The small Canterbury town of Methven is confirmed as the start town for this year's Discovery Channel Adventure Race — a Southern Traverse partnership.

Over 600 adventure racers, assistants, film crews and media will converge on Methven from the 6th of November onwards to prepare for the race which gets underway on Monday, November 13. Sixty four-person teams each, with at least one female racer, will compete in this year's event, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Southern Traverse in the South Island. Competitors will come from as far as Denmark, Sweden, South Africa, Mexico, France, Finland, Australia and the US to compete.

An exclusive partnership was announced in June between the Discovery Channel and the Southern Traverse and as exclusive media sponsor, the Discovery Channel will film the entire race for a four-hour primetime miniseries to be aired in 150 countries.

Billed as one of the largest events to be held in the South Island, this year's race runs for five days and takes teams through a remote course that travels over alpine mountain passes, Canterbury rivers and lakes. The exact course will remain a secret until 24 hours before the race start, making navigation one of the crucial factors. Teams must travel together over the entire course and tackle a series of adventure disciplines including abseiling, mountain biking, trekking, rafting and kayaking.

Competitor registration, race briefings and media presentations will all be hosted in Methven during the weekend of November 11 and 12, and Race Director Geoff Hunt says the town will be a very busy place to be during that time.

"We're very excited about bringing the world of international adventure racing to Methven and the Canterbury region, and the response from the local people has been enthusiastic. This event is all about endurance and the strength and energy of people. Competitors come from all over the world to test themselves against the New Zealanders and the New Zealand terrain. They want to know how far they can push themselves and there will be a real buzz in town once everyone starts to arrive."

US film production company Catch and Release Communications will be filming the entire race with over 60 film crew personnel on course to capture the action. Special film equipment will be used to ensure racing teams can be followed by camera 24 hours a day and a large container of gear will arrive in Methven in the next two weeks in preparation.

Executive Producer Angus Yates and Senior Producer Russell McCarroll will oversee the production. McCarroll says the film equipment includes night vision, infrared and underwater cameras, as well as Wescam equipment fitted to a helicopter for dedicated aerial footage.

"We are extremely excited to come to one of the most beautiful countries in all the world, to film one of the best adventure races ever attempted," says McCarroll. "Although it will be a challenge for the television production team, much like it is for the competitors, we look forward to working with the Southern Traverse team to make this one of the best events in multi-sport history."

Unprecedented worldwide media exposure will be gained through Discovery Channel which is one of the United States' two largest cable television networks and reaches 180 million subscriber households in 150 countries worldwide.

Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing will host over 30 international and national media who will follow the race throughout the Canterbury region. Media will come from as far as Finland, Canada, Italy, Brazil, France and Mexico. Race Director Pascale Lorre says the benefits of having such a large group of influential journalists representing large publications is enormous.

"The race becomes a stage to showcase the beauty of the region and New Zealand to the rest of the world. This is 100% pure New Zealand and the potential tourism spinoffs for the country are enormous with the direct economic impact on the country being approximately three to four million New Zealand dollars."

Lorre says the Discovery Channel miniseries alone will bring more than 100 million dollars worth of exposure to New Zealand. This figure is based on a projection done by the Australian government in 1998 of a Discovery program featuring Australia which garnered 80 million dollars worth of advertising for the country.

The Discovery Channel Adventure race has attracted some of the best racers in the world, including the winners of the 2000 Raid Gauloises, Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000 and the Southern Traverse winning teams from 1998 and 1999. A total prize package of $100,000 will be awarded to the first eight teams to cross the finish line.

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