As endurance athletes were arriving at the finish line of five separate Motatapu events on Saturday afternoon, athletes of one other adventure race set out for five days in challenging terrain.
Now in its second year, the Godzone adventure race began on Saturday morning when competitors met at Pinewood Lodge with no clue of where they would each be for the next five days to a week.
New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook, in the Mt Cook National Park, was where the adventure race began yesterday morning.
One hundred and forty competitors in teams of four set off at 6am having received their course itinerary less than 12 hours earlier on the bus ride towards the West Coast.
Race directors Adam Fairmaid and Warren Bates said the start location had the potential to frighten the adventure racing teams.
''How do you cap off last year's Milford Sound start line? That was the question we kept asking ourselves, and the sheer magnitude of Mt Cook and the surrounding alpine environment was the answer.''
The second chapter of the 514km course is expected to take the lead teams three to four days and the last teams six.
Mr Bates said competitors would paddle among icebergs on the Moraine Lake then head down challenging whitewater on the Tasman River to Lake Pukaki and on to Braemar Station where they will transfer to their bikes.
By last night, some of the lead teams would have been on a night trek over into the Dingle Burn mountain range in the Ahuriri Valley.
The course then leads to Passburn, on the south side of the Lindis Pass, from where competitors cycle over Mt Grand then on to Albert Town, near Wanaka, and undertake a kayak leg on the Clutha River and Lake Dunstan to Lowburn near Cromwell.
Teams will then enter the final stages of the race over the Pisa Mountain range to the Snowpark Lodge where they will change to their bikes for a fast leg down to Arrowtown.
'Beautiful showcase'
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the ninth successful Motatapu Event was held with over 3700 competitors taking part in five different disciplines on the course running from Glendhu Bay to Arrowtown.
Race director Geoff Matthews was pleased with the numbers participating and said the event was a ''beautiful showcase of the region'', for those visiting from all over the country.
''This has got to be the most unique course in the world.''
Mr Matthews said next year would be the 10th anniversary of the event and it was likely to sell out quickly once entries opened in late June and July.
The mountain bike race had attracted a record number of entrants this year and race records were set in the men's elite and masters categories.
