Three students from Southland are on the youngest team competing in the 10th GODZone endurance adventure race, starting this Friday. 

Southlanders Flynn Mitchell (16), Josiah Murphy (19) and Zac Pearson (19) have teamed up with Molly Spark (18) of Rangiora as team ‘Fear Youth’, and are excited to be stepping up to the ten-day challenge. 

Flynn Mitchell says the team are confident in their abilities. 

“We have competed in many of the Fear Society [Fiordland Endurance and Adventure Racing] events and are confident to race as a team at GODZone.”

“I have always been into endurance sports and was introduced to GODZone when my dad competed at Chapter 7 in Fiordland. It’s always been a goal, but we didn't expect it would be an opportunity at this young age”  

“I think we have enough experience to go reasonably well up until the two or three-day mark, and after that, it relies on making good decisions, racing our own race and not getting caught up in what other teams are doing. Our overall goal is to finish and maybe make the top ten - this is not a career-ending race for any of us given our ages - it will be a big achievement just to complete it,” he says. 

A team competes in GODZone. Photo: GODZone / Supplied

Te Anau local Josiah Murphy says the team focus will be to “keep on keeping on” as the race progresses.

“We’re going out there to be a competitive team. We haven’t done GODZone before, but we’re young and we’ve surprised people before. We can do it again.” 

The race kicks off on Friday (4th March), with more than 90 teams lining up across the two racing categories, Pure and Pursuit. 

The entire coast-to-coast traverse style course remains a secret until Thursday, when team captains will receive their maps at the official registration in Wānaka. 

GODZone Race Director Warren Bates says the 710km course has ten stages and will be long and arduous, fitting for the tenth anniversary race.

Fear Youth are team number 79, and their progress can be tracked on the GODZone website once the race begins - http://godzoneadventure.com/