Resources

Welcome

On behalf of the Pure Adventure Charitable Trust a massive welcome to One New Zealand GODZONE, Chapter 12 Marlborough. How good.

To those who have entered and offered to volunteer a heartfelt thank you. It means so much to all the trustees and our race management team. It’s been quite the journey bringing this wonderful event back. We have been humbled by all the positive feedback, but to see so many people, teams and organisations keen to get involved is truly the greatest reward. You inspire us to do our best, and we are so grateful for the confidence you have shown. We won’t let you down – it’s going to be fantastic.

To first time competitors, you are in for the most incredible six months – enjoy the preparation and training, develop those skills, test your gear, be at one with your teammates and hang tough when the going gets tough – because it will – and how you prepare, mentally and physically, to handle those moments will help you define them. To those competitors who have been here before – you know what you have signed up too – and this course won’t disappoint!

Under the experienced guidance of Race Director Adam Fairmaid and Course Designer Warren Bates we are working hard to create a course to rival all other GODZONE courses. Richie McCaw and myself are learning it’s quite an intricate process striking the balance between gruelling, gritty stages to beautiful, rhythmic stages that might have you laughing and crying all at the same time. Packrafting, kayaking, mountain biking, time on the feet and technical challenges are all built into the course with some very special brain work required on some secret stages. A tough challenge that will give you the ultimate reward on the finish line.

Following our last reccie we reckon we have pretty much nailed it and we are so damned jealous. It’s a beauty, and not to be missed. Say no more.

One of the most rewarding aspects in creating the challenge that is One NZ GODZONE is getting to work with so many fantastic people. From the Department of Conservation to the team at Marlborough District Council, local Iwi to just a fantastic group of generous landowners we have been blown away. Alongside a growing list of key partners led by One NZ and Macpac and with more to be announced in due course we are so fortunate.

To all those considering attending as Volunteers and Support Crew. We can’t thank you enough. Our view is you are also embarking on an incredible journey – one built out of selflessness, a desire to experience the course and outdoors yourself and the joy and sense of fulfilment you get from supporting your family, friends, and One New Zealand GODZONE. We are looking forward to hosting you all on course and ensuring you too get to savour what will be a wonderful and unique experience.

Adventure Racing needs people to keep competing to ensure its longevity and continued relevance especially as young competitors enter the arena. Be proud you have entered Chapter 12, be encouraging of others to join in the fun, be supportive to any younger competitors showing interest and reach out if you need help in finding that elusive teammate or need some help.

Lastly please read the newsletter carefully – there are some important insights that will ensure your race goes smoothly. Don’t be afraid to ask any gear or other race related questions to competitor liaison Keren McSkimming. Take the challenge seriously and prep, prep, prep.

Rob Nichol – On behalf of the PURE ADVENTURE Trustees

One New Zealand – A Message from our key partner

One New Zealand is excited to be returning as the headline sponsor of GODZONE! We are thrilled to be on board once again to showcase the beauty of our amazing country and the grit and determination of the One NZ GODZONE competitors. We will be assisting to bring content from the event and keep the race crews safely connected with our One NZ Satellite TXT service in partnership with Starlink. This is a major game changer for the logistics plus smooth & safe running of a major event like this in a remote area. We can’t wait to see you all on the start line in a few months and in the meantime, happy training! To find out more about One NZ Satellite and the free trial for those not on our network, visit one.nz/satellite or one.nz/freetrial.

General Housekeeping

If you have been to any of the previous Chapters of GODZONE you will know that things have run smoothly. The new team wants to ensure that this theme continues for Chapter 12 and beyond. Check out the general housekeeping items below for your attention. We encourage all teams (and in particular, team captains and/or administrators) to ‘action’ any items that require some form of input, in a timely fashion – it will help ensure that you have the best possible event experience.

