"A good solid win. Racing in Ireland was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a decision that Ryno and I definitely agree was a good one."  

Just one day after finishing the last World Rogaine Championships in November last year, the Team Cyanosis pairing of myself (Nicholas Mulder) and Ryno Griesel were already looking forward to the next World Champs in 2013 in the Czech Republic.

The goals were set unanimously and the yearning for more rogaining was equally matched. Unfortunately, one small problem with regard to training and experience is that South Africa's longest rogaine is a mere 8-hours, compared to the international 24-hour format. Since experience counts for a lot in Rogaining, the decision was made to go find a 24-hour rogaine in 2011. A trip to Europe looked the best. It was closest and cheapest for international travel. There were a few options, including the European Champs. However, it was decided that competing in an event where you technically weren't eligible to win just didn't generate enough excitement. Our eyes alighted on the small 24-hour Irish Rogaine. It didn't take much convincing to make a trip to the Emerald Isle.

 

Rogaining sees teams of two persons competing over a 24-hour period, visiting a range of check points that have different points values. Team looking to place well generally don't stop for long during this time and will push on through the night, with the winning team being the one with the most points come noon on the second day. So it was that Ryno and I arrived at the start location in the Wicklow Mountains, some 40km south of Dublin. We'd spent a few days getting accustomed to Ireland, touring the region in a hire car. The Wicklow Mountains turned out to be all that we expected. Lots of open moorland and heather, clouds and mist rolling over the peaks as well as the odd squall of rain. However, the immediate problem upon arrival at the start was the swarming hordes of blood-sucking midges!

Rogaining in Ireland, just as in South Africa, is a small sport. There were about 56 teams in total, competing in the 24-hour as well as a shorter 6-hour version. We knew we had a fair chance of winning, although we'd need to adapt quickly to the terrain to overcome any disadvantage of being the 'away' team. At noon, the starter set us off and we quickly moved to one side to plot the various checkpoints onto the hiking / walking map of the Wicklow Mountains. This took us a bit longer than we would have liked, about 20-25 minutes for plotting and deciding what order we would visit the points.

The first few hours went very well. We made a few small route choice errors due to inexperience with the terrain (such as don't go into the plantation forests, not without a buzz-saw anyway!), but learnt our lessons quickly. There were a couple of teams running nearby who were obviously also aiming at a good placing, and this kept our focus. The mountains were beautiful, particularly at higher altitudes with short heather, where we often found ourselves running through light mist. Water was plentiful up on the hills and we found ourselves refilling regularly from quite a few smaller streams. 

The climb was incessant though, either up or down. We managed a high average speed over the first afternoon, but knew we would end up slowing down through the night and into the second day. For long sections of this part of the course, we found ourselves in totally remote and stunning parts of the Wicklow Mountains. At one stage we estimate that we went nearly four or five hours without seeing another person. When darkness did arrive, it was short and pleasant. We'd also planned our route such that we were at lower altitudes at night, which generally featured more roads and tracks,. warmer temperatures and none of the patchy mist seen on the mountain tops. We also had the advantage of being able to use our Petzl Ultra's to light up large areas of terrain around us.

By daylight on the second day, we knew we were doing well. Our average speed would hopefully see us collect all the check points on offer within the 24-hour cut-off, with even an hour or two buffer. We were back up on the mountains, but this also meant more climb and also areas of deeper heather, seriously reducing our running speed. We kept pushing on, determined to achieve the goal of getting all the check points, but at the same time planning short-cuts back to the finish in case we did run out of time. One particularly tough 6km uphill took us over an hour.

With two hours to go we knew we could do it, getting all points and back to the finish with half an hour to spare. The terrain had a few final surprises however, including a technical navigation stretch from the last control to the finish through some scattered woodland. Our hopes of finding an easy path through it were quickly dashed, and we ended up bashing our way through and loosing valuable time. In the end, we only sneaked in with about 9 minutes to spare, but thankfully with all checkpoints accounted for.

The results was good enough to give us a solid win. Racing in Ireland was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a decision that Ryno and I definitely agree was a good one. We had stunning scenery the whole way and encountered some great Irish hospitality along the way. This included a social group having an all-night party who showed us the shallowest place to cross a particularly deep river; We also had to turn down their offers of their local beverages (we didn't want them to run short). We recovered well after the race, despite the tough physical terrain. It was perfect training and additional experience as we now set our goals on the 2012 World Champs. Needless to say, the Setanta Irish Rogaine will go down in our books as a race to remember and one that we highly recommend for any other international visitors.

Nicholas Mulder and Ryno Griesel
Team Cyanosis