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Friday 9 December 2022
Rogainers race around spit
Golden Bay High School students Iyla Lamason and Archie Darwen reach a control point in Saturday’s Fare-Thee-Well Rogaine. Photo: Jo Richards. JO RICHARDS
The 100 or so competitors who took part in last Saturday afternoon’s rogaine at Puponga Farm Park enjoyed near-perfect conditions as they walked, ran, rock-hopped and bushwhacked around the base of Farewell Spit. A total of 40 teams of various sizes and age ranges signed up for the Fare-Thee-Well event. All those who set out from Triangle Flat returned safely and within the time limits. Rogaine is a cross country navigation sport similar to orienteering, but requires competitors to collect as many points as possible by visiting dozens of control points within a set time. It’s a test of both mind and body – with the brain calculating the optimum route between the points while the legs provide the transport. Saturday’s competition, organised by The Golden Bay Alpine and Tramping Club in association with New Zealand Rogaine Association, was a three-hour event but teams could take the option of completing after two hours. The 72 control points were distributed across the farm park in myriad locations, including on trees, under rock formations and in the sand dunes. The course encompassed limestone hills with spectacular views over
Farewell Spit, open paddocks, ponds, dunes, beaches on both the Tasman Sea and Golden Bay coasts, and even some gnarly scrub and swampland. Within 30 minutes of the 1pm start, rogainers were arriving at one of the most distant control locations, high up on the Triangle Valley hills overlooking the spit. The team duo Iyla Lamason and Archie Darwen were among the first to bag the 100 points on offer – a reward for the challenging climb. The two Golden Bay High School students were clearly happy with their start. “It’s going well,” said Iyla. A few minutes later, Katie Malthus and Maryann Cant arrived to add to their growing points tally. “It’s definitely worth the trip,” said Katie who, along with her teammate, had travelled from Nelson. One hour into the event, competitors were spread far and wide, dotted ant-like along every skyline, across the outer beach and over the sand dunes. At Fossil Point, the northernmost part of the course, teams were having some difficulty locating control point 92 described on the control card as “Number on boulder in nook”. As they hunted for the 90-point control tag,
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a two-woman team from Nelson explored several “nooks” but abandoned their search after disturbing a recumbent fur seal. Hot on their heels, the Motueka High School Adventure Racing Team came to try their luck, running across the flat, firm sand and leaping over rocks. “It’s our final training before the national adventure racing champs,” said one of the runners. Back at the finishing line, next to the woolshed on Triangle Flat, Piers and Jenny Maclaren were registering teams as they came in. Once everyone was accounted for, Piers announced Nelson-based Georgia Whitla and Pat Higgins as the winning team, explaining they had managed to visit all the controls in a shade over two hours, thereby amassing 3800 points – the maximum possible. It was an impressive feat, but perhaps not too much of a surprise as Georgia is a multiple World Rogaine champion and the reigning Mixed Team New Zealand champion. She clearly enjoys running on the spit. “We came to the last one,” said Georgia. “It’s a great place to come.” Runners-up were another duo from Nelson, but third place went to a local team – very local in fact: despite having never previously... Continued on page 8
Whakaaro: Wellbeing ROD BARKER
Many significant social and environmental problems do not respect local, regional, or national boundaries. Attempts to solve a problem at one scale can create problems at others, especially when policies are developed by growth biased decision-makers. The only way to solve such problems is by tackling the underlying cause – economic growth – and strive instead for improved wellbeing. Continuous growth and use of resources are at the root of our global and local issues. The prevalent local government discourse of “more = better”, or “more, but sustainable = better” should therefore be rejected and a science-based policy approach taken which addresses the root cause rather than tinkers with its side-effects. Tasman District Council, in common with most local bodies, is fixated with the idea of continuous economic growth, but the time is right to establish a new way forward, because more economic growth does not necessarily equate to increased socio-economic benefits, but rather has adverse effects on society and the environment. Scientific evidence that shows we (locally and globally) are heading for ecological tipping points. Indeed, at last month’s COP27, the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres stated: “We are on a highway to climate hell.” Catastrophic events are increasingly likely as the climate crisis evolves, so we urgently need to shift our focus towards non-polluting, socially supportive and environmentally restorative practises and principles. Decision-makers must act now – and they have popular support; according to the Global Commons Survey (2021) of 20 countries, over 70 per cent of respondents wanted “wellbeing economies” with governments moving beyond economic growth focused imperatives to focus on environmental restoration and protection. The current economic ideals that are pursued by our local and central Government are detached from planetary limitations and, while consumerist capitalist striving has provided benefits, it has led to decreased wellbeing for New Zealanders. Moreover, local and central government assume that health organisations can address societal pathologies through health promotion programmes; lifestyle choices that lead to worsened wellbeing tend to be met with reactive “downstream” methods rather than proactive... Continued on page 5
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