ADVENTURE RACING

Team Seagate charging through GODZone on Day Two

By GODZone Adventure

Reigning GODZone and World Adventure Racing Champions Team Seagate are leaving
nothing to chance as they race into day two of the weeklong GODZone adventure race
firmly in the lead position.

Over night the front running teams have ascended 2400m, passing the Albert Burn saddle
in the western arm of Mt Aspiring National Park down into the majestic Matukituki Valley.

“ Despite yesterday being a real challenge for teams with cold, wet conditions, the pace
of these lead teams has not slowed at all. As predicted Seagate are keeping to their usual
strategy of racing at the front but they are being chased quite closely by some very good
teams at the moment so the pressure is mounting,” says Race Director Warren Bates.

“ Swordfox have managed to hold second place overnight but the big movers have
been the number one world ranked team Vidaraid who have jumped several places to
third. They are really gunning for Seagate so today might be when they close the gap.”

There are some good Kiwi teams in this chasing bunch with Wanaka based teams
Torpedo 7 led by Richard Anderson and Tiki Tour led by Tom Lucas in the mix.” says Bates.
The bulk of the field of 52 teams are now travelling towards the Whare Kea hut checkpoint
situated at 1740m on the Albert Burn alpine trek.

“ Seagate have set a scorching pace from the get go. They are ahead of our estimated
fast times by aprox one hour and it does not seem anything is slowing them down.

Certainly there has not been much sleep had by any of the leaders but we wouldn’t
expect that at this stage of the race.”

Stage four of the 560km course begins today with a 30km white-water canoe down the
Matukituki River followed by a short coasteering section around a section of Lake Wanaka
that will take teams into Glendu Bay.

“ Today will be refreshing for these teams with the river flow at a reasonably constant level
taking them all the way down through the wide glacial valley – it's a beautiful stretch of
water. There are some good rapids where the east and west branches meet which will
keep them awake,” says Bates.

The coasteering at the end will bring an element of surprise because the teams have to
swim some 400 meters to get into Glendu Bay. “

From there, the competitors will mountain bike along the spectacular Dampner Bay track
on the western shores of Lake Wanaka to the GODZone race headquarters to pick up
maps for the next 400km of the course.

“We have never split the maps up before like this and so we are taking the opportunity to
get a video clip of each team when they come into HQ which will give a great insight into
how the teams are coping,” says Bates.

He says the back of the field may take the next 24 to 48 hours to finish the Albert Burn trek.

“The middle teams should reach the Matukituki river section by the end of today but the
back teams may not appear until sometime on Monday. We will start to see a wider split
between the leaders and the middle pack by the end of today and then it will be almost
impossible for anyone to close that gap.”



Teams climbing down from Brewster Glacier



Team Seagate in the Makarora Valley



Teams near the snout of the Brewster Glacier



Chris Forne and Nathan Fa’avae of Team Seagate


For more information go to http://godzoneadventure.com  or the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/godzoneadventure

GODZone Fact Box
When: February 28 to March 7, 2015
Where: Lake Wanaka
What: The worlds largest adventure race running non stop, 24/ 7 over 7 days
Affiliated: GODZone is an official member of the AR World Series and a qualifier for the AR World Championships.
Charity: Cure Kids has been chosen as the recipient charity of GODZone 2015
Text to Donate: Text GODZONE to 933 to donate $3 to Cure Kids (data charges apply)
http://www.curekids.org.nz
Coverage: Watch all the action with live GPS tracking, video, photos & news at http://www.godzoneadventure.com