The new expedition race takes place from January 25th to February 2nd, based in the town of Lumsden, South Island and follows in the tradition of Southern Traverse and GODZone which previously spanned two decades of top tier ARWS racing in New Zealand.
Twin brothers Andrew and Jason Magness are the Race Directors and its a combination with unparalleled adventure racing pedigree and experience.
Between them the brothers, nicknamed the ‘Magni twins’, have a decade’s long career of planning big adventures for themselves and others. They've climbed big wall first ascents, pioneered popular expedition routes and pack rafted river first descents. As racers they've competed in well over 100 ultra endurance events and as Race Directors they've separately designed over 100 "adventure" races in North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and New Zealand. But they've never worked together ... until now.
Asked why they teamed up for the new race Jason replied, “The creation of the MAGNIficent was like a flash. New Zealand is perhaps the most iconic adventure racing country in the world. Its small size, incredibly diverse but constantly adventurous terrain, history with the sport, and years of domination on the world stage are undeniable.
“When the GodZone event fell apart after 10 editions it left a big hole in the adventure racing culture of the country and it was time for our new race!”
Andy has spent the last decade living in New Zealand, building grassroots events with the FEAR Society (Fiordland Endurance and Adventure Race), as well as creating and mentoring the Fear Youth team – who have had a meteoric rise to prominence on the international scene. His twin brother is one of the most prolific racers on the World Series, leads team Bend Racing, and organises the ARWS race Expedition Oregon. (It’s rare for any race organiser to stage two expedition length races in one year, let alone 4 months apart.)
The twins want to encourage New Zealand teams to experience other races around the world and inclusion of the event in the Adventure Racing World Series was an important first step to help accomplish this in the future.
The race will be based in the mountainous terrain of Southland, home to the FEAR Society, and while he can’t say too much about the 470km course Jason did comment, “The stages are big, and often multi-disciplined within a stage, requiring an old school, self-supported expedition approach. There is a long, mountainous packraft trek, a giant bike leg with a short but huge (feeling) hike-a-bike that ends with perhaps the longest continuous singletrack descent in the sport's history. There's also a bike-rafting section with lots of choices of how to approach it.
“The crux of the event will be a 24+ hour trek with so much mountain travel and so many route options that it will reward teams with real expedition experience. There are no traditional short course options. We built the course to challenge the best teams, but not all of the points are mandatory. Several legs have PRO points, which will allow slower teams to self-select when to speed up and avoid some of the most demanding checkpoints in an effort to stay on pace to make the finish line.
“But the one thing that will be consistent in this event is the mind blowing scenery and wilderness settings that the teams will move through. Nearly every leg would be the crown jewel stage of most events!”
Teams have already seen a course schematic showing 8 stages and there is a projected ascent for the full course of a daunting 16,000m. The fastest predicted travel time is 104 hours, but that does not include sleep or transition time, or account for any bad weather.
The race has attracted 34 teams, twenty-five from New Zealand and 9 international teams; 3 from the USA, 2 each from Canada and Japan, and one each from South Africa and Ireland. Bend Racing/4 Hour Fuel is the top ranked team at world #6 and they are joined for the first time by experienced US racer, Mari Chandler.
One place behind them in the rankings is FEAR Youth, the young kiwi squad who have taken the ARWS by storm in the past couple of years with a string of impressive performances all around the world. The team was mentored by Andy Magness and learned their adventure racing with the FEAR Society before going on to gain valuable international experience.
This time they will be on ‘home territory’, familiar with the terrain and maps and with no jet lag to deal with. They will be amongst the favourites and targeting their first ARWS win, but will not be the youngest team this time. The Taranaki Trailblazers team has a combined age of just 75, which is one year less than FEAR Youth when they did their first GODzone race. They will be the youngest team ever to attempt an ARWS Qualifier and have several years of successful racing behind them in the competitive New Zealand schools competitions.
Both Bend Racing/4 Hour Fuel and FEAR Youth will race with a 2/2 gender split, as will 9 other teams in the field.
Some of their racers took part in the last World Championship in Ecuador, which finished in early January, as did Forever Forest Racing (NZ), Team Expedition Canada, Team ThisAbility (USA) and Team East Wind of Japan. That’s a fast turnaround to take on another demanding expedition race so soon.
Andy Magness added, “FEAR Society racing experience will be an advantage and Mixed Nuts and Nutrient Rescue are the two standout teams, who will, at least on their home turf, be hard to beat.”
The race will have a big following around the world and there will be live tracking from Trackme.nz so fans can track the progress of the teams.
The race has an experienced international media team from Mexico, USA and New Zealand and will be supported by ARWS referees from Australia. ARWS CEO Heidi Muller will be attending and said, “It’s important to me to attend in person, so I can to talk to Race Directors and racers, assist with media and work with volunteers behind the scenes. Adventure Racing is a difficult and complex sport and being on the ground to stay in touch is essential. You can’t do it from behind a computer screen.” She added, “I also can’t wait to visit New Zealand and to meet many new teams there.”
News, videos and photos will be posted to the Bend Racing and AR World Series social media channels throughout the race.
The race starts on Sunday January 26th at an as yet undisclosed location, and for the 34 teams who set off it will be time to be MAGNIficent!
For more information about the race visit; https://www.themagnificentnz.com
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