Posted by Gilly Oppenheim
On the go for 35 hours without a break through forest tracks, down riverbeds, and across open countryside. Abseiling a 100-metre vertical drop. Crawling through narrow spaces in an underground cave.  Sound like fun?

Jonathan Young, the principal of Waimate Centennial School, has always been an outdoors enthusiast and to him this is great fun. He recently spoke to our club about his experience as a team member in the 2018 GODZone Adventure Race.
 
This is an annual multi-day non-stop expedition-style adventure race covering over 530 km of rugged terrain over ten days which both starts and finishes at Te Anau.
 
What a feat of endurance! Each team of four- which must include one female member- mountain-biked, kayaked, pack -rafted, abseiled and went through underground caves, carrying all of their equipment with them at all times.  They team were regularly checked to make sure they had all the required equipment and supplies with them, and missing a checkpoint resulted in disqualification. Extreme fitness was imperative, high energy dehydrated food was consumed every hour and sleep was snatched whenever possible – often only a couple of hours at a time.
 
Of the 92 teams competing, only 15 teams completed the full event and Jonathan’s team called ‘Out There Doing It’ finished 35th, sadly not being able to complete the whole race as one team member contracted trench feet and was helicoptered out.
 
The winners completed the event in just six days and with a $10,000 entry fee it is an expensive exercise. Jonathan trained for a full twelve months before the event and said the experience was both exhausting and exhilarating and the scenery stunning. It certainly wasn’t a walk in the park!