The 2019 World Rogaining Championship (WRC), will be organised by the Iberogaine Association of Spain, on 27-28 July. The event is centred on two of Catalunya's top ski resorts: La Molina and Masella, with the competition area straddling the Spain/France border in the Pyrenees Mountains.
The combination of high altitude, steep slopes and 40% open terrain will be very different from any previous WRC. Currently 49 Australians have entered.
The event website for WRC2019 is: www.wrc2019.cat/en.

QRA hosted the 39th Australian Rogaining Championship near Manumbar on 25-26 August 2018. Terrain was dry open undulating farmland with route choices around a number of out-of-bounds areas. The All Night Cafe was superb. Expected rain held off until the last few hours of the event.

The leaders were very close with the top 4 teams separated by only 110 points. This year, the visting Kiwis were off the pace. Winners of the open categories were:

• David Symons, Paul Williams (WA): First Men
• David Baldwin (ACT), Julie Quinn (ACT), Jackson Bursill (ACT): First Mixed
• Tamsin Barnes (Qld), Thor Egerton (Vic): First Women

The Intervarsity Championship was won by Fergus Macleod and Emily Rowbotham from ANU, who came 7th overall. The Interstate challenge was won by NSW in a tight contest ahead of ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.

The full results are now available on the ARC 2018 website.

The International Rogaining Federation (IRF) is seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced rogainers to act as the IRF Event Adviser for the 2019 and/or 2020 World Rogaining Championships (WRC).

The 2019 WRC will be held in the Pyrenees mountains straddling the border of Spain (Catalonia) and France on 27^th and 28^th July 2019. It is expected that the IRF Event Adviser will be required to spend up to two weeks in the area at some time during the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2018 (June to September)

The 2020 WRC will be held in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California east of San Francisco on 1^st and 2^nd August 2020. It is expected that the IRF Event Adviser will be required to spend up to two weeks in the area at some time during the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2019 (June to September) and a further period on site 1 to 3 months ahead of the WRC in 2020. This second visit is expected to be warranted due to the potential impact of heavy snow falls on the heavily wooded event site during the winter of 2019/2020.

Motion Put To IRF Council

That the World Rogaining Championships shall be held every second year, beginning in 2019 or 2020 as decided by the IRF Council.

Proposed by: David Rowlands (AUS)
Seconded by: Miroslav Seidl (CZE)
Date: 16 June 2017

Summary

From 1996 to 2012 WRCs were successfully conducted every two years. At the beginning of the current decade, there was a flurry of interest in conducting WRCs from new IRF members which led to WRCs being held each year from 2012 until 2017. This demand has now subsided and there will be no WRC in 2018, due to lack of proposals from suitable hosts.

ARA’s Rationale

The Australian Rogaining Association (ARA) believes that the WRC should be conducted every second year, as it was until 2012. This remains a significant issue affecting Australian rogainers, which ARA has been requested to address. The IRF’s survey in 2014 and discussion with other IRF member countries indicates strong support from members in the southern hemisphere and many groups in the northern hemisphere.

IRF Policy

Currently, the IRF is holding a World Championship as often as once a year if there are acceptable proposals from member countries. However, the IRF Council has never established a formal policy for the frequency of WRCs. In April 2011, Members were asked to vote for a WRC in 2013 (which lead to WRCs in consecutive years 2012-2014). It was made clear at the time that this vote related to the 2013 event alone.