Riga Autumn Rogaining at Alfa shopping centre closes the season

Original publication date: 12.11.2019

Rogaining's participants this time had to look for checkpoints in the forests of Jugla, Šmerļa, Ulbroka and Pļavnieku, reaching the largest thermal power plant in Latvia (TEC-2). Many people got to know such places as “Smilšu kalnu”, “Raganu katlu”, “Tramplīna kalnu”, “Liepkalniņu”, Biķernieki track bend named “Ģenerālis” and other interesting places.

In the Garākajā Garmin 6h distance, where more than 150 teams competed and the most active ones ran over 50km, the maximum number of points (200 points) was finally collected, and five teams did it. The finish between the two leading teams - “Krūšu inspekciju” (Gints Šmaukstelis, Miķelis Zumbergs) and Seiklushunt.ee (Arvi Anton, Joosep Tammemae) turned out to be a particularly intense finish. Both met at the last checkpoint and, realizing that they had collected all the points, rushed to the finish, where our team was eight seconds faster (5:13:56). The top three was completed by the best veteran men's team from Estonia “Hoka One One”, who also needed less than five hours and twenty minutes (5:18:09) to collect all the points. Meanwhile, last year's Riga Autumn rogaining winners Kasparam Adijānam and Valdim Čunkam (Aldaris Go), who beat Zumberga and Šmauksteli last year with the same number of points, this time had to settle for fourth place in the overall standings, leaving behind the best Mix or mixed team from Estonia. The best female team “Piedzīvojumu meklējot” (Jana Adata, Vita Žukovska) earned 154 points, taking 31st place overall.

In the Alfa 4h distance, last year's winners Andris and Zigmārs Gaiļi with 164 points arrived at the finish line ten minutes before the end of the time limit (3:49:42), but in the end it turned out that they were overtaken by one point and the victory in the competition of 171 teams was won by Andis Grandāns and Pēteris Grīvinš who used the time limit to the maximum (3:59:37) (“Artūrs Graube the Bestest”), who were the best in the 2h distance at the spring rogaining in March. The best Mix team “Isostar/Inov8” (Andris Ronimoiss, Anete Švilpe, Viktors Saveļjevs) also collected more than 150 points (151 points) in this distance.

Liene Apine, the driver of t/c “Alfa”, admits: "This year's autumn rogaining, which started and ended right at t/c “Alfa”, has ended successfully. We can be proud of such a great response from the participants. It proves that the urban environment can offer exciting and educational active recreation in the open air, which people appreciate and also expect. We will be happy if this event becomes about tradition."

In the Better4U 2h distance, despite overspending the time limit and the 5 points deducted, Atis Krūmiņš and Ainārs Elksnis from “Lēnām, bet riskanti” remained unbeaten among 120 teams, who were the only ones who overcame the 70 mark - 73 points. They were followed by Jānis Kūms and Zane Tilta-Kūma (Isostar reload) with 68 points. The “Adekvāto cilvēku” trio – Aleksejs Jevdokimovs, Aleksandrs Okseņuks, Vitālijs Petuhovs – entered the top three with 65 points, ahead of “Saulkrasti Showel racing team” by one point. In the Isostar 14km rogaining race, where more than 30 participants competed and where 32 points had to be collected, Mārtiņš Godiņš (58:37) was one second ahead of Ivo Siliņu, who were the only ones who covered the distance in less than an hour, in the race for victory. For women, where there was no intense battle for victory, the first place was won by Lauma Čerņevska, who beat her nearest competitor Aneti Grandāni by three and a half minutes.

The rogaining season will resume on March 21 next year, when the Riga Spring rogaining will take place.