Extreme enduro athletes might have slogged it out on a 161km course in the Northburn 100-mile event at the weekend, but the youngsters’ adventure course was "the real jewel" of the event, organiser Terry Davis says.
"It was very multi-terrain," Mr Davis’ eldest son, Matthew Davis (12), who did the course, confirmed.
"There was running, rock-climbing, going through jungle . . . it was crazy, pretty much. That sums it up."
About 25 children took part in the adventure course and about 200 adults in the other categories of the event, which was first held on Northburn Station in 2011 and now features other categories as well as the original 100-mile (161km) category.
Mr Davis said it was important to acknowledge the effort "and suffering" of all who took part in the event, in particular the 161km category, which this year featured a record 100 entrants.
"It’s quite brutal. It’s more than twice as hard as the 100km category."
Frenchman Martin Kern, of Auckland, won the 161km category. Entrants had 48 hours to complete the course, but Kern did it in 21hr 52min 47sec, setting an event record and in fact running 169km because of a wrong turn he took during the event.
He said the course was hard but he was well prepared, and mental fitness was just as important as physical fitness in the event.
Jess Carroll, of Sydney, was both first female and first overall in the 100km section, in 13hr 23min 53sec.
She said she had taken the course "conservatively", "trying to get a bit of speed going downhill" and "just hiking" uphill.
Those who completed the 161km category received a special Northburn 100 miler belt buckle in honour of the origins of the event, Mr Davis said.
The 100-mile events had started in the Western states of the United States in the 1970s and were initially events for riders and horses.
Then one year, one of the jockeys decided to run the event, without his horse, marking the beginning of 100-mile races internationally for runners, Mr Davis said.
The Northburn belt buckles recognised the horse racing origin of the event, he said.
