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Please provide a brief summary of the team:

Greenhorns are a team made up entirely of students, currently aiming for our first GODZone. We’ve all had good results in individual events and completed some shorter adventure races, so we’re looking for the next challenge, a step up to one of the most difficult events around.

Who are the big personalities?

Rach is by far the most experienced talker in the group, and has developed quite a talent for being able to hold conversations while working hard and breathing heavily. I’ve definitely been labelled the joker of the team and am tasked with distracting people from discomfort with (bad) humour.

Have you participated in other AR events?

We’ve all competed in shorter adventure and multisport races, so none of us are clueless! That being said nobody on the team has done a multi-day race before, so we’re all in new territory. We recently competed together for the first time at the southern lakes 24hr adventure race. We were happy with how the race went for our first time together, but definitely identified some areas to improve on. It was mostly a relief to have a smooth race with nutrition and navigation going well.

How would you rate your teams skills?

Lachie and Rach are currently going through tertiary education in outdoor pursuits, so they both have a lot of personal experience over a broad range of disciplines. Rach is also in the New Zealand Territorial Forces, so has a special talent in carrying heavy packs (a feature much appreciated by the guys!)

What attracted you to race at GODZone and why did you choose the GZ Pursuit category?

Everyone in the team has had the same trend of the races they’re interested in getting longer and more adventurous, so GODZone seemed like the natural next step for everybody. We decided that the top of the south island was a place we’d all love to explore and that if GODZone was to be hosted anywhere near there we’d be going. When as the host location was announced we knew we had to go. Having Nathan Fa’avae on board also got us excited to take the plunge this year, we’re sure his input will help create a fantastic course. The logistics behind planning a weeks worth of gear to be put in boxes is incredibly hard, particularly for inexperienced racers. The Pursuit event will allow us to worry less about our gear and focus on racing as hard as we can. Turning up to friendly faces and helpful hands at transition is also appealing when you consider the alternative of turning up to a box of damp gear in the middle of the night!

Who is your leader – why did you choose him/her – will they save you in times of trouble?

In the literal sense it’s got to be Nathan. He’s a killer navigator so it’s easy to trust him when he says we’re heading in the right direction. In terms of leadership we try not to run a dictatorship. Often decisions are made by the weakest member at any particular moment as to what they need in order to continue moving through the course as fast as they can. Failing this I’m (Cameron) generally in charge of deciding when to take it easy or push on.

What do you think the key challenges will be for your team racing at GODZone?

While I’m sure we’ll all be battling with the standard foot and stomach problems, we try to keep ourselves in check by remembering that it’s voluntary suffering. We think a real challenge will be to find the right balance of sleeping and moving time during the race. We’ve done a few multi-day missions together on little sleep, but we expect that to change slightly in a competitive setting, and I’m sure the temptation will be there to push through the night when we shouldn’t.