The lakeside town of Te Anau hosted the inaugural Te Anau Enduro on Saturday 12 March with 98 competitors taking part in the enduro style multisport race.
Competitors raced for either 4 hours or 8 hours on their choice of three courses; a 10.5km mountain bike course, a 5.2km run course or a 4.5 km kayak course. They could enter either as an individual or in a team of up to three. Competitors could complete any course they wished, in any order they wished and bonus points were on offer if all three courses were completed in succession or if one course was completed four times in a row.
The 8-hour solo “Legends” category was the feature category of the event and boasted $4,000 in total prize money. Hamish Fleming of Queenstown was the men’s winner, completing a very impressive 17 laps and picking up 5 bonus points to finish on 22 points. Deklan Hodsell of Wanaka chased hard all day but eventually fell one lap behind to finish second with 21 points. Late entrant, Ben McDowell of Dunedin, finished a very close third by also collecting 21 points but finishing his last lap 10 minutes behind Hodsell.
 Deklan Hodsell exits the kayak course(Photo: Te Anau Enduro; click to enlarge) |
Local man Adrian Braaksma showed why he was expected by organisers to be someone to watch, coming in second male overall, finishing just in front of Hodsell. However, Braaksma had entered the sport category so he wasn’t eligible for prize money, instead winning the 8-hour sport category very convincingly.
The women’s race was equally impressive with late entrant Joanna Williams and Emily Wilson, both of Wanaka, competing head-to-head right to the later parts of the race. Williams eventually pulled away from Wilson, completing 17 laps and collecting 5 bonus points to equal Fleming on 22 points. Wilson came in with 16 laps and 5 bonus points to finish on 21 points.
 Emily Wilson about to enter transition from a run lap(Photo: Te Anau Enduro; click to enlarge |
Entries in the event included a wide range of competitors such as young school teams, experienced veterans, local first timers and some of New Zealand’s top current multisport talent. Race Director Rikki Griffin said they were very pleased with the turn-out in the first year and were impressed with the level of competition.
“We had a really nice, manageable-sized event for our first year of running it and there was plenty of competition for all types of people. Our Legends absolutely turned themselves inside out, but so did the first timers. When (local man) Graeme Moffat crossed the timing mat on his last bike lap less than a minute before close-off time he looked like he was going to vomit! There were some awesome tussles going on between the local teams. Team “Medical Misadventurers” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” were neck and neck at the front of the 8-hour teams race all day. We didn’t know who was going to win until they actually won it, so the racing was great.”
“But it wasn’t just about winning. Plenty of people commented to me that this local event gave them a great excuse to dust off the old gear and get back into a sport they really enjoy, or try something new. Sarah Masters said she scraped the bird poo off her kayak that had been in the shed for years and loved getting back out on the lake again. Pete McMurtrie pulled the moth balls out of his old running shoes and turned out to be quite the dark horse. Many locals found themselves riding tracks that they didn’t even know existed. So we think the event really helped to promote multisport and the use of the local resources. It’s such a great place for this type of thing.”
 A Fiordland College team member on part of the MTB course(Photo: Te Anau Enduro; click to enlarge) |
Mr Griffin also says that the feedback on this format of racing was extremely positive.
“We’ll definitely stick with this style of race. The competitors and spectators were really excited about a race where the laps are short enough that there’s always plenty of action around the transition area. They enjoyed seeing competitors coming through constantly and Gerry Forde did a great job on the mic, informing people of what’s going on and keeping everyone entertained. The location is also perfect for this race because it’s so important to have three very good, evenly challenging courses.”
“It was incredible seeing competitors racing off in three different directions, then about half an hour later they are all transitioning side-by-side again. Next year we’ll get better at displaying the current standings so our competitors always know where they’re at, and it’ll be even better.”
 Georgia McChlery prepares to begin a lap of the run course(Photo: Te Anau Enduro; click to enlarge) |
