By TERRY MADDAFORD
There must be better things to do with $900 than pay the entry fee for five or six days of "sheer hell" in some of the remotest parts of southern New Zealand.
But for the 240 men and women who will compete in teams of four in the Southern Traverse 2000, it is seen not only as money well spent but a second-to-none opportunity to go off the edge and compete in one of the world's most gruelling endurance - and enduring - multisport races.
The hardy competitors who will line up on November 13 see it as the ultimate challenge.
They will spend for five or six days - depending on their proficiency and stamina - mountain/glacier trekking (125km), mountain biking 179km and paddling (kayak and raft) for another 123km.
This will be the 10th running of the race, which is sponsored this year by the Discovery Channel.
It has attracted teams from Finland, France, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
And Auckland.
Tagged the Outdoor Action Fourmidables, the northerners, Jim Davidson, aged 43, Graeme Brown, 55, Dan Bradley, 36, and their most experienced team member, 41-year-old Penny Webster, see themselves as underdogs, but are determined not to be intimidated by some big-name opposition.
The team won the 24-hour Aqua Terra earlier in the year, heading some notable entries, including legends John Howard and Steve Gurney (who Webster has competed with in the past) and have continued to build towards this month's race.
The course is not revealed until a pre-start briefing, but will be confined to parts of Canterbury and include some of the country's most rugged terrain.
History is against Auckland teams, who have not fared well in an event where navigation skills are vital.
The Webster-inspired quartet are keen to reverse that trend in a race that sees them up against Gurney, Nathan Fa'ave and Kathy Lynch from last year's winning team.
"Just getting to the event is a mission," Brown said. "We have done plenty of training, including kayaking the upper section of the Wanganui River, mountain biking in the Tongariro National Park, running over Mt Tongariro in the dark and having only an hour's sleep in one of the huts before climbing Mt Ngaruahoe in the morning, then trekking across Mt Ruapehu.
"It is the ability to keep moving with so little sleep which is the difference between winning and losing."
Multisport racing: Punters pay for southern hell
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