Maps, Handbook, Route Planner & Passport

Map sets will be based on the 1:50 000 topographic series that is common to New Zealand. Follow this link for an example of a map used at a recent event. You may source and download generic New Zealand topographical maps at 1:50 000 here. All teams will be provided with three (yes, 3) sets of topographical maps for the entire course. Please note that the 2 sets of waterproof maps are the only ones that the teams can carry with them on the course. No additional maps are permitted. A summary of what each team will receive (at least in terms of course related documents) is outlined below:

• One week before the race starts an electronic Route Planner PDF will be emailed to team administrators that will provide a broad overview of the stages. This will be supplemented at Race Registration, generally a few hours before the race starts, with:
• Two sets of waterproof maps (that might look a bit like this) available for use on the course. Yep, no need for coverseal and a corresponding night of bad dreams, stressing about the crease running through the most difficult section of navigation). Waterproof maps remove a lot of the hassle and stress related to race preparation and diminishes the worry about how you will keep your maps dry during water sections.
• One additional paper set for your Support Crew. The additional 3rd paper set provided will allow your support crew to plan, prep and support you accordingly throughout the race.
• An updated Route Planner in paper form (looks like this, A4 size and the content included looks like this) that will give more details about stages, transition areas, other important locations, distances, approximate elevation gains and losses.
• Two Team Handbooks, one for the team, one for the support crew (looks like this, A5 size and the content included looks like this) that give detailed information about stages, rules, penalties, particular safety requirements over and above generic considerations, dark zones, time cut offs and route specifics (in short, the do’s and dont’s of the course). The Team Handbook also contains a very specific table for each stage outlining what mandatory gear is required to be carried on that specific stage. If there is a small contradiction between what is outlined in the Team Handbook and what is on the Mandatory Gear List on the website, then the Team Handbook is the one to follow. The Mandatory Gear List on the website is just a generic catch all for the entire race and we will modify it to suit particular stages. For example, if you have a vanilla 2hr bike ride, we might remove some gear requirements such as carrying a tent and sleeping bags, as carrying them will not really make you any safer (which is really what mandatory gear is about – the bare necessity to survive, if you have to).
• Please note that the Team Handbook must be carried by the team at all times during the race. This is to ensure you have all the important information to hand when out on the course – such as the next time cut off which you are in danger of missing. The Team Handbook is NOT on waterproof paper so we recommend that you have some way to keep it dry.
• Every team will receive two Race Passports (looks like this, A6 size and the punch boxes look like this) which ARE made of waterproof paper. You will ‘punch’ your Race Passport at each Checkpoint along the course and as you enter and again when you exit each Transition Area. You must submit one completed Race Passport to officials at the finish. No completed Race Passport, no finish. We recommend that you ‘punch’ both passports at all times and look after them carefully, using one as a back up. Some teams elect to have different people carry each passport to reduce the risk of loss or forgetting to punch. Your call.

Team Finder

A reminder to all teams administrators and/or captains that you can Sign Up your team to the Team Finder page, if you are looking to fill a position in your team. You can also look for replacements at the Team Finder Search page. Injuries, substitutions and last minute replacements are commonplace in expedition events and this feature may help you link up with that person you’ve been waiting for all your life (or, at least since you realised that your navigator was utterly out of their depth).

Race Apparel

We are absolutely delighted to welcome Macpac as a Premier Partner and the apparel and backpack sponsor of GODZONE. To ensure each team member receives their correct shirt size, team captains/administrators can update online via the team information page. You will also receive an email reminder from Keren (competitor liaison) to ensure you don’t miss out on guaranteeing your size. All GODZONE tops are specially produced and printed, and there is currently a long lead in time for production and delivery.

Support Crew Finder

The facility to find support crew and register an interest in becoming a support crew member is also available on the event website. This can be found (and filtered as required) on the Team & Support Crew Finder tab of the main website. If you know someone keen to assist a team, please get them to sign up. You may be thinking of racing GODZONE one day or know someone who wants to; what better way to learn than sneaking yourself in to a supporting role of a competent team of experienced racers?

