endurance/geocaching events...

[Happy Chappies]

Hi all,

A question for those of you who have been around this site and geocaching longer than me...

Has there ever been an event organised which has an endurance focus? I'm aware of past events such as the Bathurst endurance event which were more focussed on 'how many caches can you find in 24 hours', but has there ever been an event which has been more about geocaching over a long distance, either on foot or bike (or horse or canoe or whatever for that matter!)... I guess think of it as Oxfam trailwalker meets geocaching.

Reason i ask is I've been feeling a niggle to do something endurance-wise this year, and not knowing quite what to do the idea of establishing a geocaching endurance walk/ride event is bubbling away in the back of my mind.

Has there been anything like that? And would that sound like a good idea to the wise ones here?

[caughtatwork]

On the GC site:
http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#event

an event cache should not be set up for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for an organized hunt of another cache or caches

GCA has no such rule, so you can organise a GCA event, but as not all cachers follow GCA, you might not get as many peeps.

[Team Rubik]

This is all I can recall, although I didn't attend personally. Link here GCX49R

[Zytheran]

In February I'll be helping to organise a 'Geogaine' event. This will be a crossover event for Rogaining and Geocaching, basically a 3 hour Rogaine with use of GPRs allowed. All on boot, maximum distance only 18 km or so. We have some reasonably organised ideas and rules sorted out. Still working out scoring and logistics but the basic idea is to find up to 16 hidden and temporary 'geocaches' with difficulties ranging from easy to hard on foot in 3 hours using a GPSr. You will only be starting with a subset of the cache coordinates, the rest you find on the fly.

If you want an endurance event you can do my Yurrebilla series which goes for 56km along the Adelaide hills in under 24 hours. This trail goes from Belair to Athelstone via Mount Lofty and without any Geocaching it can be run in 8 hours or walked in 12, if you are very fit. Each of my 4 Multis has 6 waypoints as is between 14 and 16km of hiking.

Yurrebilla Start by Zytheran (GC170M2) <- Belair end
More Yurrebilla by Zytheran (GC175Q2)
Even More Yurrebilla by Zytheran (GC17CB9)
Yurrebilla End by Zytheran (GC17RD2)

The series was designed as the ultimate geocaching challenge and walked in one day with another team giving support. My estimate is that it could take 17 hours if done continuously and you were very fit.
Anyway it would definitely meet the criterion, "Oxfam trailwalker meets geocaching." I used the track for Oxfam training.

[Echo]

This is all I can recall, although I didn't attend personally. Link here GCX49R

Now that looks like it was fun!

[The SBI]

Hiking the Yurrebilla series in less than 24hrs, now you have my attention , anyone interested?

[Agent Basil]

If there was an endurance event in the ACT, I know who my money would be on .......... I'll give you a hint........

Mt?ikerOz

[caughtatwork]

Not if the endurance was on a unicycle.

[Agent Basil]

Wouldn't matter !

[caughtatwork]

[Happy Chappies]

interesting set of ideas there!

The rough idea I'm considering (well, which I cobbled together when I should've been doing work this arvo) would be an 80km or so (maybe) walk over 24 hours, along which would be placed temporary caches for the event, which may also serve as checkpoints and directional thingies... Teams of 4, having to move together. Probably a circuit so you start and finish at the same place (easy for support teams/unwilling family members!).

The Warburton area is one which naturally lends itself to this kind of thing... Some I'm thinking about that one. Not sure whether it would be a 'race' or not, (probably not), but could certainly have points for caches found, time finished, etc. etc.

That's an interesting rule about not setting up an event for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for a hunt of other caches.... I guess the catch is the world 'sole purpose', as it would seem that the Bathurst event would have had hunting other caches as a fairly high priority, or have I misunderstood that event?

Anyway, I would envisage most if not all of the caches found during such an event as this would be temporary only... at least for the most part.

OK. more thinking I think! Thanks for the thoughts/input all... More always welcome

[Zytheran]

Hiking the Yurrebilla series in less than 24hrs, now you have my attention , anyone interested?

No one has done the 4 main caches in one day yet so there is bragging rights to be won there. I think the best is one section in a day. BTW, you'll most likely need training, there is 1600m of climb along that track. It's equivalent to over 70km of flat ground effort with 24 micros and 4 main caches to find. However the micros are all the same in very similar locations that are easy to find, burnt out trees. (A few exceptions due to blackberries.)

[tronador]

Sounds fabulous excepts you're down there and I'm in another state.

[Damo.]

You can jog down as a warm-up!

[The SBI]

Hiking the Yurrebilla series in less than 24hrs, now you have my attention , anyone interested?

No one has done the 4 main caches in one day yet so there is bragging rights to be won there. I think the best is one section in a day. BTW, you'll most likely need training, there is 1600m of climb along that track. It's equivalent to over 70km of flat ground effort with 24 micros and 4 main caches to find. However the micros are all the same in very similar locations that are easy to find, burnt out trees. (A few exceptions due to blackberries.)

1600 m of climbing is doable, did that in the gammons last year, the 70Km is slightly more difficult, best thus far is only 60 (24hr rogains great for bragging), Knowing me, the micros would be the main problem.
maybe that'll be my caching new years resolution