Athletes push through for 88km stage

Ten hours in on the 88km Lake Middleton to Loch Laird stage of the Alps 2 Ocean Ultra, is ''fine'', Maude Ruest, of Montreal, Canada, says.

''It's when you know you're going to do it,'' she said.

''I find the hardest is when you're still between 25km, 35km, because you're so far from where you need to go and you're already really, really tired. You've already been running for five, six hours.''

One of 117 runners who started the seven-stage 323km ultra endurance race from Aoraki Mt Cook to Oamaru Harbour, Ms Ruest finished the longest leg of the race in just over 12 hours, starting at 7am on Tuesday.

Some runners entered the Otematata campsite and crossed the finish line more than 12 hours after she did yesterday morning.

And she was ''surrounded by people who love this ... love to hate it, I think'' - every runner fought the same battles, not just the physical ones, but the thoughts that enter one's head before crossing the finish line.

''I hate this. Why am I doing this? This hurts. But ... I don't know, it was so beautiful,'' she said.

''I burst out crying, I always burst out crying when I cross the finish line. I burst out crying at checkpoint 3.

''The volunteers are there cheering you in; because you have the bib they all know our names so they're cheering for you.''

Alps 2 Ocean Ultra race director Mike Sandri, of Oamaru, said nine of those who started had been forced to pull out and he expected more to do so as the wear and tear started to add up and the energy stores dwindled as runners approached Saturday morning's finish at Oamaru Harbour.

Since the first event last year ''a whole lot of farmers'' had come on board and allowed the race to go through their properties, eliminating stretches of ''horrible'' gravel roads that ground runners down - and the views this year's course offered were appreciated by the runners.

Ben Jobson, of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, agreed, despite having ''tenderised feet'', which led to ''cussing out the race director''.

''You expect mountains - you're coming to New Zealand - and the terrain has been stunning, outstanding, vistas upon vistas upon vistas upon vistas.

''The goal is to come, to compete, to experience nature, to be in a place of outstanding natural beauty and to be with like-minded people,'' Jobson said.

Ben Fraser, of Oamaru, was the last to finish the 88km stage, which started at a favourite boyhood camping spot. Being greeted at the finish line to stage 4, in a time of 27h 52m, was ''wicked''.

And, he said, he would finish the race.

''It'll take a lot to trip me up, I think,'' he said.