Twin brothers Andy and Jason Magness have created a new six-day expedition race — from January 25 to February 2 — which begins and ends in Lumsden.
Andy Magness runs the Fear Society (Fiordland Endurance & Adventure Racing Society) from Te Anau and his brother runs BendRacing in Bend, Oregon in the United States.
They decided to create their own expedition called "The Magnificent Expedition Race", after annual adventure race Godzone was canned last year.
"We felt there was a hole in adventure races when Godzone folded, so we thought it would be good to make sure people didn’t miss out," Andy Magness said.
"It was kind of sudden, but my group had been putting on a race in Fiordland and my brother had helped host events like this so we decided to make a full-scale event.
"We kind of spun it from our last name, as we were known as the Magni Twins growing up.
"We’re hoping it becomes a huge success and it can be something we host every year."
They have 50 teams entered from all over the world at present and the course is 400km long.
The race is part of the Oceania Series and the first place winner will receive free entry to the Adventure Racing World Championships next year when the date is set.
"There are about 40% of teams entered who are coming from overseas and the rest are from New Zealand.
"Lumsden will be the headquarters of the expedition race but obviously we aren’t putting out any details about the race yet as teams will know the night before they begin."
Adventure races typically last for multiple days and teams work through various disciplines including running, paddling and mountainbiking to complete the race.