Accommodation

If you are going to do one bit of planning in the next few weeks then we would urge you to start sorting your accommodation out – see below for some tips and hints. Blenheim and the Marlborough Sounds are popular with tourists and there are a lot of exceptional accommodation options. Despite the race falling in the November/December window, we recommend you get on with this part of your trip planning as soon as possible otherwise you may face the prospect of staying out of town which may not be terribly convenient. As detailed in the event Schedule you will need to secure accommodation in the Registration and Welcome location of Blenheim (see below) for Wednesday 26th November, the night prior to Race Start on Thursday 27th November. Of course, you are more than welcome and indeed encouraged to arrive earlier in advance of these dates to relax, get organised, have a crisis of confidence, etc. We anticipate that the first teams to arrive at the finish on Tuesday 2nd December with all other teams filtering through over the next few days until the course officially closes on Friday 5th December. It is up to teams to best guess what their post-race accommodation requirements will be – please see later note on post race celebrations.

Team List

Want to know who your fiercest rivals will be? A team list will be added to the website and released to the media when you wonderful team captains or administrators have provided us with a bit more information about yourselves (accessible from the Team Login page with your team administrators email and password). Competitors can update their team and team member information at any time by following the instructions below:

• Visit the Team Login page
• Insert your email address and password in the boxes (these will have been provided by email when you first registered – you can change your password, if you require, once you have logged in)
• Click the Login button
• Use the <Team Info> tab to update general information about your team (remember to press the Submit button – located at the top and bottom of the form – before you close the page, otherwise your update will not be saved)
• Click on <Team Members Info> tab to update biographical information about your team of four (remember to press the Submit button – located at the top and bottom of the form – before you close the page, otherwise your update will not be saved)
• The information collected here will also be used to populate Live Coverage so it is in your interest to do it
• Teams have plenty of time to update their information and can make changes at any time. However, if you want to see a full team list and have your team showcased on social media then it would be great if you could input the information at your earliest convenience. We often receive requests from the media about teams from certain locations or those that have interesting dynamics. Unless we know who you are racing with, we can’t point the media to you. Help us to help you.

Sponsorship

We know that some of you have done a great job securing sponsorship for your Herculean endeavours. Some of you do it for the kit and some to help ease the financial burden. Others are doing it to raise money for personal/good causes. GODZONE has been the conduit for over $700,000 in charity donations over the past decade which, is a tremendous effort by everyone. We wish we could do more to assist with sponsorship but the best thing we can offer is a massive viewership (literally hundreds of thousands when the race is ‘Live’) and the biggest social media reach by miles of any multisport or adventure race. If you need a presentation outlining the reach of GODZONE, please feel free to use and download the following media reports from Chapter 10 and Chapter 11:

• Open Chapter 10 Media Report
• Open Chapter 11 Media Report

Welcome to Marlborough

A stunning backdrop for Chapter 12 of GODZone!

A quick word from our event hosts: “We’re absolutely thrilled to host this epic chapter of New Zealand’s premier adventure race in our beautiful region. From the intricate waterways of the Marlborough Sounds to the alpine ridgelines of the Richmond Ranges and the expansive high country of the Awatere and Wairau Valleys, our region offers a diverse and breathtaking stage for both adventure and relaxation. We can’t wait to welcome you and share all that our remarkable region has to offer – both on the course and afterwards, if you choose to extend your stay. To help you plan your trip and post-event activities, please find this handy Marlborough NZ guide.”

Some vague course details

Every Chapter of GODZONE is slightly different. Terrain, weather and a host of other factors come into play when designing a course. You can get a good overview of the past courses by visiting the Course Details page on the website. It is a slightly moist finger in the air appraisal, but it serves as a guide to how things have shaped up historically. Courses have ranged between 500km and 700km. Winning times have been between 3 and 6 days and the finishing percentages (those completing the Full Course (without missing any CP’s or Stages)) have oscillated between 25% and 65%. It will come as no surprise to observe that the races that take the longest to finish usually have the lowest finish rate. This isn’t just because those courses are technically harder, it is usually because the time window available for the slower teams to finish is narrower. If we are to summarise the course for Marlborough it would be fair to say that it is at the longer end of the spectrum, certainly length-wise. However, this fact is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there is a lot of exceptional biking and paddling options in the region. Teams always travel further and faster when they are sat down! So let’s break things down a little….

