Sitting on my couch, nursing a cup of coffee and a bruised rib or two, the enormity of the MAGNIficent race is starting to settle in. This race served as a marker on my timeline, a clear goal for training and allowing myself to not worry about the future, a gift of something hard to celebrate leaving of my profession. The months of training, the hours of frantic packing, the many zoom calls, all culminated in our team (The Fragile Flowers) crossing the finish line in 6 d 12 h 37 m, traversing between 453 km and 540 km depending on which tracker you believe! Please enjoy what I can recall from those days!

Sunday and Monday Day 1 & 2 – Stage 1 & 2
We were sent off by a fabulous Māori troupe dancing the Haka, providing just the right amount of energy to get the wheels rolling! Stage 1 was a fairly simple and flat bike to the first TA, with only one route choice half way through. The weather was cool and drizzling but the rail trail surface of gravel made for easy riding. We picked up the mandatory CP’s and stuck with our plan to skip the pro section right away. Looking at the trackers, we were one of 6 teams to make this decision. Coming into the TA we found ourselves in the scrum of the lead teams transitioning to the hike a raft stage. Dropping bikes and packing packs, preparing for a stage that could be 36 hrs, double checking we didn’t leave gear behind, we set off back down the path we had biked to start our climb up the mountain. At this point between the four of us were carrying 2 double packrafts, 4 PFD’s, 4 four piece paddles, 4 helmets, 2 dry suits, 2 paddle jackets, 1 tent, 4 bivy sacks, 2 throw bags, plus all of the individual mando gear and food needed! I wish I’d thrown the luggage scale in the bin just to know how heavy the packs actually were! The incline was steep and the going was pretty slow but we made steady upward progress. The weather was partly cloudy and hot at the bottom but progressively cooler and windier as we climbed. We made it the CP 06 around 6 pm, having some confusion about what a trig was (a post used for survey marker). From here we set off for CP 07 the tarn outflow. The weather was deteriorating as evening came on, more wind and the drizzle transitioning to sleet at times. By the time we hit the tarn, everyone was getting very cold. Jen and Olga opted to don their dry suits while Steve and I added our paddle jackets to the top layer and I wrapped my tyvek sheet around my legs. Working our way out of the valley to the next CP, our speed decreased exponentially. At this point we’d been traveling off trail for a while and the entire rest of the stage was going to be the same. Before darkness fell completely we had a team meeting and decided that our best option was to ditch the rest of the stage and head back to the TA. While it’s true we had the mando gear to rough it on the mountain, the reality was that we’d be way ahead for the rest of the race, sleep and nutrition wise, if we could make it back down. Our team strategy from the beginning was to see as much of the course as possible and make smart decisions that allowed us to finish the race officially! Once the decision to return was made, we aimed for the trail we had followed for partway up the mountain. Finding this trail in the dark proved a group effort and we did make a bit of a lollypop track but success was ours eventually! I was probably the most hypothermic I’ve ever been at this point, although my feet were doing fine. My fingers had gone numb (and are still numb as I write this, either from cold exposure or nerve compression from biking). The slog down the mountain was of course faster than up, but I maintain my stance that going down hurts more than climbing up, especially the feet! We came into the TA around 3:45 AM, everything dark and shut since racers were expected to be out for a much longer time. We set up the tent, had a hot meal, and all four of us sardined into the tent for a bit of sleep and warmth. The volunteers and RD’s had a bit of surprise finding us camped out when they woke up the next morning, but no one shamed us for making the decision we did.

