Chapter 4 – “Wanaka”

On the southern end of Lake Wanaka, situated in a dramatic glacial carved basin, is the stunning resort town of Wanaka with an active, friendly atmosphere. The World’s First Protected Lifestyle Reserve, it’s a spectacular natural playground and if you are into the outdoors, there is no better place to visit or to host a Chapter of GODZone.

Wanaka hosts some of New Zealand’s best events and was the finish location for Eco Challenge back in 2001. With the course options available, history and community love of sport, it was always going to be a popular Chapter and this was reflected in the fact that the event sold out 48hrs after entries opened. Chapter 4 was very much about a return to the big mountains, with teams exposed to the elements at high altitudes for long periods of time. This coupled with some challenging weather conditions conspired to make this possibly the hardest GODZone to date. Nearly every team reflected on the intensity of the terrain and World Number 1 ranked team, Columbia Vidaraid, stated that the Chapter was much harder than any World Championships they had done. Any team who gave Chapter 4 a go can be immensely proud of their achievements – it truly was an Adventure Like No Other.

Images and video from Chapter 4 can be found in the Images and Videos sections.  

The Teams

Fifty five teams entered Chapter 4 with 52 making it to the start line at the foot of the Fantail Falls below Mt Brewster. In total, 14 countries were represented – Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand , South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom & the USA – showing the appeal of New Zealand’s South Island as the World’s leading adventure racing location. There was a particularly strong showing from New Zealand teams who were well aware of how quick entries would sell out. Every level of experience was represented with the two best teams in the World – Seagate & Columbia Vidaraid – going head to head in battle once again, along side a number of teams who had not competed in an expedition length race before.

The consensus was that this was once again an incredibly strong line up of teams with many of the younger generation teams keen to make their mark on GODZone. For the first time ever in an expedition adventure race we had a family team made up of mother, father and two sons – the Murray family from Wanaka – who performed amazingly well given that Charlie and Craig were just 19 and 16 years old respectively. We also had a New Zealand Rugby Players Association-backed team racing for our chosen recipient charity, Cure Kids. This included NZRPA CEO Rob Nichol, Auckland Blue player Ben Meyer, the highly experienced adventure racer Sia Svensen and former All Black Ian Jones.