At this time, the GZ Pure course will be around 650km in length. The GZ Pursuit course comes in slightly shorter at 530km. Both courses follow broadly the same route with some subtle differences. The expected winning times are approximately 5 days. Obviously you can treat these figures with a healthy pinch of salt as they are subject to change, the vagaries of the weather, river flows, dark zones, etc. But it serves as a guide. Depending on the course you are doing, there will be 8 or 7 transitions, of which, one will be remote or ‘unsupported’ (ie, you have to sort your own mess out and there won’t be a nice support crew on hand to starch a nice crease into your cycling shorts).

As ever, we will be ‘budgeting’ for a 50% finish rate on the full course for both GZ Pure and GZ Pursuit. Less, if a majority of you are not very good at navigating. More, if you all train your socks off and engage your brains in the process. Looking at the Chapter 12 course in its entirety, it would be fair to say that it is a ‘toughie’ but achievable. People just keep getting better and better and that gives us confidence that a number of you will make it to the finish line.

We won’t reveal anything too specific about the Chapter 12 course until the final moments. Probably not until we hand over the course maps, in fact, on Thursday 27th of November. However, we can share some snippets of information that might help you plan your training, or at the very least get you speculating wildly about where we are going and what you will be doing:

• Statement of the obvious ALERT: It’s going to be hard. It’s always hard. Let’s not shy away from this fact. GODZONE can make other events look like a nice wee block of training. Both brains and brawn will be required to complete the course in the 8 or so days allowed. Will everyone complete the Full Course? Not a hope. As noted, we think 50% have a chance of making it through the Full Course. Whether that vague 50% includes your team is pretty much down to how cleverly you train and how smart your race plan is. Avoiding lots of errors, particularly with the map, is probably the most important factor in deciding whether you get to knock the proverbial bastard off.
• The expected winning time is currently just under 5 days. Definitely longer than a standard GODZONE, if such a thing exists, but take some comfort from the fact it’s less than Chapter 10! But then again, Chapter 10 had more days on offer to finish the race. Time available will certainly be a factor impacting slower teams. You will need to keep shuffling along as best you can.
• This is a long race. Even the really good teams will have to manage their sleep very carefully to avoid certain wheels falling off. The usual bell-curve methodology applies: if the leaders take well over 4 days, the majority are probably going to take at least 6. Plan with that in mind.
• Some of the stages are long and travel through difficult terrain. One stage might take some teams over 2 days to complete. If you make a nav mistake and get lost on this stage, it could quite easily become 3. Imagine the fun! Joking aside, this will be a demanding stage and you will be carrying a fair bit of stuff with you. Get used to packing heavy and what that means for your feet, shoulders, etc. Calorie dense food that can be transported easily and consumed without gagging when you open the packet is highly recommended. Packing light and then getting cold and hungry, because you take longer than you think, will not set you up well for the rest of the race.
• Both GZ Pure & GZ Pursuit courses look handsomely balanced. The GZ Pure course has approximately 150km of trekking, 185km of paddling and 315km of biking. The GZ Pursuit course will have some variations and slightly shorter distances (the long stage outlined above is cut down somewhat, for example). There may be other mystery activities included during the race but you may not find out about these until the maps are handed out.
• Given the fact that most teams will be on the course in excess of 6 days, sleep management and strategy will be critical to success. This may be on the course or in a Transition Area where your amazing support crew can give you a pat on the back and sing you to sleep. There are different views on the optimal amounts of sleep for a race this long. Too much and you might struggle to make it in time. Too little and it gets very hard to concentrate and you often move a lot slower than you think when your head is all fuzzy from lack of zzzzz’s. If you’re unsure about what to aim for, reach out to more experienced racers and see how they approach it. All we would say is that for every 1 team that crosses the line that says they slept too much, there are another 10 who wished they’d slept a wee bit more.
• As already identified, one Transition Area will be ‘remote’ meaning that teams will not have access to their support crews at this point. The organisers will move all related equipment into these areas. This has the effect of lengthening the time between support crew visits. If they’ve been annoying you with their endless positivity throughout the race, this might be a good thing. For the remote Transition Area, we will transport certain items of equipment and duffle bags (see below) so that you can access any key mandatory gear for the stage.
• As ever, water will play a significant part in the event and we urge every competitor to get the skills/qualifications to turn river sections into a fun experience, rather than a terror-inspired rollercoaster of emotion. If you’re unsure of the requirements, take a look at the Certification page which outlines the basics required. The better you are, the more you’ll enjoy it. The river paddling could be up to Grade III.
• Be prepared to keep yourself warm, especially on any longer paddles and at night and in the early hours of the morning. At least one section of water will be dark zoned, meaning that paddling will be forbidden at night. Under this scenario you could well be forced to camp out for up to 9 hours. It is well worth having a few creature comforts at your disposal for this eventuality. We will just take this opportunity to remind teams (and their support crews) that visits in the middle of night by a phantom pie delivery service will be seen as extreme rule breaking. Penalties will be unpleasant.
• All teams should take their packraft training seriously. There is a lot of packrafting. Those little rafts will be your best friends at some points of the race. If you don’t optimise your use of them, learn how to pack them up and down quickly and efficiently, making sure you have ample carrying capacity between the four of you, you are going to have the odd relationship breakdown. Get out in those rafts and use the backpack (probably 40-50litre+) you intend to use during the event for moving it about. Time spent preparing for packrafting will not be wasted.
• More information about what to expect from the course will be released in forthcoming Newsletters 2 & 3. Don’t panic. Just be meticulous and plan properly

