Bas Smith from Ray White Queenstown along with team members Hayden Key, Jess Simson and Matt Wood recently completed the Godzone Adventure race in held in Queenstown between 7th – 14th April. Their team was called Team RnR Sport.
This is a multi-day, non-stop expedition-style adventure race covering approximately 450km that involved navigation, trekking, mountain biking and kayaking over a vast array of different landscapes. Teams had to pass through a series of mandatory checkpoints along the course, which saw them travelling day and night with the decision to rest and sleep being left solely to the discretion of the teams themselves. The maximum time give to complete the race was 5½ days. Making the challenge just that little bit tougher was the fact that the race was an “unsupported” event, so not only was there no assistance at transition points but teams also had to cook for and feed themselves over the 5 days.
Bas reports that he and his fellow members of Team RnR Sport started the race slow and steady and after two days of racing they felt good, had not gotten lost and were in good shape so they picked up the pace and began moving up through the field.
Only 4 of the 36 teams entered completed the full course. Team RnR Sport came in 3rd and was the only non professional team in the top group of 4. This is an amazing achievement, particularly given the team had not raced together before and it was Jess’ first multi day race.
Team RnR Sports stats for this race are quite something:
- 5 days non-stop racing (107 hours)
- 4 hours sleep
- 522km travelled
- 12,182m of ascent
- 3rd place