Pure Team 7 Rab has stamped its authority on the One NZ GODZONE Chapter 12, winning the gruelling 613km race in six days, two hours and 15 minutes.

Wānaka’s Simone Maier, racing alongside Sophie Hart, Chris Forne and Sam Clark, was part of the winning team, which was welcomed at the finish line in Picton on Thursday (December 4) by a large crew of friends, family and supporters.

The 613km adventure race started at the Picton foreshore and ended at nearby Shelly Beach, with a vast clockwise loop in between which competitors navigated by trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing and packrafting.

Rab was the only team to finish the entire 613km course - except for not climbing Mt Stokes on the stage seven packraft and trek due to a weather call directive by race officials.

Speaking to the Wānaka App on Friday (December 5) en route back to Wānaka, Simone recalled crossing the finish line as “a massive relief”.

“It had been such a huge adventure,” she said. 

She said the distances given to the teams by race organisers were usually estimates that you “always leave a bit of room for”, but many of the distances in this edition were far longer than they had expected.

“We had to just adapt to the situation,” the GODZONE regular said. “You just tackle the course.”

Simone also had a chest infection and she said she had a few “struggle days…but it’s amazing to see what your body can do when you just have to”.

The camaraderie and strength among the team got them across the finish line. 

“We never raced really hard - we had a really good steady pace,” Simone said.

Team captain Chris Forne described the race as the toughest one to date.

"My feelings, by comparison to other GODZONE chapters, are that this was probably the toughest course because of the length and physical nature,” he said. 

“It was a big course with a lot of weight carried over high vertical areas, a lot of physical on the ground…”

Team Tiki Tour finished in second place while Nelson Vets Gearshop took third place.

The top podium for the Pursuit category was Kaikoura Adventure U20, with the second-placed team being Southland Tri 6+6, and the third-placed team being Gizzy Gully Runners.

“I think it’s been a tough course for some teams, but when GODZONE relaunched, we said it would be hard, and that’s what’s been delivered,” race director Adam Fairmaid said. 

“Overall, it’s been a great race in Marlborough, the region has been so welcoming, and the racers have got to see this very special part of New Zealand.”

PHOTO: GODZONE