Two of Christchurch’s most iconic locations will feature in the first 24 hours of the seven-day GODZone adventure race
that gets underway in Canterbury this week from the 10th– 17thMarch.
Akaroa has today been announced as the official start point for GODZone Chapter 8 with over 250 competitors from around
the world at the start line on Sunday 10thMarch at 9am.
“It’s great to finally reveal to competitors exactly where their epic Canterbury journey begins,” says GODZone Event
Director Warren Bates. “The course itself remains under wraps for now but competitors and spectators have a head start
on the direction of the first day of racing.”
“We have introduced a multi-sport style stage one to the race where teams will navigate their way from the Akaroa beach
front and over the Port Hills to eventually finish at the Christchurch Adventure Park.”
GODZone teams will complete five different disciplines throughout the first day including coasteering, mountain biking,
packrafting or canoe, trekking and orienteering before arriving at the Christchurch Adventure Park sometime between 4pm
– 9pm on Sunday evening.
“It’s an exciting way to showcase the type of adventure Christchurch city offers on its doorstep,” says Bates. “This
will be a one-day journey of highlights for the teams before they get into the full action out on the week-long course
and an opportunity for spectators and locals to come and see them in action.”
GODZone is the longest expedition adventure race in the world with teams taking up to seven days to complete the course
which is approximately 600km in length for the full-length Pure racing category teams and 500km for the Pursuit and
Prime teams.
“It will take teams anywhere from 8 to 12 hours on this first stage of the race. Once they arrive at the Christchurch
Adventure Park the teams will receive their full course maps,” says Bates. “There will be a few hours of respite on
Sunday night when they can eat, rest and prepare their maps before being coached out of the park in the early hours of
Monday morning to an as yet undisclosed location somewhere in the greater Canterbury area. It will be a very
exhilarating way to start the race.”
Christchurch locals and spectators will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the teams and see them in action
during stage one on the Sunday.
“Wicked Rogaine’s are hosting a Rogaine at the Christchurch Adventure Park on the Sunday afternoon with over 200
competitors so that’s going to create a spectacular welcome for the GODZone teams as they descend down into the park,”
says Bates.
“We encourage people to come down to the Akaroa start line on Sunday morning at 9am or head to the adventure park later
in the afternoon to see and support the teams. Also check out the GODZone live website as each team will be carrying a
GPS tracker unit so viewers can follow their every move and see the points, they are hitting around the wider Akaroa
region, Port Hills and city areas. This is the first time we have ever brought an adventure race of this stature to the
city which is fitting given Christchurch was recently named one of National Geographic’s top ten adventure locations in
the world.”
High resolution images of Akaroa available here - photo credit: Alex Socci
About the GODZone Adventure Race
• GODZone is one of New Zealand’s leading multisport events and the largest expedition length adventure race in
the world.
• GODZone was founded in 2012 by adventure racers Warren Bates and Adam Fairmaid whose vision was to bring
adventure racing back to New Zealand.
• New Zealand is considered the ‘home’ of the sport with the world’s first modern day adventure race, the Raid
Gauloises, directed by Gerard Fusil, held in NZ in 1989.
• There have been 7 GODZone chapters held since 2012 each year in a different location including Milford Sound, Mt
Cook, Kaikoura, Wanaka, Tasman, Queenstown and Fiordland.
• GODZone teams are made up of four people and must include at least one female
• Teams travel around the course unassisted carrying their own food, clothing and most equipment. They must stay
within 100 meters of each other at all times.
• There are three GODZone racing categories; Pure, Pursuit and Prime.
• GODZone course routes vary in length each year between 400km – 600km. The race usually runs between 6 – 10 days.
• The course remains a secret until the race starts.
• Teams are provided with topographical maps and a course route book. They must navigate their own way from
checkpoint to checkpoint within certain timeframes to make various time cut offs along the way.