A major upset occurred at the New Zealand championships over the weekend when Dennis de Monchy was pushed back to second.
De Monchy won the world title in New South Wales in 2007 and was expected to dominate the championships with his brother, Pim, over the tricky 24-hour course near Waikouaiti.
The event was won by experienced multisport competitor Phil Wood, of Queenstown, and Ross Rotheram, of Wellington, with a score of 2210 points from the de Monchy brothers who were 10 points behind. Greg Hamilton and Tim Sikma, of Christchurch, were third on 2160 points.
Wood is one of Queens-town's top adventure athletes and this was his third major win in the past six months.
He won the Adventure Quest and then teamed with New Zealand triathlon representative Bruce McLeod to win the Southern Traverse 24-hour race at Queenstown in November.
A challenging course was set by Bill Kennedy and Peter Squires, two of New Zealand's most experienced rogainers, over an area of about 13km by 20km.
The event had a maximum score of 3260 over the 59 checkpoints. Forty-five teams (97 athletes) contested the race that covered a distance about 100km, including many climbs and steep descents.
The experienced team of Anne Kennedy, Trish Faulkener and Kathrin Mueller (Christchurch) won all grades in the women's event - senior veteran, veteran and open with 1230 points.
