1. Finding a suitable partner is unnecessary
When forced to compete in a team, you may never actually find a partner of a similar age with similar fitness and similar motivation. Frustrating differences in ability must often be made, either by your partner or by you. This doesn't happen with Solo Rogaining.

2. You can enter every rogaine
Even if you are lucky enough to find the perfect partner, they may not always be available. With Solo Rogaining, you can always enter every event you want.

3. You always compete in your own age category
The age category for teams is determined by the youngest team member. If a 66 year old teams up with a 39 year old, the ultra-veteran is forced to compete against Open competitors who could be almost 50 years younger! With Solo Rogaining, you always compete in your own age category, and you do not hold your team-mate back because you are too young or too old.

4. Your event is not ruined if your partner breaks down
If your partner is injured, gets sick, tires early, gets blisters, or has a catastrophic gear failure, your event is ruined and you have wasted your very expensive entry fee, even though you are fit and well and able to compete.

5. No compromises
You go your own pace, you go where you want, you rest when you want, you don't have to wait for anyone else for any reason, you make all the decisions, and there are no frustrations with alternate suggestions. You are free to do what you want!

6. If you perform well, the glory is all yours!
Any success you have is all yours. You have not relied on someone else's decisions, or superior navigation skills, or better eyesight, or better route planning. Your success (or failure) is totally on you!

7. Unless you talk to yourself, there are no arguments!



1. A team might make less mistakes than a solo rogainer
You can discuss everything with your partner. Really stupid mistakes are picked up immediately. Your partner might suggest something that you may never have considered. Conversely, you might make more mistakes in a team.

2. Your partner might provide additional motivation
When you are feeling really down, your partner might be able to shame, cajole, enthuse or otherwise motivate you into carrying on when you might otherwise give up. Conversely, you might have to shame, cajole, enthuse or otherwise motivate your partner into continuing - and you might fail!

3. You can do less work by sharing the workload
You don't need to concentrate on all aspects of your navigation all the time, and you can share leading, route-finding, step-counting, time-keeping etc. In other words, you do less actual rogaining, and why would you want that?

4. You may or may not be safer ...
You are relatively safe in a team, but solo rogainers with a PLB are arguably safer.

5. You can blame your partner if you fail!
If you rogaine solo, you have nobody to blame if things go wrong, but if you stuff up monumentally, you can always blame your partner! This might actually be the only true advantage of rogaining in a team ...

It doesn't really matter what the advantages and disadvantages are, because history teaches us that when Solo Rogaining is allowed, Solo Rogainers almost invariably do better than teams ...

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