‘It’s another limit to push’ – Motueka teens prepare for non-stop endurance event

Source: Radio New Zealand

The world’s largest expedition race is returning to the South Island after a two-year hiatus, and some of the youngest competitors are a group of past and present students from Motueka High School.

Godzone Chapter 12 will see teams of four hike, bike and paddle through remote parts of Marlborough for up to nine days, covering up to 700 kilometres, in a test of navigation and survival.

As is the custom, competitors will not know anything about the course, until the night before it starts.

Motueka teenager Louie Burger has been adventure racing since he was at intermediate school. The 17-year-old was the youngest competitor in the MAGNIficent adventure race at the start of the year and when he heard Godzone was making a comeback, he wanted to get in on the challenge.

“People often describe adventure racing as type 2 fun, so a lot of the time it is kind of a bit s**t while you are doing it and then afterwards you look back on it and you think it was awesome, in recovery you have a bit of reflection and think, actually that was pretty epic.”

Burger convinced former school mate Tide Fa’avae, 19, they should enter a team in the and have joined Leo Easton, 18, and Nika Rayward, 19, as the AWS Legal Motueka team.

The four were part of the team that won the five-day Hillary Challenge, a high school endurance race, in 2024.

“I think the goal is just to have a great time, we are super great mates so we hope there isn’t going to be any clashes out there with each other,” Burger said.

Tide Fa’avae grew up around adventure racing with her parents Nathan and Jodie heavily involved in the sport. Nathan is a seven-time Godzone champion and the couple founded the women’s adventure race Spring Challenge.

The youngest of three, Tide represented New Zealand at the Junior World Orienteering Championships earlier this year. She is the first of her siblings to tackle Godzone.

When she asked her dad if he thought she could do it, he told her it was a big commitment, she would have to train hard and she should take time to think about it.

“He was definitely supportive, but he wasn’t pushing me to do it or not do it, it was my decision.”

Nathan Fa’avae said there was nothing quite like Godzone, a non-stop endurance event of epic proportions and he didn’t actively encourage young people to do it, but said he was happy to support those who were up for the challenge.

He retired from expedition length adventure racing in 2023, after winning Godzone Chapter 11 in Southland with Team Avaya, and has been mentoring the Motueka team for the 2025 event – as they juggle study, work, life and training.

“If you don’t go into these races with a reasonable amount of training then they are not enjoyable and it is probably a bit unfair on your team and I think it is actually quite hard on your body so I said, if this is something you want to do, you have to be real about it and be willing to put in the training because if you are not, I’d encourage you not to do it.”

He helped the team develop a training plan, which they all said was achievable and he said he’d simply provided guidance from there.

“While it’s their first Godzone, they’re no strangers to doing big pack adventures in the mountains, in the Southern Alps, so in many ways, some of their skills are going to lead perfectly into it and I think they’re just going to have a lot of fun. They’re a good bunch of kids. They enjoy being together and they do collectively have an amazing amount of experience in the outdoors given their ages.”

This year’s Godzone will be his first as a keen spectator.

“They’re hugely challenging, but they’re also really rewarding and it’s just something really special that you can do with a group of people that will reflect back on for years to come or even the rest of your life.”

One of the biggest challenges, a concern shared by each team member, will be dealing with the lack of sleep.

Year 13 student Leo Easton said sleep deprivation was the biggest unknown for him.

“I’m excited, it’s another limit to push, I guess but I haven’t done any expedition length adventure races so I’m a bit more unsure about how my body will cope.

“You have to back yourself to make the right decision even though you’re not really functioning properly and I just think that’s really hard, you just need to really have the skills to trust yourself.”

Nika Rayward has been fitting training in around studying outdoor education at Tai Poutini Polytech on the West Coast since finishing school last year.

She said Godzone was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done.

“I’m most worried about sleep and just getting really tired, I just don’t really know exactly what I will be like in that situation because I’ve never been in it before and then night nav, navigating when it’s dark when you are really tired.”

Despite the challenge that lay ahead, she was looking forward to an adventure with her mates.

“We all know we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do as much as we can, we’re going to go as hard as we can and try our hardest to finish the full course.”

Godzone Chapter 12 kicks off in Marlborough on Friday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand