Absolute Wilderness Race Set for Hanmer Springs Next March
News Release / 10.12.2015
It’s time to orientate your compass, dust off your wetsuit, lube your chain and limber up for the 3rd Absolute Wilderness Adventure Race that will take place in the Hanmer Springs region, an area well known for high quality outdoor pursuits, riddled with bike trails, hiking country and crystal clear rivers. After two years being based in Murchison the event has moved south to some different terrain, new areas and to make it easier for a larger audience to participate by being closer to Canterbury.
The course is being rumoured as one of the best 24-hour race courses there has been in New Zealand, combining expansive scenery, the wilderness element and the level of challenge. The vast majority of the course has never been used for an event before.
The event will cater for all levels, beginners to advanced, with options for a 3-hour, 6-hour and 12-hour event. These are targeted winning times and each category allows teams to take up to double the time, which translates to the course being open for 24-hours.
The event is presented by Nathan Fa’avae, now a 4-time adventure racing world champion after his team’s success at the recent World Championships in Brazil.
“What I really like about the race this year is it’s a completely new area and places wouldn’t normally have access to, predominately private land. One look at the course map and I knew instantly that people will love this course”.
Fa’avae and his event team organise the hugely successful Torpedo7 Spring Challenge which will be in its 10th year in 2016. They apply many of the winning ingredients from the Spring Challenge to the Absolute Wilderness Race.
“Because the Spring Challenge only caters for women, for years we were inundated with requests from men that they wanted an adventure race too, so this is how the event came about, but this event caters for male and mixed teams” Fa’avae explains.
The Absolute Wilderness Adventure Race will combine river rafting, mountain biking, hiking and navigation. Teams of three people can tackle the challenge and each team will require a support crew, to handle the team logistics and have their gear and equipment at the right place at the right time.
Fa’avae says “The course has come together extremely well. Mark Rayward and Dan Moore have been the ones on the ground doing the design and they’ve done a superb job, I wish I was racing on this course and I bet they do too”.
Dan Moore commented; “The mountain biking is super fun, riding for all abilities but the 12-hour teams can expect some classic technical back country riding, high country style farm tracks, and people can have a swim in the river afterwards, the weather could be scorching in early March”. (Race dates are March 4-6th.)
Mark Rayward said “There will be some rogaine style navigation which I think will add a significant amount of strategy and decision making to the event, the landscape and places the teams will visit are amazing and it’ll be a memorable race for sure”.
Dan adds; ‘This event will draw on teams skills, fitness and strategy while exploring some great new terrain’
One thing Fa’avae has succeeded in is getting women into adventure racing through the Spring Challenge. He is now attempting to do a similar thing by encouraging more men to try the sport.
He explains “The rafting removes a major barrier for many people wanting to try adventure racing. Typically, kayaking is used as the water discipline and that makes it difficult for many. We use guided rafts so really anyone can raft, which means provided somebody can walk and ride a mountain bike, they can be an adventure racer.”
The Absolute Wilderness Adventure Race caters for mixed and male teams, a wide range of abilities and ages.
“The mountain biking is wonderful, the trekking is amazing, the river is scenic and enjoyable, the navigation is engaging, this year’s event has all the components of a classic,” says Rayward
Fa’avae wants people to enjoy the dynamic aspects of an Adventure Race. “One of the great things about the sport is it’s forever changing, nearly every course is original and people will spend a day rafting down a river, hiking through some wilderness and mountain biking up and down cool trails, it’s a hugely satisfying achievement that rewards people. It’s about getting into nature and living - I just know people cross the finish line and say ‘wow - what an awesome day that was’ - that’s the rewarding part of putting an event on.”
New for the 2016 is a Godzone team category. Teams that are entered in the 2016 Godzone Adventure can compete in the Absolute Wilderness Adventure Race as a team of four people, in the 12-hour event only. For the Godzone teams, there will also be a grade 2 canoeing section. Warren Bates the Godzone Director is really keen to promote the sport in New Zealand and help teams to gain more skills, by adding a canoe stage using the Godzone canoes, this will help teams develop their canoeing skills ahead of the Godzone event in April.
Fa’avae points out that it is no accident the event is one month prior to Godzone. “4-weeks before Godzone is an ideal time for a final hit out, for teams to test themselves in a race environment that covers all the factors of an authentic adventure race, but not so long they can’t recover easily from it. It’s a major bonus Godzone have offered the inflatable canoe fleet for the Godzone teams entering and we’re going to ensure that the teams get maximum benefit, ideally with some classy grade 3 to negotiate. I’m certainly keen to help the Godzone teams prepare as best they can for success in the major event”.
The Absolute Wilderness Adventure Race will begin on Friday evening on March the 4th with registration and briefing, where teams will collect their maps. Saturday is the event day with the start and finish within 30-minutes drive of Hanmer Springs. The last teams are expected to finish sometime during the early hours of Sunday morning, Sunday is also the awards breakfast.
Fa’avae concludes “Every now and again we design a course that ticks all the boxes, everything comes together, this is that time, it is shaping up to be a unique adventure not to be missed”.
Grab your friends and/or family and be part of an event that will be one of the highlights of your year.
The major sponsor is Absolute Wilderness Freeze Dry Meals.
For more information and event details please visit: www.absolutewilderness.co.nz
Other events by Nathan Fa’avae for 2016:
February 27th YEALANDS YAK www.yealands.co.nz/yak
September 23rd-5th T7 SPRING CHALLENGE SOUTH www.springchallenge.co.nz
October 7th-9th T7 SPRING CHALLENGE NORTH www.springchallenge.co.nz
