The race began in Cromwell on Saturday at 6am, with the course remaining a secret for the 63 competitors until that time. It was the second 24hr race organised by the Southern Lakes Multisports Club and race director Bill Godsall said it was more a mental test than a physical one.
It covered countryside from the Pisa Range through to the Carrick Range, Bannockburn and Clyde with the finish line back at Cromwell. Teams had to navigate using a compass and maps, day and night, kayaking across Lake Dunstan, trekking, abseiling and mountain biking through the course, signing in at 17 checkpoints along the way.
The overall winner was a four-person team, the Sleep Monsters, made up of Jim Cotter, of Dunedin, Baz Smith, of Queenstown, Jess Simpson, of Wanaka, and Milan Brodina, of Geraldine, who finished the course in 23hr 20min. It was the only team to visit every checkpoint.
The winning two-person team was Mike Kelly, of Queenstown, and Mike Robins, of Wanaka, who finished in 21hr 24min and visited 14 checkpoints out of the 17.
Cotter said his team was "cobbled together" to enter the event "and there's no better environment to get to know people in".
He was the eldest team member at 46 and Simpson the youngest at 27.
"It was fantastic scenery, especially up the top of the Pisa Range and the lake was like a mirror for us to kayak."
The weather was brilliant until the last bike leg, on the Cairnmuir, when a strong westerly blew people off their bikes, forcing them to walk, Cotter said.
It was the hardest 24hr race in which he had ever competed and involved about 4000m climbing.
"How do you keep going? There's always something happening. You have to work out the quickest way to get to the next point. You keep chasing your other team members and keep up with whoever has the gumption to keep driving the pace, and keep shovelling the food in."
Godsall said the number of teams entered was up by three on last year's entries. The athletes ranged from experienced adventurer racers to "up and coming" young athletes, trying out the sport.