	Team Name	Team Captain		Team Member 2		Team Member 3		Team Member 4		Final Result
1.	Seagate		Nathan Fa’avae		Sophie Hart		Chris Forne		Stu Lynch	Full Course
2.	Columbia Vidaraid		Barbara Bomfim		Urtzi Iglesias		Jon Ander Arambalza		Marco Amselem	Full Course
3.	Backcountry		Dan Abel		Sarah Bryant		Bryan Cowger		Rob Nesbitt	Retired
4.	Cure Kids		Ben Meyer		Sia Svendsen		Ian Jones		Rob Nicol	Short 1
5.	Bivouac Inov-8		Ryan Thompson		Becs Law		JJ Wilson		Dayne McKnight	Full Course
6.	Sheepgate		Grant Pepper		Helke Melville		Janet Musker		Tim Sikma	Short 1
7.	Epic Endurance		Kelly Boyd		Nicki Rehn		Claire Perks		Dave Viitakangas	Retired
8.	Action Sunday		Aaron Agnew		Jacqui Gee		Nathan Jones		Amy Horn	Short 1
9.	Sheep Eaters		Robin Simpson		Shelly Hufner		Joel Tate		Andre Morkel	Short 1
10.	Kauri Coasters		Barry Ruddell		Graeme Ewenson		Anyika Thomsen		Allan Kirkpatrick	Full Course
11.	Earth Sea Sky		Tom Bowen		Nicole Ranger		Chris Booth		Toby Johnston	Retired
12.	Heartland RICOH		Ian Walsh		Mike Robins		Huw John		Jo Turnbull	Full Course
13.	Tiki Tour		Tom Lucas		Floortje Grimmett		George Lucas		Mike Kelly	Full Course
14.	DAR Dingle		Chris Caulfield		Brian Keogh		Noel OLeary		Caroline Bullard	Short 1
15.	Real Discovery		Daisuke Minami		Goshi Ozawa		Fung Ka Fai		Takako Takahashi	Unranked
16.	Search4Hurt		Ian Huntsman		Wendy Riach		Geoff Dillon		Andrea Peebles	Short 1
17.	Swordfox		Nick Ross		Brent Edwards		Fleur Pawsey		Ashley Whitehead	Retired
18.	You can cry but keep moving		Sakkie Meyer		Dene Gavin		Benjamin McDowall		Sarah Cairns	Short 1
19.	University of Auckland		Edward Lawley		Tom Reynolds		Matt Jeans		Mirjam van den Boom	Full Course
20.	Pat Farry Trust		Rachel Lynskey		Jeremy Webber		Garry Nixon		Adele Pheasant	Short 1
21.	Torpedo 7		Richard Anderson		Bob McLachlan		Simon Bowden		Joanne Williams	Unranked
22.	Fit for Life		John Henson		Karen Muller		Ruth Tramsheck		Sharon Brophy	Retired
23.	BNZ		Rhys Burns		Lisa Bates		Glen Currie		Daniel Jones	Full Course
24.	New World St Martins		Sam Manson		Flavio Vianna		Pete Smallfield		Ailsa Rollinson	Retired
25.	GB Lakesmultisport.com		Anthony Emmet		Alex Pilkington		Joanne Thom		Seamus Miekle	Full Course
26.	Balance Sports Nutrition		Louise Mark		Cam Carter		Bart Muylle		Jerome Sheppard	Full Course
27.	Next Generation		Tim Farrant		Emily Wilson		Elisha Nuttall		Hamish Fleming	Full Course
28.	Southern (Dis)Comfort		Glenn Hedges		Georgia Whitla		Angus Petrie		Tony McGuire	Short 1
29.	One Square Meal		Sarah Fairmaid		Dwarne Farley		Ross Rotherham		Gordon Blythen	Full Course
30.	NCX		Simon Woods		Stephen John		Theodore Wordsworth		Jenni Blyleven	Short 1
31.	Absolute Wilderness NZ		Dan Moore		Dan Busch		Jeremy McKenzie		Lara Prince	Retired
32.	Super Subs		Mike Rait		Camilla Gry Elmann		Ayako Nakazawa		Deklan Hodsell	Retired
33.	Bracken		Richard Fogarty		Tracey Bransgrove		Joe Morrison		Dan Thomas	Unranked
34.	Bear Hunt		Charlotte Petersen		Michael McCluskey		Mark Van Der Ploeg		Max Collet	Short 1
35.	Chimpanzee Bar		Milan Brodina		Emily Forne		Greig Hamilton		Rob Creasy	Full Course
36.	Stromlonauts		Kim Gilfillan		Clare Lonergan		Kieran McDonald		James Kidd	Short 1
37.	More Pros Than Cons		Simon Trotter		Anna Barrett		Rhys John		David Ayre	Short 1
38.	Breen Homes		Keith Murray		Andrea Murray		Charlie Murray		Craig Murray	Full Course
39.	Hill Billys		Geoff Spark		Paul Spark		Seonaigh Conchie		Scott Henry	Short 1
40.	G Wizz		Destry Harte		Gareth Owen		Daralyn Gee		Richard Spelman	Unranked
41.	BMAC Cycle World		Mel Crook		Nolan Hill		Nick Williamson		Peta Cunningham	Unranked
42.	Freedom Fitness & Coaching		Richard Dove		Rosie Shakespeare		Tony Watson		Simon Lewis	Unranked
43.	Dynamite Adventure Racing		Paul Gruber		Angus Rodwell		Karina Vitiritti		Bruce Shaw	Retired
45.	Village Cycles		Robyn Dunmore		Gerard Malcolm		Ed Steenbergen		Kim Hogarth	Short 1
46.	One Direction		Richard McIntosh		Denis Woods		Richard Shields		Fiona Reid	Unranked
47.	Osprey Packs		Hilary Totty		Tane Cambridge		Mitch Munro		Dave Slater	Unranked
48.	SAS (Still Accepting Sponsors)		Alastair McDowell		Ben Gibson		Isla Smith		Angus Watson	Unranked
49.	Assagai		Morne Pienaar		Jimmie Fourie		Andie Lowry		Eddie Schuurman	Short 1
50.	Kori Kita Racing		Steve Lock		Lea Vellenoweth		Hedley Meacheam		Dean Sisson	Short 1
52.	Deliver us from evil		Nick Lowe		Dave Rudge		Sarah Kenedy		Glen Warner	Unranked
54.	Haast Eagles		Kris Mayen		David Cowie		Katharine Eustace		Dan Cullen	Short 1
55.	Team Vistalite Central		Darren Clay		Don Reid		Mike Plimmer		Amie Manning	Retired

The Route

All teams will be in no doubt that this was a tough course. The toughest yet? When you factor in the weather, the intensity of the terrain and competition, you can make a strong case for saying that Chapter 4 was indeed the hardest GODZone to date. The route started with technical challenges in the form of high mountains and cold weather. The middle part of the race was defined by big mountain stages on foot and bike (with many teams being caught on their bikes at 2000m in gale force winds and very low temperatures). There were reports of teams having to lie on their bikes to stop them being blown away.

Teams had to swim and coaster in the cold waters of Lake Wanaka. They also had to take on a highly tricky stage of orienteering in the native bush of the Waikaia Forest. There were four paddling stages in total (2 canoeing and 2 kayaking) but with no dark zones teams were open to pit themselves against the water challenges at night as well as day, including the coasteering. The final trekking stage gave plenty of route choice over the stunning terrain of the Hector and Garvie Mountains – perhaps the most beautiful landscape GODZone has ever visited. The final bike stage across the Old Woman and Old Man Ranges coupled with a wild paddle in deteriorating conditions on Lake Wanaka pushed every team to the very end.

The route covered a total distance of 554km, which included approximately 125km of trekking, 279km of biking, 56km of canoeing, 80km of kayaking, 7km of orienteering and 7km of coasteering. Given the layout of facilities, it was decided that the teams would only receive the maps for the first third of the course before the start of the race. The remaining maps were given to teams as they passed through Wanaka during the first mountain bike stage.

