Wanaka multisporter Dougal Allan and his three team-mates finished second in the five-day 616km Ecomotion adventure race, in Brazil last week.
Allan was one of two New Zealanders in the Green's Brasilia Multisport Team, along with Brazilian-born Camilla Nicolau, of Auckland.
The race took place in Chapada dos Veadeiros, a national park and adventure tourism destination 140km north of Brasilia. It comprised 108km of kayaking, 183km of trekking/running and 325km of mountain biking.
The team struck several snags along the way, including sinking and broken kayaks, a four-hour time penalty, major navigational errors on the trek legs and painful injuries.
However, a "whole lot of team optimism and perseverance" secured the team second place, Allan wrote on his blog.
"The team is very proud of the race we put together and I think I may even do more of this crazy racing format."
Allan was runner-up in the past three Coast to Coast races, has had four consecutive wins in the Central Otago Goldrush and won his first international adventure race at the Baise Outdoor Quest in China last year.
"Second place is a position I'm becoming very familiar with. But this is a sport where you must always consider the entire context ... Something will always go wrong at some stage. Always. It is not about avoiding the mistakes and misfortunes, but about dealing with them as they arrive."
Allan will enjoy a few weeks' recovery before competing in the TransRockies mountain bike race in Canada in July.