Registration & Welcome HQ

All registration, pre event administration, gear check, media interviews, official welcome and race briefings for both the GZ Pure and GZ Pursuit teams will take place at the Marlborough Events Centre, in Blenheim, on Thursday 27th of November. AR Duo kayaks, inflatable canoes and any other race equipment provided by the organisers will be available for testing and observation. Be prepared for a very early start on Thursday and maybe even the possibility of completing gear checks on Wednesday afternoon. More specific schedule information will follow in subsequent Newsletters. For a general overview of event timing please check out the Schedule.

Post Race Celebrations

We are planning to hold post race celebrations at the finish line on each evening of Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th and Friday 5th of December. In the interests of secrecy we are not in a position to tell you exactly where these celebrations will take place, however, you should keep the above in mind when factoring in your accommodation requirements. More information about post race celebrations will be released in subsequent Newsletters.

Travel

There are a variety of ways to get to the host venue, Blenheim, via air, coach, self drive or even train. The most convenient option for most will be to drive directly which, may or may not, involve a ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton. The ferry ride takes approximately three and a half hours with services offered by Interislander and Bluebridge.

Marlborough Airport is a 20 minute flight from Wellington International Airport and a five-minute drive to Blenheim. You can also fly into Koromiko Airport halfway between Picton and Blenheim. Two airlines fly direct to the region. Air New Zealand fly to Marlborough Airport from Auckland and Wellington. Sounds Air fly to Marlborough Airport from Christchurch, Wellington, Napier and Paraparaumu, and also from Wellington to Picton Airport (Koromiko). For those wanting to use larger airports, there is the option to fly and drive from Nelson or Christchurch airports.

Important:

All international competitors must have a current passport, valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from New Zealand. Most visitors to New Zealand do not require visas unless they intend to work, study or seek employment. Please check with your local travel authority before travelling.

Support Crews & Equipment

GODZONE is a supported race. This means that all teams are required to bring a support crew to Chapter 12 – Marlborough. The support crews are responsible for transporting the majority of team equipment around the course and to various transition areas. Bike boxes and gear boxes are not a mandatory requirement for GODONE (though your support crew may still wish to use them to keep things safe and organised). This is the case for both GZ Pure and the GZ Pursuit categories. As with all items of your race equipment and surplus luggage, we do not provide insurance cover for items that go missing or that break so if you are in any doubt, do not bring the item or arrange suitable personal insurance. At the very least, encourage your support crew not to be clumsy.

