The 11th GODZone adventure race, which will be hosted in Fiordland next year, will have a significantly increased prize pool of $150,000, organisers have announced today. 

Event Director Warren Bates says the boost to the prize pool is to acknowledge the race’s status as not only a GODZone event, but the the inaugural Expedition Racing World Championships, sanctioned by World Obstacle/Federation Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles (FISO).

“The introduction of this level of prize money reflects the continued advancement of GODZone’s global status alongside some incredible sponsorships coming together behind the scenes, with the ongoing work we are doing with FISO, the sports governing body,” he says. 

“This is such a positive development for the race and the sport in general, with the event now presenting the largest prize purse in the world of expedition racing - we are justifiably proud to be offering this to our highly competitive teams.”

The GODZone Expedition Racing World Championship prize pool will reach across the top five teams racing in the Pure category, totaling $137,000 in prizes. 

It includes an international prize of $12,000 for the first overseas team to place and finish the full course at the multi-day expedition racing event. 

“If an international team can come to the sport's birthplace and win the event, they could walk away with $57,000 in prizes and the trip of a lifetime to go with it,” says Bates.

 “With national and international competitors eager to secure racing spots when entries open on the 1st July, this will be an additional enticement for those international teams keen to head down under and try and beat our champion Kiwi teams.”

“ We also have $13,000 of prizes for the leading three teams in the Pursuit category, which is a slightly condensed version of the Pure World Championship course, along with the top Colt team in recognition of younger racers competing at the top level of the sport.”

Bates says interest in New Zealand's high-profile expedition racing event has skyrocketed since announcing the Expedition Racing World Championships endorsement earlier this month.

“Despite the challenges thrown up by Covid over the last two years, we have been able to execute a couple of extremely successful and rewarding Chapters of GODZone.”

“We saw the completion of our 10th Chapter of GODZone as an opportunity to shift up a gear and bring the world back to this adventure mecca. Kiwis love to showcase their backyard and are rightly proud of their traditional strengths in this sport.”

“None will want to give up a podium place to any international team, but the incentive is there for some spectacular racing." 

Bates says the level the of prize pool is a massive step up for expedition racing, and a reflection of the huge effort and commitment competitors have put into the sport over the years.