Rogaining is a sport of long distance navigation on foot for teams of two or more over a twenty four (or six) hour period. The object of the sport is to score points by finding checkpoints located within a specially mapped area within the allowed time period. As checkpoints can be visited in any order, strategy and teamwork are important features of the sport as well as endurance, stamina and navigational skills, with night navigation a key element. The team members must stay together at all times. The event takes place in the Wicklow Mountains to the south of Dublin. The precise start/finish location is not disclosed until close to the event date. The terrain is mainly open moor-land with large tracts of planted coniferous forest.
24 Hour event
This event will start on the Saturday of the weekend of the event and finish 24 hours later, on the Sunday. A central Event Centre will be manned from 8pm on the Saturday until the event finishes on Sunday. Hot food will be available at this time from the event centre, and an area to pitch a small tent will also be available, subject to permit. Teams may opt to come back to the event centre or stay out on the competition terrain for the full 24 hours.
6 Hour event
This event will start on the Sunday morning of the weekend of the event and finish 6 hours later, on Sunday afternoon. As this is a shorter event, hot food will not be provided by the organisers. Camping will be available if competitors wish to remain at the event centre overnight, subject to permit.
For both events, the winning team is determined by totalling the number of points scored less any penalty points accrued for over-running the cut off finish time. In the event of a tie, the higher placing shall be awarded to the team that finished earlier.
All competitors must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the competition.
24 Hour event: Competitors must take part in teams of two or more and no individual entries will be accepted.
6 Hour event: Competitors can take part in teams of two or more and we also accept individual entries for the 6 hour event only.
Owing to the severity of the event, each entrant is vetted for age and experience and the organisers reserve the right to refuse entries from persons who are considered to have insufficient experience. The organisers reserve the right to cancel or combine classes depending on the numbers of entries received.