Monday and Tuesday Day 2 & 3 – Stage 3, 4, and start of 5
We pulled out of the TA just as the first boats were spotted coming in. This next stage was another long one, slow time of 36 hours and a full distance of 140 km. The first part was the preordained bike whack up the mountain. Most of this incline was pushable and that is what most of the teams did as they passed us. One of the lead teams had one gent pushing a bike and carrying another, talk about strong!! Skipping the rest of Stage 2 put us in the front of the pack, a unique position to see the elite teams as they moved up the course. We finally made it up and over to the rideable trail after 6 1/2 hrs of pushing and carrying the bikes uphill! I have never been more thankful for my new (and much lighter) bike than I was during that section! We paused at the stream for a quick food break, cold soaking food for later and fueling on smoothies and PB&J. The freeze dried smoothies in a pouch were a game changer for this race! Once we hit the trail, Steve realized something was dreadfully wrong with his bike, as in it wouldn’t roll at all. None of us are bike mechanics but after some scrutiny, Steve discovered the tension screw on this derailleur had backed itself almost all the way out! That fixed part of the issue but his shifting was still borked, so poor dude had to choose a gear and stick with it. Luckily we were riding along the ridge tops at this point, with some downhill and river bottoms coming up. We made our descent off the top before dark, a goal we had after the last miserable night on a mountain! The dark hours were spent making many river crossings, giving up the hope of dry feet eventually. What I find more than a little humorous is that for many races I’ve carried a spare pair of waterproof socks and hand warmers, but in an attempt to do with less, I did not have them with me for this race! As the night wore on, we found our CP’s along the way, having a short sit at some old structures to refuel. Eating real food on a bike is a struggle for me, I just do not have the balance skills for no hand riding! At some point we found the CP marked at a cluster of huts, where the clue was “funny name for cluster of huts”. Dear reader, I’m not sure if it was just the late hour or Kiwi humor we did not understand, but we overthought this answer for way to long! The huts were in an area named Nevis and on the main building it said Invernevis. It was only later the next day that I totally understood the humor. Invernevis vs Inverness! I should have clued in to this earlier when I noticed the rocks marked with Clan suchandsuch, plus the Scottish flag flying outside…. Moving on from there, we had a quick 15 min trail nap after Jen crashed while sleep biking! We made our way out of the bottoms as the sun was rising, ready to tackle day 3! This stage was 90% biking, or pushing bikes, with a small embedded O course. We came into the O course stage feeling pretty good, Steve’s bike still having shifter issues, to discover one of the volunteers at the cabin was a bike mechanic! He offered to take a look while we went out on foot. I think we were all looking forward to some foot travel without pushing our bikes, and orienteering is usually a high reward section of a race. This sadly did not work out for us this time. The terrain was high alpine desert and the scale was still very zoomed out, making the nav more difficult. We attacked one CP from 2 different directions, coming to the same point, but not finding the small flag. We actually didn’t even know the size of the flag we were searching for, some said small, like 4”, others said it was standard sized. In the end, we aborted the search and went back to the cabin. Talking with other teams, they said the flags were hard to find because the wind had smashed them all flat! Looking at our trace, we were just a tad too far south of the CP we had searched for. The verdict on Steve’s bike from the fab volunteer was that the shifting cable was kinked and frayed, not much to do in the field unless we had a spare cable. Moving on from here, we continued biking into the afternoon with another climb up to the Obelisk range. This was where we encountered the strongest winds I’ve ever tried to ride a bike in in my life! The wind was coming at us at directly sideways from our direction of travel, requiring a steer and lean maneuver to go straight. As soon as the gust died, I’d end up off the trail! This made for some sketchy riding once the descent became steeper. I made it down most of the scariest part with no issues, just a lot of brakes, when for no reason I can remember, I suddenly went over the handlebars and crashed hard! I heard a loud CRACK and was sure I’d broken my collarbone or a rib. As Jen helped untangle me from my bike, I pressed around and realized the collarbone was intact and the crack was the sound of me landing on the Garmin InReach and breaking the back clip off of it! I was still not convinced I hadn’t fractured a rib, given the intensity of pain with breathing, but we only had one way off the mountain so back on the bike I went. It was not a quick ride down but I’m thankful for teammates who helped see me safe off the ridge! We snagged the last CP of the stage for us and then road into the TA at Alexandra ready for some sleep!
For this next part, I’m stealing what Steve wrote in his journal:
“I don’t know what time it was but I was gently roused from the depths of your slumber by what sounded and felt like a dog taking a piss on my head. I ignored it easily until moments later I got hit hard like someone had turned a hose directly on me. I lifted my head to witness sheer pandemonium unfurling around me! Little lights were popping on in the darkness and by the time I stood up I could clearly see (even with my blurry eyes) what looked like a scene from an old Vietnam war movie. People scurried in random directions, clutching their gear, not knowing where to flee from the incoming artillery. Some stood transfixed in disbelief unable to move. Powerful jets of water cut through the darkness seemingly coming from all directions. I think I loudly exclaimed “what the shit” multiple times as I attempted to hop to safety while still inside bivy and bag. I drug what gear I could grab along with me. The sprinter system swept in all directions naked it damn near impossible for a half awake human to navigate in the dark. I took another direct hit on my way out of range, feeling all the sympathy for those poor bastards sleeping direction beside or on top of the sprinkler mines!”
My immediate thought after we had moved from the grass was that it felt like a scene from the Hunger Games, where the game makers see an opportunity to f*ck with the tributes and take it!

Wednesday Day 4 – Stage 4 and Stage 5a
We caught a few more restless hours of sleep and started sorting and drying gear as the sun rose. We had a leisurely and late start to the urban O course since the bike shop didn’t open until 9 am. We had a cafe breakfast that was amazing, then dropped Steve’s bike off for repair as we headed out on the orienteering course. This was a fun romp around the really neat city of Alexandra! I’ve joked a number of times about moving to NZ, even before this race! When we visited in 2019, I was so impressed at how their nation handled the ONE mass shooting event that I felt an immediate kinship with Kiwi empathy for others. As we finished up the climbing section and made our way back to the bike shop, the sun was blazing and we prepared for the bike on raft section.

