AR Live Coverage

12/12/2025

New Zealand, Island Champions.
Who will be the North Island and South Island Secondary Schools Champions for 2026? Part of the National Adventure 1 series.
Rangitikei Adventure Race - 21st March - www.rangitikeiadventurerace.com
Kaikoura Adventure Race 48h - 10th - 13th April - www.kaikouraadventurerace.co.nz
The Kaikoura event generally attracts 400 school aged athletes ( Rangitikei is likely to be similar ) with Year 7/8 ( 12 - 13 year olds ) competing over 3 hours with 6 hour and 12 hour options for older students, so get your entries in and become a Champion and make your school proud.
Hillary Challenge also have Regional finals in May to Qualify for the Pinnacle event in October. So plenty of racing for school students in 2026 and some of the older students will also compete in the other National 24 and 48 hours races on the National A1 circuit. By the time they leave Secondary School many have been racing for 5 or 6 years and are performing at a very high standard.
AR Live Coverage Like No Other.

Adventure racing isn’t just about speed- it’s about teamwork, problem-solving, and resilience.
That’s why we love seeing local schools out there giving it a go 👏

The Rangitikei Adventure Race is the perfect way for students to build confidence, leadership, and lifelong memories (plus, it’s a pretty epic day out).
This year also being the North Island Adventure Race Schools Champs is even more reason to get amongst it.

Tag your school to get them involved! 🏃‍♀️

Enter now: www.rangitikeiadventurerace.com

09/12/2025

So many options.
I'm interested in Team's ( and Followers ) thoughts on Route choices. What was the thought process? What Route did you take and did you consider another?
B to C most teams took the obvious option over Mt Barometer, Kaikoura ( Yellow Line ) stayed in the valley and Isabel Marlborough the Route marked in Red via the Teme Basin. An option that didn't quite work but a great alternative that was worth a try. Potentially the best option I saw was actually by Team The Gizzy Gully Runners ( and one other Pursuit team ) who actually Back Tracked from B to Mt Hall 1411m because they were going to D via the Teme Basin - Blue Line. They passed 4 or 5 teams that took the Red Isabel Valley option. Travelling back over ground they knew was quicker. Not dropping into the valley and having to climb up to Barometer at 1780m ( Pure teams ) may have been the quickest way to C. So many options.
D to E, Fear Youth went left and lost the Lead while Rab took the most direct line in the middle while Tiki went down the valley track and then back up through the bush. They were all quite different time wise.
In Big Country Nav isn't particularly difficult as most of the time they are following Ridges or Valleys. Was there any Micro Nav required in the small bush sections between C and E?
Thoughts, Learnings or Reflections in Hind Sight?
AR Live Coverage like no other.

07/12/2025

Adventure 1 NZ 2026.
If you're feeling inspired after GZ2025 and thinking of getting the Old Team back together or forming a new team or just keen to race a bit more in 2026. Here are some great options with the A1 National series - www.adventure1series.com
True West 48h - Hari Hari West Coast 19th - 22nd Feb - www.truewest.nz
Kaikoura Adventure Race 48h - 10th - 13th April - www.kaikouraadventurerace.co.nz
Rangitikei Adventure Race - 21st March - www.rangitikeiadventurerace.com
Marokopa Munter 24 Hour Adventure Race 36h - TBC - www.marokopamunter.com
Photos from True West
I hope everyone has a great Xmas and a fantastic 2026 in the outdoors!
AR Live Coverage Like No Other

05/12/2025

The Why.
Adventure Racing is all about testing our limits and finding new boundaries of what we are capable of.
If you want to experience this joy and excitement of doing something crazy then perhaps AR?GZ is for you.

05/12/2025

The Why.
The joy of carrying a Bike down a scree slope. Why wouldn't you enjoy it. If you have the right mind set everything is amazing. Love the energy, the passion, the excitement of doing something crazy. This is the AR/GZ experience!
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05/12/2025

Numbers.
At the ARWS World Champs I achieved almost 600k Post Views. I thought it would be pretty cool if I could hit 1 Million at One NZ Godzone. I hit 3 Million and the rest of the numbers are pretty crazy too. Thank you to all of you that followed along and contributed. I gained more than 2000 New Followers during the race and I hope most of you will hang around as I bring you news and AR stories. In 2026 I hope to bring you more Race Coverage.
Any Races or Sponsors out there wanting the best exposure and Coverage with the greatest reach and Numbers in AR email me at - [email protected]. Regards Craig
Any Teams with a Race Review I'll be happy to Post it.
In the morning I will bring you 3 video's that capture why Godzone is a level above all other races and the spirit of GZ and AR.
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05/12/2025

