Saturday & Sunday, March 28-29, 2020
Raccoon Creek State Park
(30 miles West of Pittsburgh)
3 hour and 6 hour foot race "mini" rogaine (orienteering - scavenger hunt)
 

Registration is now CLOSED ... Raccoongaine XI has been canceled.

To see the teams that are already registered, click Registration List

Participants in a Rogaine come from diverse backgrounds: hikers, walkers, cross-country runners, trail runners, adventure racers, ultra runners, orienteers, hashers and family groups. Widely varying levels of competitive intensity are found, going from the casual stroller who wants a little variety added to the weekend hike to the serious athlete. Map reading skill is perhaps the most important technique needed. Route planning strategy is also very important since there won't be time to get all the controls, so the choice of which to try for is crucial in maximizing scores.

Times: Saturday's Event is the 3-hour race.  Although it uses part of the same maps used for Sunday, the controls will be completely different.  The start is at 12 Noon. on Saturday, March 28, 2020. The registration desk opens at 9:30 AM. Maps will be distributed at 11:00 AM. There is a mandatory meeting at 11:45 AM. at the start location for all participants.

Sunday's Event is the 6-hour race.  The start is at  10:00 AM on Sunday, March 29, 2020.  The registration desk opens  at  8:00 AM.  Maps will be distributed at 9:00 AM.  There is a mandatory meeting at 9:45 AM at the start location for all participants.

Organizers: Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club - website    www.wpoc.org

Start/Finish area: Rec Hall in Raccoon Creek State Park. Located 30 miles West of Pittsburgh, near the town of Frankfort Springs. Rec Hall is located 1.3 miles west of the park headquarters which is on route 18. Directions: from Pittsburgh, take Parkway West (I-376) in direction towards the airport. Change to Route 22 West, and exit route 22 at Route 18. Follow Route 18 for 6 miles to the north to park headquarters, and follow signs and road for 1.3 miles West to Rec Hall.  GPS coordinates:  N 40 30.570, W 80 26.800   The start and finish are the same for both days.

Provided Equipment: A special-purpose topographic map at a 1:15,000 scale and 5 meter contour interval with a clear plastic bag will be provided to each participant.  Saturday's map will consist of one 11 x 17 sheet; Sunday's map will consist of two such sheets.  In addition to maps, each team or solo competitor will be provided control descriptions and an SI card for recording found controls. Water is available at the base camp and at selected points marked on the map. Food will be available at the end of event. Recommended equipment: compass, whistle, water bottle or camelbak, watch, snack food, sunscreen.

Rules: No help from others is allowed during the races away from the base camp. If in a team, team members must stay within sight and speaking distance throughout the event.  Portable GPS systems are allowed as long as the intention is to simply record the route taken for later analysis, discussion and sharing.

Checkpoints: Each checkpoint is marked by an orange/white 3-sided control, with sides approximately one foot square. The control flags will usually be visible from some distance, not intentionally concealed, but also not in view of trails or roads. There will be about 25 control points for Saturday and about 50 control points for Sunday distributed throughout the mapped areas.

Scoring: The point value of all control points visited is totaled. The lateness penalty will be 11 points for every minute late. Tie scores will be decided by the order of finishing times.  If in a team, all members of the team must be present at the finish.  After finishing, the team will need to download the information from their SI card to get a score and a report on their progress through the course.

Awards Categories: There are three age categories:  Elite (age 20 and over), Masters (age 40 and over), and Veterans (age 55 and over).  Within each of these categories are  gender categories:  Men, Women, and Mixed.  You will be placed in the most competitive category that fits all team members.  For example, a team of three women age 40, 44, and 57 would be in the Masters, Women category.  Team members under age 20 are not considered in determining age category unless all are under age 20; then the team is Elite.

Entry Information: Entries received by 3/18/2020 will pay a fee of $30 per person for the 6-hr event and $18 for the 3 hour event. After that date, the fees are $40 for the 6-hr event, and $25 for the 3-hr event. On March 23, preregistration will be cut off; all subsequent registration must be done on race day at the event, provided the registration limits have not been reached.  The 3-hour race is limited to 125 people; the 6-hour race is limited to 125 people.  Because controls for the two races are completely separate, an individual or team may register for both races.  ALL registration must be done online using the link provided above.  There is a $8 discount per person for members of WPOC on the 6-hour event and a $5 discount per person for members of WPOC on the 3-hour event.

To see last year's results and read commentary about last year's event, go to commentary

You can follow what is happening with Raccoongaine on various social media:

 Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WesternPennsylvaniaOrienteeringClub
Twitter at  https://twitter.com/Raccoongaine
Attackpoint: at https://www.attackpoint.org/
Our blog at  http://raccoongaine.blogspot.com/
 

Sponsors: