The toughest race of the year was the general consensus amongst some of the world's best adventure racers at the finish party of the Discovery Channel Adventure Race - a Southern Traverse partnership in Tekapo, New Zealand, three weeks ago.

The culmination of six days of fast endurance racing over 364km of unrelenting New Zealand terrain took its toll on most of the 57 four-person teams including some of the top teams. The winning team Propeller-heads, made up of New Zealander's Steve Gurney, Kathy Lynch, Nathan Fa'avae and Jeff Mitchell, looked in pretty good shape as the team crossed the finish line six hours ahead of the rest of the field but admitted to having a few desperate moments. Second placed Finnish team Nokia, who won the Raid Gauloises and the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest this year, held testimony to the degree of stamina required to finish the race.

Petri Forsman said at the prize giving it was the hardest race. His team pushed the winning team Propeller-heads from the middle of the first day and, at times, were only minutes behind them. A shoulder injury sustained by Jukka Pinola caused only a minor disruption to the team's fight for the lead, with Pinola displaying steel-like determination in continuing on with his arm strapped.

Robyn Benincasa of 3rd-place The Science Team agreed with Nokia. Benincasa, 33, said the Southern Traverse was her hardest race of the year, which carries great meaning because she and other team members caught a rare bacterial infection after winning the Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000 in Borneo and lost the Raid earlier in the year. "I was really hurting this time," the San Diego firefighter says. "Mike (Kloser) had to tow me in."

Pain and suffering are words competitors become au fait with during a race of Southern Traverse proportions, and Bill Godsall is not a newcomer to the depth of that pain. Godsall has competed in every single Southern Traverse event, winning two and always finishing in the top-5. This year his team placed 4th and his description of the race was the "hardest, most brutal event you could imagine."

Eleven teams finished the entire course from the start at Cheeseman Ski field on the Arthurs Pass road to the finish at Lake Tekapo. They are in order: Propeller-heads-NZ, Nokia-Finland, The Science Team-USA/Australia, Cromwell-NZ, Encompass-NZ, Geraldine-NZ, Outdoor Action Formidable-NZ, Marahau Beach Camp-NZ, New Limit-Sweden, Explorer-USA and Fresh Choice NZ Army.

Five teams completed the shortened course after missing time cut offs at the final stages of the race and two teams finished unranked. With just 20% of the entire field making it through, Race Director Geoff Hunt believes more teams would have finished had they looked more closely at their team dynamics and the importance of looking after the weakest member.

"There were some experienced teams who got to the last mountain trek and kayak and never made it through. Teams I would have expected to finish, but maybe they underestimated how much you need to look after yourself to be able to go the distance. Three teams new to the traverse, Encompass and Outdoor Action and Marahau Beach Camp, finished in the prize money, showing attention to detail counts enormously.

"I set this course knowing it would be tough, but it could have been worse. Look at Propeller-heads, the winning team still looked in pretty good shape at the end. This level of adventure racing is about speed, mental and physical stamina combined with good team effort. That's how you win."

Out of the ten USA teams entered, The Science Team and Explorer were the only teams to finish the complete course in the top-10. Making it to Lake Tekapo via the short course was Team Ace. A disappointing finish for Team Wigwam who was forced to leave the course due to snow storms on the last section. Orion Blue Duck decided to pull off the course after travelling over the Cameron Glacier on the alpine section as did Team Jeanne, and Team Evolution pulled off the course before the glacier section.

Team Seagate from California enjoyed its race despite only making it through the first three stages, as did Training Zone and Team Intrepid. Boundary Quest's Danny Sutor was airlifted from the abseil on the first section with the team deciding to withdraw.

The 2000 Discovery Channel Adventure Race was the largest event run by Southern Traverse Directors Pascale Lorre and Geoff Hunt, and both agree it was the best ever.

"Although it was tough and difficult for competitors, it's been overwhelming to receive the comments from competitors," says Pascale Lorre. "Ironically they had good time despite it being considered the hardest race. It was an amazing race...an awesome event and I've had many teams saying they are preparing now for next year, so there is still lots of positive energy and adrenalin still running through their veins."

The partnership between Discovery Channel and Southern Traverse worked extremely well, according to Lorre who says the combination together created an outstanding adventure racing event. Discovery Channel filmed the entire race capturing more than 350 hours of footage that will be made into a four-hour miniseries to be released in April 2001. The Southern Traverse will hold its 2001 event in Queenstown, New Zealand on November 10-17. Registration opens on February 1, 2001.

For more information email Southern Traverse at traverse@queenstown.co.nz.