We left the beach just as the wind shifted. What had been a lovely tailwind was now a punishing headwind, pushing waves upstream with whitecaps! We had our bikes loaded on the boats, choosing to just paddle this section. Other teams opted to ride the bike trail partway up the canyon and then transition to boats. I think our decision was the best for our team, especially since we did not have a lot of practice loading the bikes on the rafts. For all the wind, we made steady progress downstream, picking up one of the pro points and another CP before dark. Once the light faded, the navigation aspect became much more challenging. Keeping the bank on our right side pretty close, we scanned for the old hut. Not sure if we’d passed it already, we kept our eyes open for either a hut or a dock. It’s amazing how many rocks become huts in the dark! As we paddled on, Olga and I scanned the bank again and our lights flashed on something very square and light. Yay, we’d found the hut! Now we were back on track and could gauge our speed for the next checkpoint. At some point in the night I became pretty hypothermic (again) and a bit sleep delirious. My brain created several fun scenes for me, I especially loved the one were I had all the sensations of paddling but going backwards! As the hydroelectric dam loomed into sight, we found the take out dock already in use by a team. We elbowed our way ashore and decided to sleep on the side of the road until daylight. This was actually a pretty decent rest for me! Several other teams had camped on the shores during the night, as well as a number of them piling into the hut that was along the route.

Thursday Day 5 – Stage 5b – biking with rafts on bikes
As we crossed the dam Steve noticed his compass going in circles due to EM induction, thankfully not something that continued! This biking segment would have been tame in comparison to the others except for the carrying of rafts and equipment on the bikes. Steve and Olga had a raft each on their handlebars, while Jen and I carried as much of the other gear as we could stuff into the packs. We hiked and rode our bikes up and down various smaller rises, coming to the Junction Hut around 2:30 pm. This offered us a place for a bit longer of a break and a chance to see the plushness of a back country NZ hut! I think my next trip here will be to experience some of the less traveled tracks and aim for some huts. Moving on from here, we had some steep uphill pushing then a looooong descent back to the land of trees! The cruise into TA 5/6 was lovely and bin B was a welcome sight! We arrived too late to do the pack-rafting mini stage but could have went straight out to the canyoning or the big O course. Neither option sounded great at the point so we ate and slept, deciding to wake up and tackle a section of the O course in the morning.

Friday Day 6 – Stages 6a and 6b
Setting out from the TA at dawn, we crossed the swinging bridge and made our way into the woods. The O course for this stage was huge and we were only going for a small loop, with no plans to spend the night on the mountain. We spent the day tramping along the tussock covered hillsides, admiring the views, and collecting our points. Thirteen hours later, we recrossed the bridge back to the TA, feeling a bit pushed for time as the light was fading and we still had two more sections on this stage to clear. The RD gave us a pep talk and suggested we run off to do the canyoning next and stack the whitewater packrafting stage with the longer river paddle tomorrow. This turned out to be excellent advice and the canyoning was great fun! I wish I’d taken the camera with me but it was fun splash down the river, the cold water refreshing on our tired feet and legs.

Saturday Day 7 – Stage 6c, 7 and 8
We had boots on the ground before sun up, hiking our packrafts the 5 km up to the next swinging bridge to put in for the small whitewater section back down to the TA. The trail up was not great and the going a bit slow so we had no issue with the enforced dark zone. This paddle was more fun by buckets than the into the wind river paddle! We splashed our way down the rapids and back to the TA for a quick check in, the set off for the lazy river paddle (or at least that’s what it said in the booklet)! The RD’s said they did not intend for anyone to end up swimming in this section but apparently more than a few teams did! Luckily, we just ended up in the bushes a few times but hung onto all of our stuff. The river meandered back and forth a lot, getting more and more into farmland. Gone were the lovely waters we’d just dip our bottle into to drink, up to this point we had zero issues drinking ground water. We wrapped up the paddle under the slow time of 7 hrs, and transitioned onto the bikes for the final peddle to the finish!

This last bike was a mix of gravel and paved roads with a minimal elevation gain of only 600 meters. We’d been promised a no surprises ride back to town and thankfully that was exactly what we got! We made excellent time on this stage I feel, wrapping it up in around 4 hours.

As we cruised into the finish and made our way under the arches, I think I can say for all of us that our adventure cups were full and our hearts happy! Finishing an expedition race for me feels like reading the last pages in a favorite book. For the entire story, your head has been buried in the details of the characters, living their experiences, cheering for them, and commiserating with them as the struggle. As the story closes, you are pushed back out into the “real” world, the bubble bursts and you say goodbye to the characters you’ve grown to love. The difference is that in a race, WE are both the characters and the reader!

Thank you to the race directors, the support staff, the amazing volunteers for providing us with a space to play and test our boundaries! And thank you Olga for putting the team together! New Zealand is a spectacular country and the MAGNificent Race showcased it to full advantage!

Closing thoughts – Kiwi adventure racers are tough as hell! It was amazing to watch as the local teams devoured this course! I don’t know if it is just the lifestyle of living in NZ, but their speed and tenacity were things to be witnessed. Once again I’m humbled by this sport and grateful to be a part (however small) of the racer community!