My partner and I have done a dozen hikes in Australia and in the Philippines. Walking inclines and through foliage are not new to us so we decided to try Rogaining. It is a hiking event wherein contestants have to use a map to find checkpoints, earn points and then come back to the home base at a designated time. The team who visits the most number of checkpoints win the event.
I wish I had brought my camera but things like that are not wise to take along as contestants had to run for four hours. We thought it would be wise to wear jeans and a jacket because it was cold--we were so damn wrong. It is impossible to run in jeans and jackets get heavier and heavier.
It was exciting to see checkpoints in the middle of nowhere. It was even more exciting for Steven to visit his grandparents in the middle of this competition. Steven thought that we would bicker a lot along the way but we did not. Our performance was a lot slower but it was smooth.
And then the most ridiculous thing happened: on our way back to home base, Steven twisted both ankles while going downhill in a span of 10 minutes. Who does that? We were in the bush with no house in sight. It was scarey.
Steven's pain alarmed a couple of competitors that they actually stopped for us. They offered help but Steven politely declined and hobbled the remaining 3 kilometres to home base.
So here is the result:
But we are definitely going to do it again next year. You cannot buy the adrenaline rush you get from finding a checkpoint but we do need to buy proper clothing (i.e. compression shirts and pants) for the event.
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