South, so I spent some time with my profile facing the control while I plundered the black berry bushes along the side of the cut area. Looking at the control cue sheet again, (always a good idea), I saw that East really meant East, and the control was not difficult to find. Time was right on what I had predicted, so I took trails all the way back in at a steady jog and had12 seconds to sparearriving back at the Hash House.