The small Northern Southland town of Lumsden has got itself on the world map with its very popular freedom camping site and now they can add adventure racing to the list as they were the starting point for the MAGNIficent Adventure race which set off on Saturday, and will also be the end point when the teams come in at the end of the week having covered around 470km biking, trekking, abseiling and paddling over some of the most amazing terrain found in the world.

LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW WITH RACE ORGANISER ANDY MAGNESS

The website has this to say about the race:

“The Magnificent offers an adrenaline-pumping, eye popping expedition adventure race in New Zealand with a nod toward iconic events like the Southern Traverse and GodZone. The event returns to the "unsupported" format to make it easier and more of a level playing field for international teams, and is part of the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS). This event promises a unique and deep challenge for experienced adventure racing teams from across the globe.”

If you’ve never watched an Adventure Race before (from your warm and comfortable living room) this is a good one to start on.

The updates and social media posts are frequent and engaging, but be warned, you’ll find yourself watching dots in 2D and 3D for a lot longer than you thought possible including into the small hours of the morning as some of these athletes never seem to sleep!

It is not just a race of stamina and strength, it is also about strategy and mental agility and these athletes have a lot of that!

Teams from New Zealand, Canada, Japan, USA, Europe and South Africa are taking part and already the Kiwis are showing that this is terrain they are used to, but this doesn’t mean that the international teams aren’t in the running for top placing.

You can follow along during the week via the website themagnificentnz.com

There are also lots of updates and photos going up on the race's Facebook page.