In the beginning….

Someone, of possibly unsound mind, named Phillips said “I’ve got a good idea. Let’s go
walking in the bush and paddocks looking for little orange and white flags and we’ll do it for
24 hours straight”. A lot of other people, of even more questionable sanity, said “Sounds like
fun. Let’s give it a go” Fortunately they did. Even more fortunately, some of those devotees,
including one named Phillips and a couple named Emslie, moved to WA and spread the good
word and now, 25 years later, they’re still saying it’s fun (thanks Vince).

By the light of a silvery moon (no promises), the team that has bought you such classics as “2001 a Rogaine Odyssey”, “The Dish”, “The 100th Rogaine” and many more now bring you a 24 hour celebration of WARA’s 25th anniversary. Our diverse team includes such luminaries as 2 ex presidents, a number of national and state champions and champions in the making. With such credentials, how could we go wrong?

A question for you to consider as you prepare for the event is where were you 25 years ago? As for the setting team, some of us were still in high school or just starting Uni. Another was away with the fairies thanks to some Class A substances. One wasn’t even a twinkle in his parent’s eye which highlights the fact that we have a mother and son combination as part of the team (how old do you feel now, Di?) At the other end of the scale, another of us was married with children on the other side of the country and an accomplished squash player. Only one of us had heard of rogaining.

What about the event you say? We could talk of a mix of open Wandoo and Jarrah forest, some gently rolling hills, a few scenic high points, a good track network, lots of interesting control sites and no fences to worry about in an area close to Perth that hasn’t seen rogainers for 16 years in some parts but, that would be teasing.

So dig out your oldest rogaine T-shirt, bring along you’re favourite happy snap from days gone by to laugh at and be there to help celebrate 25 years of cheers, tears and blisters.

The Mooners (Ian Thomsett, Gary Carroll, Warren Smith, Dianne Challen, Brian Austin, Rhys Challen)