For a more comprehensive discussion about support crews, please visit the Support Crew page.

Important: the information below is provided as a preliminary guide only, but is a good start point for planning:

• Support crews are responsible for transporting team bikes. Given that your support crew has access to bikes throughout the race, we recommend that they have some knowledge on how to service, clean and fix them
• Support crews are responsible for transporting team clothing, food, water and supplies
• Support crews are responsible for removing team waste and recycling from transition areas
• Support crews are responsible for transporting other team equipment
• In some instances, support crews will be responsible for transporting packraft equipment and paddles
• A logistics planner, that outlines the stage character, length and different disciplines, will be released to team captains one week before the race starts. This will allow teams and support crews an opportunity to get their heads around the adventure and begin equipment planning. It will not reveal the location of checkpoints, transition areas, start or finish line. These will be kept secret until right up until the last moment.

Duffle Bags

All teams (both GZ Pure and GZ Pursuit) must bring 1 (yes, one) 100 litre duffle bags for use during the race. The bags must be robust, made of waterproof fabric and have strong carrying handles. Duffle bags must weigh no more than 20kg when loaded, be correctly marked up (details on how to do this will be released in later Newsletters) and have a strong, fully operational zip or closing mechanism. We can’t guarantee that your bags will be stored indoors during the event so opt for the most ‘waterproof’ material and zips that you can find. Please contact Keren if you have any questions about the suitability of your bag.

What does having this duffle bag mean? It means that teams may not have access to their support crews at every transition. An example: A team treks for 2 days into a remote location, finds their duffle bag at a distant and small TA, dropped by the race organisers. They have no access to their support crew and carry on their way, once they have transitioned. The organisers then remove the duffle bag and return to support crew at some other location. Or, a team kayaks into a remote location, carrying their duffle bags. On finishing that stage, they pack up their water equipment into the bags and continue onwards on foot, leaving the organisers to transfer the bag to support crews. You get the gist. Most stages will be supported but be prepared for at least one non-supported area, with more than one stage rolled together.

Mandatory Gear Update

At this time, there are no changes to the Mandatory Gear List. However, we draw your attention to the following key bits of information:

• All teams must bring split double bladed paddles. No full length/non-split paddles can be accepted. These can be split into 2, 3 or 4 pieces. All teams will use these paddles for kayaking and packrafting
• Spraydecks, if required, will be provided by the organisers
• Packrafting equipment has been separated out from canoeing and kayaking to give you a clearer picture of what needs to be carried on packrafting stages
• We frequently get questions about the wetsuit requirement. Some competitors prefer to use ‘sharkskin’-style tops and bottoms as an alternative for better heat performance. However, teams should understand that the wetsuit requirement is not just about warmth. Wetsuits provide good warmth but also better protection against impacts, abrasion and they also assist with buoyancy. For these reasons, ALL teams must bring a wetsuit to Chapter 12 (farmer john-style is a great option). Teams are welcome to bring sharkskin-style clothing for use when the wetsuit is not a mandatory requirement. Wearing a wetsuit and sharkskin might not be a bad idea at times

A Word From Macpac – Premier Partner of One NZ GODZONE

We’re proud to be the exclusive apparel and pack provider for One NZ GODZONE. Like you, we know this race is about more than distance. It’s about grit, adaptability, and trusting your gear when it really counts. We’ve been designing technical outdoor equipment since 1973, built to handle the harshest conditions Aotearoa can throw at us. In One NZ GODZONE, what you take with you isn’t just kit — it’s your lifeline. We’re here to back you with gear that performs when it matters most. Stay tuned for more on how we’ll be supporting you in the lead-up to race day. See you on the trail or visit www.macpac.co.nz.

