Editorial: Ordinary folk refuse to give up

Tracey Chatterton.

Richie McCaw is proving to be a versatile sportsman.

We all know about his skills on the rugby field and now we're learning that he is pretty adept at mountain biking, tramping and rafting.

There has been a lot of coverage on Richie's first adventure race GODZone - which is said to be the world's largest and most technically challenging adventure race.

During the seven-day race competitors cover 530km - trekking, paddling, climbing and biking over tricky terrain, searching for checkpoints. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Like McCaw, I, too, set off on my first adventure race at the weekend - the Spirited Women All Women's Adventure Race. It was more about getting women, of all ages and levels of fitness, out giving it a go.

The night before, we were given a map of the area we would cover - running, walking, paddle boarding, kayaking and mountain biking, looking for various checkpoints.

Our team of four were quite fit but that counted for little if you couldn't find the checkpoint you were looking for. It took us three attempts to find one hidden under a bridge. We played to our strengths to make up for our weaknesses - I was forbidden from even attempting to read the map.

We covered 52km in seven hours 40 minutes, a time that earned us 4th in our category.

Afterwards we heard tales of women who lost their map, lost their timing chip, fell in the lake and fell off bikes. Yet they kept going. Some competitors were crossing the line 13 or 14 hours after they started - cold, wet, muddy and smiling.

While it's great following McCaw and his team, it is these people, the battlers, that also deserve some recognition.