Wasps, spicy food and relentless heat were among the challenges China threw at 104 multisporters competing in the three-day staged Wulong Mountain Quest this week.
The overall winner was the Winterextrem5.com team of Jacky Boisset, Steve Laurent, Myriam Guillot (all France) and Ian Edmond, of New Zealand, in a combined time of 21hr 14min 53sec.
Wanaka's Dougal Allan, racing in the ninth-placed Air New Zealand/R&R Sport team with fellow New Zealanders Fleur Pawsey, Bruce Clulow and Nathan Peterson, described the final day as like "cycling through a sauna".
Their team finished in 24hr 2min 16sec.
"In a race that saw 26 international teams start and just 14 finish, we are proud to say that we not only completed the [course], we achieved ninth placing overall," Allan said in a race report after the event.
"Today was, in a simple word, ruthless.
Finishing was by no means a guarantee and with Bruce being particularly affected by the relentless heat, it was going to take team work as well as huge determination on his part to get to the end.
"Coming from a New Zealand winter straight into a southern Chinese summer was always going to be tough. But combining that with almost 24 hours of racing across some of the most mountainous terrain found anywhere and the Wulong Mountain Quest has to rank as one of the most physically and mentally demanding races in the world."
Another Wanaka athlete, Gordon Blythen, competed in the fifth-placed (22hr 14min 31sec) OrionHealth.com team with compatriots Wayne Oxenham, Stu Lynch and Anna Berthelson.
