The gruelling marathon has been testing participants’ physical endurance, mental strength and navigation skills for seven years at Welcome Rock near Garston.
Despite the high failure rate, the popularity of the race did not wane and scores of people vied for a spot on New Zealand’s sought-after challenge.
Race creator and event co-organiser Scott Worthington selects the fortunate 40 after interviewing candidates who apply from New Zealand and across the globe.
"We cap the race at 40 because we don’t want hordes of people traipsing their way through the land, running into each other. We want people to enjoy the land but also not to ruin it," Worthington said.
"I’m not looking for whether you’re an elite, I’m looking for what’s your experience in the back country, what’s your experience in a totally unsupported event."
The core of competitors consisted of ultra-trail running and recreational racing communities, special forces and "the back country people — in other words, hunters, sheep musterers and farmers".
Worthington championed the race for being, "old school, truly self-supporting and having no trail markers. There’s no GPS, no watches. We strip everybody of time".
The race organiser believed events like these were "being dumbed down, regulated out and self-responsibility is gone".
The Revenant race continued to thrive and attract participants because "we put you in an arena to find out what your limits are and you are pretty much completely doing it on your own and that’s pretty unique these days", Worthington said.
After seven years and 240 competitors battling the unforgiving terrain, only four have ever finished the Revenant.
- By Nina Tapu