Godzone Course.
Written during the race with Glazed positivity before the Weather Bomb - This course had everything. No leg was boring even though some were extremely long. The variety of terrain in a small areas was incredible from the Marlborough Sounds, to the long flowing rivers, the dry jagged peaks of the Leg 3 Trek, to the impenetrable bush.The amount of off trail travel on Bike and Foot was awesome. The Acheron Saddle will be added to Godzone folk law and people will talk about how they did Marlborough which means everyone knows they did the Acheron climb. I think all but 2 teams did it. Percy Saddle was the other equally extreme Hike Bike.
There’s no doubt this course bordered on insane and too big and it showed that even the 500km Pursuit course can be bigger and tougher than a long 800km course. It’s not how many kilometers are in a race that matters but what’s contained within those kilometers, that makes the race Good, Bad, Challenging, with Choices, Technical, Navigational, Scenic, Remote, - The Ultimate Challenge for Teams.
Post Race.
Course Designers don’t have the benefit of Hind Sight ( like us couch potatoes ) but I’m sure they all look back at what they designed and probably think we could have done this or shouldn’t have done that and that’s how they learn. It’s not an exact science and the learning never stops. There are always things that can be done better when looking back. Also when this course was first designed they were probably expecting to have more competitive teams so the depleted field didn’t help.
This Race had more Route Choices than most. I’ve never seen the leaders separated and choose so many different options so often and not small variations but for many hours. It was next level Brilliant to watch and follow!!
Chris and Tim both mention post race that the Acheron Hike a BIke was grunty and worthwhile and I think it was one of the young guys from Kaikoura who said it was pretty cool because you would probably never do it otherwise. Why would you? All Three Mountainbiking Stages had good technical sections which are becoming less common.
The Weather pre-xmas in NZ is still unsettled. We can get weather bombs any time of year because we are two little islands at the bottom of the world's biggest Ocean and there is only one time of year that is really suited to holding an Expedition Race of this magnitude. Feb - March. I understand the next GZ is scheduled for Feb or March 2027 so fingers crossed the weather gods help out.
Chris in a Post Race interview said he wished there was more technical micro Nav but that's hard in Big Country but could have happened more in the more perhaps. The challenge would be to design something challenging for Chris that’s not impossible for everyone else. Perhaps races just need to have a couple of CF-CP’s and this might slow him down and actually level the playing field as well. From memory I think he really enjoyed the Neil Jones Whirinaki Rogaine at GZ Rotorua.
Now this may have been a huge challenging insane course but I just want to point out that 50% of the Pursuit teams finished their course without a problem and that course was equivalent or tougher than most normal Expeditions around the world.
There were three Super Youth Teams, two of whom were full of teenagers and in their first Expedition and if it wasn’t for the intervention of the weather I’m confident they all would have actually completed their respective courses without issue. In fact they were making it look easy.
GZ has always bordered on the unachievable for many teams; that's what makes it GZ. Being crazy enough to enter gets you a lot of credit, completing Full Course is the ultimate goal for many and makes you a Hero and if you can podium then you’re a Legend but really everyone who’s brave enough to put their toes on the start line and give it a go, is a Legend. Congratulations to you all!! I hope you all enjoyed it because it doesn’t matter what us couch potatoes thought of the course. It looks awesome. More photos are available on the One NZ Godzone website - https://godzoneadventure.com/live/photos/
This was definitely a Godzone Course - Like No Other.
AR Live Coverage powered by Mountain Adventure
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05/12/2025

Several teams were using these at One NZ Godzone.

04/12/2025

Sponsors.
Without them I wouldn't have been able to bring you all the Blow by Blow coverage of One NZ Godzone or the AWRS World Champs.
So support those that support our amazing sport and have a look at their Websites - blueduckrafts.com - www.mountainadventure.co.nz
The feed back has been amazing and the numbers are insane so thanks for following along and having some fun.
A special thanks to all those that sent me photo's, video's and information - Sophie Shallard, Mel TA5, Simon Pease Nathan Fa'avae, Caitlin Ruddle and many others.
One more post tonight and 3 more tomorrow and then that's it.
AR Live Coverage Like No Other.

04/12/2025

Godzone Marlborough 2025 Winner Rab.
Chris Forne, Sophie Hart, Simone Maier, Sam Clarke.
Pre-race all the talk was that it would be a walk in the park for Rab, I mean how could a team with this level of horse power be threatened, they were clear favourites and justifiably so. However when I saw Stu Lynch was out ( replaced by a 4 times Coast to Coast winner ) I suggested in my pre-race Teams Preview that perhaps if someone puts pressure on them they were beatable. They were put under pressure. They were pushed to the limit for almost 5 days by a young team that doesn’t know how to stop. But they didn’t crack, because they are a team of champions, they stayed focused on the goal ahead and executed with Chris Forne precision that does make them unbeatable.
On the first Big Trek between CP-A and CP-B Rab took the valley option and Fear Youth were quicker along the ridge and for the first time took the lead. Rab gave chase but it wasn’t until they were leaving CP-D at Alexander Lake that Rab took a more direct route and jumped back into the lead. Fear Youth transitioned quicker and retook the lead but were eventually caught and passed again by Rab by Acheron saddle but FY lead again on the Wairau River and up to Chalice Lake hut on different route and as sun went down on Day 4, Fear Youth opened the door and Rab didn’t need a second invitation. They took it and they held it but they still had to fight for it.
They say the cream always rises to the top and obviously it does but it was a very slow process and they have been made to work very hard for this victory every step of the way which should make it that much sweeter. This victory wasn’t handed to them, it wasn’t a procession just clicking the card as they went they had to fight for this and they had to dig deep for a win that is thoroughly deserved.
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