Fearless Fynn takes on the Faroes
Northern Southland teenager Fynn Mitchell has left his family farm for an adventure on a remote island archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The year 13 Southland Boys’ High School pupil took a study break after accepting an invitation to be part of a team to compete in the Nordic Islands Adventure Race in the Faroe Islands, about halfway between Iceland and Scotland.
The 18-year-old was one of four members of United States team Bend Racing, which finished third-equal in a time of 81 hours and 36 minutes on Thursday last week.
Of those 81 hours, the team spent fewer than five hours sleeping.
Due to the lengthy sleep Fynn had after completing the race, Southern Rural Life was unable to contact him before deadline, but was able to talk to to his parents Michelle and Glen "Beacon" Mitchell on their 500ha sheep and beef farm in Lumsden as the race was under way.
Mrs Mitchell said she had been the most nervous person in her household since the race started.
"On the first day, I saw an interview of an Estonian team, who said the course was steep and dangerous and the race was something you would not let your children attempt and I thought ‘oh, too late for that’, but I trust him — if I was lost in the outdoors, I’d like to be with him."
On the first day of the race, a social media update from race organisers said the only spectators were sheep and puffins.
Mrs Mitchell said Fynn had raised money for the trip by crutching sheep in his school holidays in Southland .
He also had savings from when he and his younger sister Maisie leased paddocks from their parents to run a mini sheep farm, doing all the work required, and turned a good profit.
"They did better than us," Mrs Mitchell said.
The invitation to Faroe Islands was made possible by Fynn being a member of the Fiordland Endurance & Adventure Racing Society.
His coach and mentor Andy Magness, of Te Anau, had a twin brother living in Bend, a small city in Oregon in the United States, who was short a team member for the race.
The sibling in the States asked Mr Magness if he knew of any male from the society who was capable and could join the team.
Fynn was asked and accepted, making him the youngest competitor in the Nordic race.
He departed Queenstown on Monday, August 7, on his first international trip by himself.
He landed in the Faroe Islands about 40 hours later after transiting in Sydney, Dubai and Copenhagen.
Luggage including his mountainbike, packraft and ice axes made the trip with him.
About three days later the race began.
Mrs Mitchell said since an early age, Fynn had liked the outdoors and a challenge, but she blamed her husband for getting him into adventure racing at age 10.
At 14, Fynn ran the Dusky Track.
He had completed Godzone twice.
At his first Godzone in 2022, age 16, he was the youngest competitor in its history.
He finished the event, but as a team member got injured and did not, the team did not get a ranking.
Fynn’s Godzone team finished seventh in Fiordland in February this year.
"He had a score to settle," Mrs Mitchell said.
The Mitchells thanked everyone who helped Fynn get to the Faroe Islands, either financially or with their time — especially the society for its continued support, including paying the race entry for a team including Fynn and Southland shepherd Dean Stewart to compete in the more than 700km Adventure Racing World Championships in South Africa in October this year.
They also thanked Southland Boys’ High School for allowing Fynn to take time off to race.
"They’ve been very supportive and have encouraged his sporting endeavour."
Southland Boy’s High School associate rector Ray Laurenson said Fynn had "quietly gone about the business of doing amazing things that beggar belief".
"If you are not paying attention you would probably miss his achievements, because the best word to describe him would be humble."
The details
Faroe Islands.
What: Archipelago of 18 mountainous islands.
Name origin: Vikings from Norway gave the Faroe Islands their name — which translates to Sheep Islands — in the 9th century.
National symbol: Ram.
Population: 52,000 across 17 of the islands.
Has been a self-governing nation under the external sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948.
2023 Nordic Islands Adventure Race.
Disciplines: Caving, cliff jumping, coasteering, diving, mountainbiking, navigating, packrafting, trail running and trekking.
Teams: 25.
Distance: More than 500km across seven islands.
Terrain: About 19,000m vertical elevation
Time in Japan has Stewart wanting more
Southland shepherd Dean Stewart lived the life of a celebrity in the Land of the Rising Sun.
His path to Japan started by entering the Revenant Ultra Adventure Run on Welcome Rock Station near Garston in Southland in January this year.
"It’s New Zealand’s toughest race — an ultra-marathon for individuals. It’s a cool wee event, a 200km race with a lot of navigation "
No-one finished the race, but he was the last man standing, getting the furtherest across the course, about 150km.
He could have gone further but he was minutes outside the time allowed for reaching a checkpoint.
A Japanese film crew was filming the race.
"They made a TV show and made me the main character and made me look better than I am," he said, laughing.
In April, a film crew member invited him on an all-expenses-paid trip for a month to compete in a two-day, 100-mile (160km) race in Japan — the Tamba 100.
"It’s one of the hardest 100 miles in the world. It’s got 1600m of vertical elevation."
He accepted the invitation and arrived in Tamba on June 1.
"For three days before the race, I was on the front page of the paper, I was on Japanese radio, I was seeded No 1 over Japan’s best ultra runner and I’m just a kid who’s just finished a footy season, who is not training as much as anyone else and I’m wearing the No 1 bib. They hyped me up like nothing else."
"I got to eat, sleep and train most days. That was something else, because normally I’d have to work and I got fitter than I’ve ever been. It was so fun."
In the field of 70, he finished 10th.
"I should have done better but I was racing on a lot of Japanese food and it didn’t work too well."
Food he ate in Japan included the testicles of a pufferfish, which was considered a delicacy.
"They were big, too, and if the wrong guy cooks it, it can put you out (kill you), so that was pretty cool."
The race was finished four days after arriving in Japan and he spent the rest of the time as a tourist.
Highlights included visiting a samurai castle, climbing Mt Fuji and taking a bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo.
"The trip was an eye-opener to what my next few years of being an athlete could be like, if I keep going hard and focus on training, then shoot, if I can get a few more free trips like that, it will all be worth it."
His family run a sheep and beef farm in Wyndham, but this winter he took on a shepherd job at Mt Prospect Station in Te Anau so he was closer to terrain for training.
He was registered as part of team to compete in the more than 700km Adventure Racing World Championships in South Africa in October.
"I’m all in now."
