Glenorchy Region Provides Challenging Backdrop For Macpac 24 Hours Of Southern Traverse

The head of Lake Wakatipu and the Glenorchy region will be the backdrop for a challenging Macpac 24 Hours of Southern Traverse course this weekend and podium winners will be the teams with the best navigating skills.

Director Geoff Hunt says that as is traditional with the Southern Traverse the course is under wraps until the midnight start on Friday.
"But I can promise competitors some very different terrain and they will be going places they haven't been before. The overriding thing they will remember about the course is the bush. All the treks are centred round bush rather than open tussock land but there is some spectacular scenery on the way."

The race incorporates run/trekking, kayaking and mountain biking and Hunt expects the fastest teams to cross the finish in 14 hours and the slowest in around 20 hours.

Five teams will compete in the open section and the two man Queenstown team of Bruce Mcleod and Phil Wood, racing as Aurum Survey, is Hunt's pick as a likely contender for the title.
"They are fresh from winning the Trustpower Adventure Quest and have incredible orienteering skills. Bruce is a former New Zealand orienteering representative and he and Phil, who is a top multisporter, are a formidable team.

A strong challenger will be the Placemakers Wanaka four person team which includes Tim Pearson, Mike John, Gordon Blythen and Denise Thorne.
"Tim has a lot of offshore racing experience and Gordon has consistently placed in the top four in the one day competition at the Coast to Coast," says Hunt.
An under-23 section providing complimentary entry has attracted two teams. The Onezonemultisport.co.nz team from Otago University already has Southern Traverse experience after competing in the Classic event at Hanmer in April this year.

The team of Dougal Allan, Mike Walker, Mattie Graham and Emmah Ussher are all making individual names for themselves in multisport and adventure racing. They will be challenged by Dad's Army of Alexandra made up of brother and sister competitors Nick and Kim Williamson, Lindsay Froggatt and Ben Necklen.

"They all have good experience in events like the North Face Peak to Peak and they have excellent mountain biking, running and orienteering skills among them," says Hunt. "We are pleased to see the younger competitors stepping up and will continue to encourage them, to help expand the sport and ensure its future."

This year's 24 Hour Race also includes an eight hour adventure challenge, to persuade athletes who traditionally compete in shorter events, to test themselves on a longer course.
 

"The eight hour challenge is also part of our bid to expand adventure sport racing. It is really an off road Peak to Peak and makes the event more accessible to a wider group of people. We expect it will grow in popularity particularly amongst multisporters and triathletes because of the soft introduction it offers to the disciplines of adventure racing."

Eight hour competitors will start at 10.00am on Saturday at Greenstone Station and the four stage race covers a 51 kilometre course of kayaking, mountain biking and running finishing at Paradise. Entries will also be accepted on Friday at Queenstown Event Center between 6-8 o'clock.

A prizegiving for the Macpac 24 Hours of Southern Traverse and 8hr Adventure Challenge will be held in Queenstown at the Dux de Lux Café from 10.00am.