| The pitter patter of rain echo's through my tiny | | | | paddling then it was always extreme. Crossing big |
| sleeping quarters as I force myself out of bed this | | | | lakes like Whakatipu or Rotarua fighting brutal |
| morning. Today we will race our bike's 40km's from | | | | headwinds and chop or the big waves of the |
| Lake Brunner and then run 50km's through the | | | | Tasman Sea. Then there was the rivers! Like |
| Taramaku Valley to finish in Lake Sumner. This is day | | | | negotiating the upper Waikato River with its class |
| nine, and for last 8 days I have ridden 700km's, run | | | | three drops and waves in 20 foot long surf skis and |
| 40km's and paddled 102km's, with 21 more day's to | | | | down riverboats. The mountain biking usually involved |
| go. By the finish, I will have road raced over a | | | | long distances over gravel roads but occasionally we |
| quarter of New Zealand's main highways, run over | | | | hit some Indiana Jones style single track complete |
| and through its young mountain ranges and | | | | with giant ferns and river crossings. |
| swallowed enough of its class three rivers and lakes | | | | Every day offered something new. Like day 9 when |
| to fill a swimming pool. | | | | I found out that their mountain runs are rarely on |
| This is the Mizone-Endurazone, a 30-day stage race | | | | trails but rather tracks, which are just unknown |
| from the small town of Bluff at the southern tip of | | | | valley's between two mountains. These unmarked |
| the South Island to Cape Reinga, at the tip of the | | | | valleys littered with huge boulder fields and freezing |
| North Island. Fellow Canadians Norm Thibault and | | | | waist deep river crossings were your only way to |
| Marg Fedyna and I have joined 75 athletes to race | | | | the finish line. As we made our way north, colder |
| each other across one of the most breathtaking | | | | sections were replaced with high mountain jungle runs |
| countries on planet earth. | | | | where we slipped and slided over tropical plant roots |
| We were all racing solo but make no mistake about it | | | | and negotiated dark mining caves full of water. Off |
| without our precious support crew's we would have | | | | the Coromandel Peninsula, we paddled alongside |
| never even started the journey north. Yvonne Visser | | | | penguins and dolphins. These awesome sea creatures |
| was Norm's support and massage therapist for each | | | | took the pain out of battling giant swells and the daily |
| of us. Her knowledge and incredible hands kept us | | | | ruthless, nor westerly winds. |
| going day after day. Marnie Kent was Margs support | | | | After 4-12 hours of racing your day was hardly over |
| and her enthusiasm and local knowledge was wicked. | | | | at the finish line. Finding a hotel, fueling up and |
| My awesome friend Babe supported me and her daily | | | | cleaning a days worth of crud of your bikes was |
| smile was all I needed to push onwards. With over | | | | what greeted us after each day. Two rest days |
| 3000km of road and mountain bike cycling, running | | | | were also scheduled but these brief rests only |
| and paddling we knew we were in for a dozy as we | | | | allowed our bodies to stiffen up and make the |
| picked up our registration packages in Bluff. | | | | following day harder. |
| Race director Greg Carlyon and his incredible crew | | | | After spending a month tackling New Zealand's harsh |
| had pieced together the ultimate adventure course. | | | | landscape, we arrived at Ninety-Mile Beach for a final |
| Most days started out fast and furious on road | | | | 20km run up the coast to the base of the lighthouse |
| bikes, as someone was always feeling good. | | | | at Cape Reinga. This sacred Maori Land, where the |
| Roadside transitions enabled our support crews to | | | | Tasman and Pacific Oceans come together, is |
| load us up and send us on our way in a new discipline. | | | | believed to be where dead spirits leave from. We |
| Most times this was a run through the wilds of New | | | | were not dead, but we were glad that the racing |
| Zealand or in one case up, over, and into the | | | | was, and the beer drinking could begin! |
| crevasse's of the Franz Joseph Glacier. If it was | | | | |