It took three days and 15 hours to get it, but last night victory belonged to Team Seagate of New Zealand when it the finished the inaugural Godzone adventure race in Queenstown after dark.
Team Seagate held a significant margin of nearly 10 hours over second-placed Team One Square Meal and more than a day over the last full-course teams.
The quad of Nathan Fa'avae, Sophie Hart, Chris Fome and Trevor Voyce was destined for first prize since day one on Monday when it set off in the early hours from Milford Sound.
By that first afternoon it was neck-and-neck with Team Subway, but managed to shake it off by nightfall and from there the race was its to win.
By Tuesday Team Seagate had opened up an hours' lead on all its rivals and still looked reasonably fresh before a day-long bike haul along the Oreti River.
The race was 522km long and in its entirety consisted of a sea kayak, road bike, whitewater canoe, bush trek, mountain bike and trek, lake canoe, alpine trek and finally a kayak down Lake Wakatipu to the finish last night.
There were 31 teams in total, although some were forced to pull out as conditions were too tough.
Seagate will get free entry to the 2012 Godzone Adventure as well as the ultimate goal of entry into the Adventure Racing World Championships, to be held in the French Alps later this year.
Godzone Adventure Race directors Warren Bates and Adam Fairmaid said they had picked Seagate as the team to beat.
"They raced with determination and confidence, playing a waiting game and believing they could run away from the field as the race went on.
"They are extremely fit, have one of the best navigators in the world and are technically very skilled. And they primarily work as a team, which is what this sport is all about," Fairmaid said.
"They don't focus on the negatives but what's in front of them and not looking back."
It is likely to be tomorrow afternoon before all teams finish.
