Due to breaking my ribs and having a fun time at the 2014
edition of this race, I decided to go along again this year to help out with
the running of the event. Held in Murchison and organised by Nathan Faavae, it
is a great a wee race with options for beginners through to experienced
adventure racers with 3, 6 and 12 hour categories. The race starts with a raft
section then goes into a combination of trekking or mountain bike sections
depending on which length race you are in.
I was lucky enough this year to be able to go on the raft
due to a team not turning up to the start line. Due to the super low river
levels in the area, what should have been a relatively simple but splashy
paddle down the Granity section of the Buller River, turned into a very tight
and technical raft with lots of boulders and gravel sections exposed.
After the raft section I quickly went down the road to
assist on a road crossing that transferred the competitors over into the hills
for what looked like a fun wee mountain bike with a few navigation options
along the way. I was treated here to some fresh scones with jam and cream from
a local which went down a treat.
Once the competitors were through, I spent the rest of the
day flowing along with the tail end teams, pulling in all the checkpoints and
trying not to give out too many hints to teams that were struggling navigationally.
After a 6am race start, the final team crossed the line just after 1am to a spectacular
blood moon.
Next years edition is going to be held in
Hanmer, which although tempting to race (if im not injured again!), I think I
will probably just help out with the organisation side again as I end up learning
a lot of wee tricks off the competitors and navigational tricks off of the
course setters.
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