The 44-year-old returned to Dunedin on Saturday, having completed the Ultra-Trail Drakensberg 100-mile (160.9km) race while on a family holiday.
Running for just over 38 hours at high altitude in two foreign countries certainly might not be everyone's idea of fun.
But for Sutton, who has done much endurance running, it was a race that rated highly among his experiences.
''For me it was right up there,'' he said.
''As 100-milers go, you wouldn't get them too much tougher than this one.
''Thirty-eight hours on my feet, for me that's quite a wee while - the Northburn one I did six weeks earlier took 24 hours.
''But with the South African one, not knowing the course or the environment or anything, it just adds to the factors of being a longer run, if you know what I mean.''
Sutton began the race with a 70km circuit around Lesotho, a small country within South Africa.
It course then headed back down a hill into South Africa where for a 90km stretch it went in and out of mountains.
At its peak the race was run at 3500m above sea level, while fog and drizzle throughout the last 10 hours made things even more difficult.
It had been a tough course, and only 13 of the 21 competitors finished the race, which was held as a 100-mile event for the first time.
Sutton's family helped support him at various stages through the second half of the race.
That had been the key to helping him keep going.
Indeed, the will to keep going reached a high point late in the race when the finish line took a bit longer to get to.
''I got a bit mistaken as to where the finish line was. I got a bit lost, literally, because I was just cold, hungry and had been on my feet for 30-plus hours.
''So I was getting a bit over it, but just had to slog it out for the last wee bit to finish.''
While he had not gone quite as well as he had hoped, he had been one of the finishers.
The new environment had proven challenging, although he said it was something he would run in again.
''It's the first time I've been at altitude, so I was getting a bit light-headed.
''My legs seemed quite heavy, so I guess that was the same for everyone.
''But having not experienced something like that before, it was a wee bit weird.
''It hasn't put me off. I'd go back and do it again next year.''
He admitted to being a bit ''shattered'' having gone straight back to his job as a joiner on Monday.
However, he would rest and planned to take on the Naseby 100-mile race at the end of August.
