'Easily the hardest' event

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Every footstep was agony by the end but Christchurch teacher Martin Lukes, who won the inaugural Northburn 100 mountain race, still had a smile on his face.

Running, walking and shuffling, Lukes finished the 160km race, on high country farmland near Cromwell, in 25hr 44 min. A few blackened toenails and massive blisters were nothing compared with the chronic chafing he endured during the last lap of the event, he said.

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"I just had to batten down the hatches and go into survival mode. The chafing was terrible and I was shuffling along, self-preserving the body, with every footstep just agony. That's when the mental strength comes into it, I guess, when you have to break through that pain and carry on."

The 39-year-old is experienced over 100km, but it was his first time in a 160km race. He was one of a field of 30 who started the event and described it as a "massive undertaking".

"Those hills - climbing 8000m in total, getting up the hills and going down and then up again - that was just so hard."

It would take about six weeks to recover, Lukes said.

Second placegetter Matt Bixley (38), of Dunedin, came in 1hr 8min after Lukes and said he was "scarred" by the experience.

"I've been in some extreme races but that's easily the hardest running event in New Zealand," Bixley said.

One 11km stretch of the course was labelled the "loop of despair" by competitors.

"You just climb and climb and climb and then drop down a ridiculous amount and just when you've had enough, you have to climb a long way up again."

Bixley had three "lie-downs" during the event and said he struggled to keep up his liquid and food intake in the final hours of the race.

Like other runners, he was impressed by the scenery.

"It's a huge privilege for us to be able to run over private farmland like this and we're grateful that we're allowed to. It's a stunning place."

Organisers Tom Pinckney, of Northburn Station, where the event was held, and ultra-marathon runner Lisa Tamati were pleased with how the event went and planned to stage it annually.

Mr Pinckney was grateful for the support of the volunteers who helped, with 80 to 100 people stationed along the course as marshalls, day and night.

Paramedic Brent Hollow, of Junction Health, which provided a medical team on site, said although his crew of eight staff were kept busy, none of the competitors had been "majorly unwell". The medical team kept a close eye on the runners, especially when it rained just before darkness fell on Saturday.

The final runner completed the course in 40 hours.

A 100km event and 50km event were staged at the same time as the 160km race. Nelson runner Chris Gates won the 100km in 14hrs and Matt Suddaby, of Hawea Flat, won the 50km in 7hr 20min.

Tamati said about 20% of competitors overall failed to finish. Those who completed the course won belt buckles (160km competitors) or bracelets (50km and 100km).

- lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz