MOGA'11 competitors are allowed to log the following caches associated with the punches that they found during the competition. The Individual Competition course included Punches 1 through 50. The Team Competition course included Punches 51 through 100.

OFFICIAL MOGA'11 COMPETITION RULES

MOGA'11 will run from Friday night, March 25th, through Sunday afternoon, March 27th. However, the competitions will be held on Saturday, March 26th, only. The agenda will be posted on the MOGA website.

There will be 2 competition courses -- one for Individual Competition, and one for Team Competition. We will hide 50 punches on each course. The punches will be in small camouflaged containers tied down with nylon string, hidden in and around Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park. Each competitor will receive a topographical map of the area with all punch containers included. The topographical maps will help competitors navigate from punch to punch.  

There will be no driving allowed at any time during the competition. Using a vehicle of any kind will result in disqualification! ONLY FOOT TRAFFIC IS ALLOWED DURING THE COMPETITION.

There will be more punches than you can find in the allotted time. You must decide how you will hunt them, which ones to complete, and how you can get the most in the shortest amount of time. Do not trespass on private property no matter how close you are to a punch.

All park rules must be followed at all times. Course monitors will be stationed along the course. DO NOT ALTER THE PUNCH PLACEMENT OR THE PUNCH CONTAINERS!

When you find a punch, you must punch your scorecard in the appropriate place next to the correct punch number.  The punches and scorecard will be numbered the same. Each competition will last 2.5 hours. You must find as many punches as you can during this time. All park rules and off-limits areas apply.

Other caches will be available at Rend Lake, including over 100 permanent caches. Non-competitors will have access to all permanent caches during the competitions, but the punch containers will be at a different location from the permanent caches.
 
Competiton registrations cost $5.00 per individual or team member. Please pre-register for the competition by going to the MOGA website. You must register yourself to attend the event, then purchase an Individual or Team Competition Registration. To register a team, one person from the team must prepay for the entire team and indicate their team name, their team members' caching names and ages. For those who do not pre-register, you will have to register and sign a waiver at the event, then purchase a competition registration. Last-minute competition fees will be accepted at these times:
 
Individual Competition - Last-minute Individual Competition fees will be accepted at MOGA Central on Friday March 25th from 4:00pm to 7:00pm.  No Individual Competition fees will be accepted on Saturday.
Team Competition - Last-minute Team Competition fees will be accepted at MOGA Central on Friday, March 25th, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, and on Saturday, March 26th, from 7:00am to 10:00am.

Individual Competition – Men’s and Women’s
Starting Coordinates – N 38 07.497, W 88 56.423

The Individual Competition will be divided into age and gender groups.  The following men’s age groups will be awarded 1st (GOLD), 2nd (SILVER) and 3rd (BRONZE) place geocoins at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening.

            Under 30
            30 – 49
            50 and older

The following women’s age groups will be awarded 1st (GOLD), 2nd (SILVER) and 3rd (BRONZE) place geocoins at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening.

            Under 30
            30 – 49
            50 and older

Please make sure you indicate gender and age during registration.

The Individual Competition will consist of individuals looking for 50 punches.  We will have a shotgun start at 8:00am and the finish time will be at  10:30 am. You must find as many punches as you can during this time.

 
Team Competition
Starting Coordinates – N 38 07.497, W 88 56.423

Two-person teams and four-person teams will compete at the same time on the same course. Teams must consist of no more than 4 players (male or female) for the 4-person event and no more than 2 players (male or female) for the 2-person event. If you want to compete in the 4-person event with less than 4 people, please understand you will be at a disadvantage. Each player with the 4-player team should have their own GPS unit. If you do not, it would be a huge disadvantage, as 4-person teams will often split up to find as many caches as possible. Two-person teams may share a GPS unit or they can both have one, as long as they cache together. You will only have one punch card and hint sheet.

Each team must register as a team, listing all players. You can have one reserve player in the unlikely event someone is unable to compete.
Ten minutes prior to your event starting time, no changes or substitutions will be allowed.

You may form your team at the event. However, one person from the team must prepay for the entire team and indicate their team name.
Come with lots of team spirit and be ready to win!

Two-person teams will have to find as many punches as they can in a 2.5 hour time limit. You will start at 1:00 PM and must complete no later than 3:30 PM. Both team members must stay together to complete the course. Each 2-person team will be given one score card with hints that must be marked with the punches found. These punches will be inside of small camouflaged containers. Make sure you punch the proper area of the card, to get credit for that find. Your team finishes when BOTH members return. 1st (GOLD), 2nd (SILVER) and 3rd (BRONZE) place geocoins will be awarded at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening to the winners of the following age groups.

            Under 30
            30 – 49
            50 and older

This year the average ages of both team members will determine your age group.

Four-person teams will have to find as many punches as they can in a 2.5 hour time limit. You will start at 1:00 pm and must complete by 3:30 pm. You can split up to complete the course. At the starting point, your team will be given 4 punch cards with hints. Everyone must make sure they punch the proper area of the card, to get credit for that find. Duplicate punches will not be counted. If you split up, make sure each person in your group understands that all 50 punches should be the goal of the team, and each member should have a portion of the 50 punches assigned to them by the team captain. This will eliminate duplicate punches. These punches will be inside of small camouflaged containers. Your team finishes when ALL members return. 1st (GOLD), 2nd (SILVER) and 3rd (BRONZE) place geocoins will be awarded at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening to the winners of the following age groups.

Under 30
30 – 49
50 and older

This year, if three team members fall in one of the three age groups, that is the group you will compete in. If your team does not have three team members in the same age group, then the average ages of all team members will determine your age group.

Disqualification

Any person or team that is observed using a vehicle of any kind during the competitions will be disqualified. Any person or team found altering a punch container or course in any way will be disqualified and asked to leave the event. Anyone coming back after their deadline will be docked 1 punch for each 5 minutes late, up to 20 minutes. After 21 minutes, you will be disqualified. Losing your punch card will result in disqualification!
 

Scoring

The individuals or teams (2- or 4-person) who find the most punches in the 2.5 hour time limit will win their age division. If there is a tie, then the team with the shortest time wins.  If there is still a tie, a tiebreaker will be used. We will have a 52-card deck and the winners will cut the deck, high card wins. Anyone coming back after their deadline will be docked 1 punch for each 5 minutes late, up to 20 minutes. After 21 minutes, you will be disqualified.

Awards

For the individual competition, special GOLD, SILVER, and BRONZE geocoins will be awarded to the first, second and third place competitor in each age bracket.

For the team competitions (2-person and 4-person), special GOLD, SILVER, and BRONZE geocoins will be awarded to each competitor in the first, second and third place teams of each age bracket. The Minnesota Cup will be awarded as well to the 4-person team that has the overall best score, regardless of age bracket.


IMPORTANT NUMBERS

For any emergency, first call 911,  then notify the Army Corps of Engineers (618-927-1392).

To leave a message for MOGA Staff, call 314-632-MOGA (314-632-6642)
 

MOGA is the Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure! 

Now in our eighth year, MOGA is one of the world's largest geocaching competitions, where participants race on foot from waypoint to waypoint through varying terrain and some of the most captivating scenery in the Midwest. But MOGA isn't just for competitors -- there are also activities geared towards families and the laid-back cacher. We will have kids' caches, a poker run, not to mention 100+ new caches that will be released for the 2011 event. You can geocache at your own pace, or you can enter the individual or team competitions for a chance to win a custom-made gold, silver, or bronze trackable geocoin that will be presented to the MOGA competitors who can find the most caches in the shortest time in their age division!

PIRATES are our theme for 2011, so you best be gettin yer peglegs and eyepatches ready, mateys! Log in now to have access to Event Registration and the MOGA Forums once we go live this fall!