Information

Location

St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes.
Registration/Hash House/post event food will be at the Lake Rotoiti Community Hall (opposite the school).

Date

Saturday 21st to Sunday 22nd November 2026

Courses

  • 24 hour - championship
  • 15 hours in 24
  • 6 hour
  • 3 hour

The 24hr NZ Championships is the premier event running from midday Saturday to midday Sunday (you can stop for a nap if you want, but the clock keeps ticking!). Open to all rogainers, orienteers, adventure racers and outdoor enthusiasts. Perfect training for longer adventure races, like GODZONE and Magnificent.

The '15 in 24hr' is the more social event, for those that like their rogaining with a little extra sleep. Your team can spend a maximum of 15 hours on the course in total and must spend 9 hours back at St Arnaud. As there is no overnight accommodation at the HQ (see below), you can spend the 9hrs downtime at your accommodation in St Arnaud township (plus DoC campsites at West Bay/Teetotal) on an honesty basis. The course covers all of the township and surrounding campsites, so you will be able to plan your route past your accommodation. The 15hrs on course can be spent all at once or in multiple blocks of time adding up to 15hrs.

6hr and 3hr events will run on the Saturday welcoming families, newcomers, and seasoned navigators after a shorter day out.

Times

  • Saturday, 21st November 2026
    • 8:30am – Registration for all events
    • 9:00am – Maps hand out
    • 11:30am – Briefing
    • 12:00pm – Start (24hr, 15hr & 6hr Events)
    • 1:00pm – 3:00pm – Start 3hr Event (teams can start anytime between 1:00pm – 3:00pm)
    • 6:00pm – 6hr & 3hr courses close
    • 6:30pm – 6hr & 3hr results
    • 8:36pm – Sunset
  • Sunday, 22nd November 2026
    • 5:55am – Sunrise
    • 12:00pm – 24hr & 15hr courses close
    • 12:00pm onward – Post event food
    • 1:30pm – Prize giving

Map

A2 waterproof paper .

  • Scale ???
  • Orientated to Magnetic North
  • Control descriptions will be on the map

Event Base

The Rotoiti Community Hall will be open from 8am Saturday to 1am Sunday, and then 6am Sunday through to the post-event food and prizegiving. Please note this means the hash house will be closed overnight 1am-6am with no food available.

Travel

St Arnaud is 1hr 10mins drive from Nelson, and 4hrs 30mins from Christchurch. We recommend staying in St Arnaud or the Nelson/Tasman region the night before the event, to ensure you are fresh for the start of the event and don't have a rushed morning.

Post-event, if you are doing the 24hr or '15 in 24' events and plan to have limited to no sleep then we strongly advise you not to drive home. Either have a support crew drive or extend your stay in St Arnaud to get some extra rest - there's nice relaxing short walks and easy MTB trails to explore the next day. If you drive after staying awake for 24 hours, you're as dangerous as someone with a blood alcohol level of 100 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood – that's twice the legal blood alcohol limit for adults!

Accomodation

St Arnaud has multiple accommodation options for those wanting a place to stay overnight, including the Alpine Lodge, Travers Sabine Lodge, motels and holiday homes.

For camping, there are three DoC campsites available at Kerr Bay, West Bay, and Teetotal which can all be booked through the DoC website. All three campsites are on the rogaine map, so with some careful route planning you can detour past your campsite for a nap, though Kerr Bay campsite is the closest to town and most convenient.

Unfortunately there will not be any overnight sleeping at the event centre/hash house.

Food

Food options at the hash house will be confirmed closer to the event.
We intend to offer a variety of snacks, soup, and drinks at the hash house for the 24hr and '15 in 24' events and a post event food from midday Sunday onward.
For the Saturday 3hr and 6hr events, snacks and drinks will be available at the finish.

Weather

Daily high temperatures in Nelson Lakes National Park are forecast to range between 13°C and 17°C, with chilly overnight lows dropping from 1°C to 4°C.
This is an alpine area so be prepared.

Daylight

Sunset on Saturday is 08:39 PM and Sunrise on Sunday is 05:56 AM
Around 9 hours 15 minutes of darkness – The moon will be in a Waxing Gibbous phase with approximately 88.6% of the lunar disk illuminated.

Responsibility

Competitors must agree to abide by the NZRA Code of Conduct which may be viewed at the NZRA website.

Neither the organisers nor landowners accept liability for any accident or injury to participants during the event. The team contact on the entry form must ensure all team members are aware that they participate at their own risk. All team members will be required to provide a signed indemnity form at registration.

Safety information, clothing requirements and suggestions for equipment will be included in the information package emailed to team contacts about one week before the event.

Environmental and Farm Care

Please respect the landowner's property and privacy. Their support and cooperation in permitting access to their properties for hosting this rogaine is very generous. We do not in any way wish to jeopardise the positive relationship that we have established with landowners over the years.

Some key issues are:

  • Respect farm animals, fences and other facilities, and the right of landowners to operate their business, and lifestyle.
  • Respect the privacy and security of houses and property.
  • Leave gates as you found them. If YOUR team opens a gate, YOUR team must close it SECURELY. Do NOT rely on people in another team to close it.
  • Be careful not to spook or cramp stock into fence corners.
  • Cross fences at a strainer post, or climb through. Climb gates at the hinge end.
  • Report any damage, or distress to stock, to the organisers so we can mitigate it.
  • Remove rubbish - more importantly, don't create it in the first place.
  • Bury toilet waste - better still, use the toilets provided at the START/FINISH where possible. Keep streams clean.

Access to any properties is only for the duration of the event. Possession of the map does not entitle us to access at any other time.