Races start at midday and riders must have started their last lap by midday the next day.
From there, they have two hours to complete it, meaning they could be potentially racing for up to 26 hours non-stop.
Hunt said to be successful at 24-hour endurance races, riders need to keep moving, with only brief pit stops for food, drink or battery changes.
The Victoria University student, who is studying for an arts degree in economics and history, has been racing endurance and marathon events for nearly three years, beginning with Rotorua's Moonride in 2012.
He started riding for fun, began racing and later became interested in endurance riding. He enjoys riding longer events with bigger loops over varied terrain.
Having conquered endurance and marathon racing, Hunt thought 24-hour racing was something he'd like to try.
"There was something about the whole idea of pushing the boundaries, seeing just how far I can push myself, and in mountain biking 24 hours is the pinnacle of that ultra-endurance side," he said.
The course at Fort William was far from easy, with the 13km loop including 450m of climbing and descending.
"It means a lot of quite steep climbing followed by rocky, technical descending, and some fast flowy sections and boardwalks in between," Hunt said, adding that while others tired, he loved it, feeling fine on the uphills and having a lot of fun on the descents, giving him time to recover.
A day and a night on a bike is a long time but Hunt said he maintained his focus by mentally dividing the race into chunks.
"One thing I do is break it down into smaller sections, say four-hour blocks, laps taking roughly an hour ... Then you've got lights on and riding through the night so that gives you something else ... if that fails, sleep monsters can be kept at bay with caffeine."
Last year Hunt tackled his first 24-hour event, travelling to Canberra, Australia for the 2013 World Endurance Mountain Biking Champs, where he managed a creditable fourth place in the under-23 category.
"It was a great chance to head over and see how I stacked up against the rest of the world.
"It was an awesome event to be a part of, but also quite a learning experience," he said.
"I didn't make the grade last year so [it's] quite satisfying to come back and do it this year.
"For me it's also really cool to be able to feel like all the time and effort and money that's been put into this end goal has come out with something to show for it."
