Godzone veteran back for more
Jeremy Mckenzie loves a challenge - and they don’t get much bigger than the Godzone adventure race.
And the Marlborough winemaker knows exactly how tough the Godzone challenge is, having competed in three of the nine chapters of what is becoming an iconic New Zealand event.
In 2014, as part of the Absolute Wilderness team which raced in the Kaikoura-based event, he finished third. A year later he was back at it again, competing in the Wanaka-based chapter four.
After being sidelined for several years with a horrific leg injury that threatened to end his adventure racing career, Jeremy returned in 2021 as Godzone travelled to the North Island for the first time. He teamed up with fellow Marlborough locals Kieran Hickman, Glenn Blackmore and Mandy Macfarlane in the Go Fence combination as they combined superbly for a very creditable 13th in Rotorua.
Now he takes on Chapter 10, labelled “A Southern Traverse”, based in the Wanaka area.
He will be reunited in the Goldpine Go Fence team with Kieran, plus new members James McCone and his sister-in-law Sarah O’Neill, both North Canterbury dairy farmers. James and Sarah are both Godzone veterans, Sarah also a top Coast to Coast athlete, having finished sixth in the Longest Day last year.
The event format is similar. The exact course remains unknown until maps are handed out on Thursday night, with the race beginning at Jackson Bay, south of Haast, on Friday. It covers around 710km in total and teams will endure navigation, trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, fixed ropes, pack rafting and potentially other disciplines that could get dropped on them as late as the pre-event briefing.
For some teams, it takes eight days but for others it can be as fast as four to five days.
Jeremy is hoping Go Fence can finish in “five to six days”, allowing him time to get back home and begin working on the harvest.
“I’m meant to be picking grapes next week so that puts a bit of pressure on,” he adds with a chuckle.
As for what motivates him to keep coming back to an event that takes both mind and body to some very dark places, Jeremy says it is a variety of things.
“The fact it is Chapter 10, that’s worth celebrating. The course is a Southern Traverse as well so should be a bit of an epic journey. Just looking forward to getting on the start line and racing … lots of stuff has been canned over the past year so it will be nice to be out there.”
James will be navigator, with Jeremy suggesting he views his role in the team as “more of a mule and motivator”.
“A big thing about the team is understanding people's strengths and helping where you can. It’s about creating that real team dynamic – sometimes you've got to push hard and, you know, keep people out of dark spaces,” he said.
Despite having lined up on three previous occasions, Jeremy is excited to be on the start line again.
“It will be amazing to be out in the wilderness again, mixing so many disciplines which I love. Whether it is trekking, mountain biking or pack rafting … that enables you to get into a lot of different places as well, unsupported, and use it as a linking section to jump onto new routes.”
Adding to Jeremy’s personal challenge will be a dodgy knee, sustained after a serious injury while out hunting in 2016.
“[The doctors] said I would struggle to run again when I smashed my knee so I think it is pretty amazing to be still out there, racing at a high level. I guess I am pretty lucky really.”
While stressing that the primary aim is to finish the event, he feels the team are capable of “hitting the top 12”.
“I think that is a pretty good aspiration for where we are at.”