Start – Teams started below Fantail Falls close to the Divide which separates the Wanaka Region from the West Coast.

Stage 1 – Alpine Mountaineering using fixed lines, crampons and ice axes to climb to Mt Topheavy via the Brewster Glacier – stage shortened due to weather conditions but the stage still had huge elevation gain and some tricky navigation in poor visibility

Stage 2 – White water canoe down the grade II rapids of the Makarora River from Davis Flat to Makarora

Stage 3 – A high mountain trek over the Albert Burn area which offered some route choice but most will probably remember the night time river crossings of the Makarora, Wilkin Rivers and Albert Burn in rising river levels. Three teams got highly lost up the Albert Burn and had to be re-routed via helicopter whilst a number of the slower teams became trapped for a second night in the East Matukituki Valley due to high side streams blocking the track

Stage 4 – White water canoe down the grade II rapids of the Matukituki River with high rainfall making for quick times. The stage included 7km of coasteering from West Wanaka to Glendu Bay and a 400m swim across Lake Wanaka

Stage 5 – A super tough bike ride around the edge of Lake Wanaka, over the Criffel Range, Pisa Range, Gibbston Valley (many will long remember the CP above the Bungy Bridge which was much trickier than it looked) and along the shore of Lake Wakatipu to Drift Bay

Stage 6 – A scenic paddle down Lake Wakatipu to Kingston. The leading teams enjoyed a tail wind with many of the followers and back markers slogging into a stiff southerly wind, adding a couple of hours on to their paddle times

Stage 7 – The most beautiful stage ever? Trekking across the Hector and Garvie Mountains to Piano Flat in the Waikaia Forest with plenty of route choice and tricky CP’s. If you ever get a chance to visit…do it (just ask permission from the landowners first)

Stage 8 – Another huge bike ride across the Old Person Ranges, through Bannockburn, along the Newcastle Track which follows the Clutha River and then on to Dublin Bay

Stage 9 – Iconic paddle on the jewel in the host venues crown…Lake Wanaka.

Finish – Teams finished at Event HQ in Wanaka

Results

The 2015 edition of GODZone, Chapter 4 – Wanaka, was won by team Seagate, which comprised Stu Lynch, Chris Forne, Nathan Fa’avae, and Sophie Hart who once again put in another inspiring and devastating performance. That makes it a fairly convincing four wins out of four and their winning margin was a staggering 19hrs.

Seagate were always going to be the team to beat but the big question was how would the World Number 1 ranked team, Columbia Vidaraid, do against the super strong Kiwi contingent of teams. It’s fair to say that most Kiwi teams will have a newfound respect for the Brazillian/Spanish outfit as they performed amazingly well to take a fairly convincing second place. By their own admission they learnt a lot about the way GODZone works and would no doubt be a formidable opponent if they returned.

Third place were taken by Queenstown locals, Tiki Tour. They raced smartly and made few mistakes which gave them a well-earned place on the podium. Notable mentions must go to Bivouac Inov-8 and Chimpanzee Bar who finished 4th and 5th. They were separated by a mere 7 minutes at the finish and changed positions on the final paddle in very testing conditions.

GODZone is keen to promote emerging youth teams on their journey into this demanding sport. The younger teams compete for the Kathmandu Colt Trophy (as well as the overall title) and once again it was Next Generation, who triumphed last year, who came through with a fantastic performance. They were well deserved winners and finished 6th overall – a fantastic achievement given the quality of the field. Next Generation have done particularly well in coming through the ranks because they train and prepare with their brains as much as with their heart and muscles.

To win an expedition length race you need to race intelligently, strategically and have a great team dynamic. It’s traditional for the young teams to do OK on the fitness/endurance side of things but to sometimes fall short on tactics, navigation and sleep management. Next Generation now have 4 full length expedition races under their belts and they are still so young (that’s more races than most adventure racers do in a lifetime and they usually don’t start until they are 40+). The big question for teams such as Next Generation is whether they can remain motivated enough to become the torch bearers for New Zealand adventure racing on the world stage. Either way, the future prospects for adventure racing in New Zealand looks very bright with this crop of youngsters coming through and, on all accounts, there is another huge wave of school leaving adventure races already hot on their heels.

The Top Five

	Team Name	Team Captain		Team Member 2		Team Member 3		Team Member 4		Team Member 4
1.	Seagate		Nathan Fa’avae		Sophie Hart		Chris Forne		Stu Lynch	4Days 08Hrs 28Mins
2.	Columbia Vidaraid		Barbara Bomfim		Urtzi Iglesias		Jon Ander Arambalza		Marco Amselem	5Days 03Hrs 57Mins
3.	Tiki Tour		Tom Lucas		Floortje Grimmett		George Lucas		Mike Kelly	5Days 07Hrs 52Mins
4.	Bivouac Inov-8		Ryan Thompson		Becs Law		JJ Wilson		Dayne McKnight	5Days 12Hrs 01Mins
5.	Chimpanzee Bar		Milan Brodina		Emily Forne		Greig Hamilton		Rob Creasy	5Days 12Hrs 08Mins