Packrafting at GODZONE

In the past we have received a fair number of questions about packrafts and related equipment. Most teams seem to have got their heads around what types are good for adventure racing and the quality and quantity of available rafts continues to expand. For those new to GODZONE, we’d first of all recommend that you try and talk to someone who has experienced a few GODZONES before and who knows their watercraft. There are some very knowledgeable people out there. From our perspective, we’re not particularly interested in how fast/light your new raft is and how the sunlight seems to dazzle seductively off its custom paint job. What we care about is that teams are safe and that you all know how to use the rafts correctly. The following is a brief outline of things to consider when looking at packrafts. However, the number 1 piece of advice we’d give to newbies is to go and get some instruction first. They might help you make sensible purchases or even be able to source boats for you at competitive rates.

The reality is that the optimal packraft for this event may not be the best one for your personal travels, the next Chapter of GODZONE, or any other race you may do around the globe. If you are going to buy a packraft then we would advise that you get the best quality that you can afford and one that is good for most water conditions, rather than a rather ‘specialist’ version. Packrafts with sprayskirts have some advantages in terms of water ingress and warmth. Those advantages are offset by cost and weight. A sprayskirt or cover is not a mandatory requirement but if it is cold, you may be thankful of having one. There are pros and cons of single versus double packrafts. The latter can be lighter overall for a team of four and possibly a bit quicker. However, those benefits are offset by the reduced flexibility of the rafts afterwards – in the sense that 4 singles could go home with 4 different people. Teams should definitely ensure that their rafts are big enough to carry not only people but plenty of equipment too. We have some great photographs from previous editions with two very tall people cramped into a small raft, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Equipment needs to be stored on the rafts in a way that it does not impede access out of the raft in the case of a capsize. Backpacks should not be worn whilst rafting. They must be in the raft. Rafts need to be capable of coping with white water up to Grade II+.

Like most things at GODZONE, skills go a long way to ensuring a safe and enjoyable adventure. We thoroughly recommend that teams spend a good deal of time in their rafts prior to the race to understand their strengths and, more importantly, their limitations. Teams wishing to skill-up or expedite their learning should definitely look into some of the training courses on offer.

Remember, it is our job to lay out a great adventure race and make sure that it operates smoothly with plenty of information. It is your job to ensure you turn up with the requisite skills. It will only add to your enjoyment and peace of mind.

Final Thoughts

A final few words. This is a perfect chance for us to communicate the kind and generous support of our volunteers and partners. Likewise, it would be impossible to conceive and construct an exciting course without the blessing of New Zealand’s landowners, Iwi and custodians who provide us with the permissions to cross and explore their land. The response to the return of the event has been overwhelmingly positive. Landowners across the region are extremely excited to showcase their small part of this beautiful country. We are well aware that if GODZONE had to pay commercial rates for access to this land, there would be no event. Simple. This astonishing goodwill shown to GODZONE is reflected across all areas of society and as beneficiaries of that, we are keen to reciprocate in kind. That is why we have been strong advocates of charitable support and also why we choose to assist other events and promote youngsters to take their first step into expedition-style racing. GODZONE can’t exist in glorious isolation and it’s important to give back where we can. We are also extremely keen to promote and encourage more people to get outdoors, experience the wonders of the Kiwi backcountry and compete in the many wonderful events that are dotted all over New Zealand and further afield.

OK, that’s a fair amount of information to digest. We acknowledge that sometimes, with such a large data download, it is easy to forget the really important things. For now, we would draw your focus back to these key items:

• Get the skills (navigation, water and a sensible race strategy are a great place to start). If you’re not a seasoned pro in packrafts or canoeing on moving water, we highly recommend that you use spring to do some courses and level up
• Have a good yarn with your team. Work out your relative strengths and weaknesses so that you can move as an efficient unit. For example, a very slow technical rider or someone who struggles to descend on foot in tricky terrain can seriously slow down three other people, no matter how strong you all are. Use the coming months to settle on an achievable and collective goal for the race
• Log into your team information page and fill in your details so we can release the team list and lock in your Macpac sizing
• Start planning your accommodation and travel requirements for a beautiful trip to Marlborough
• Talk to Keren if you need any additional information or have any questions, no matter how small
• Don’t forget to check out our social media pages to keep up with race updates and all the latest news items!