McCaw to take part in GODZone Chapter 9
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw will line up for a third crack at New Zealand’s premier adventure racing event, GODZone, in March next year.
McCaw will tackle the gruelling expedition race, the largest of its kind in the world in Rotorua from March
4-13, alongside teammates, Rugby Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol, and Sarah Fairmaid.
‘‘GODZone is the ultimate adventure that tests your limits in every respect,’’ McCaw said.
‘‘It was too hard for us to walk away from the opportunity to race it again especially given the fact it’s in the North Island for the first time.
‘‘Unfortunately, our normal team-mate Bob McLachlan has to sit this one out, which aside from driving him crazy with envy means we have to get another member on board.
‘‘You can’t replace Bob, he is an amazing person to both train and race with and stating the obvious, it’s pretty important to get the fit right if you’re going to take on this type of challenge together as a team.’’
McCaw, Nichol and Fairmaid entered the event for the first time in 2016, where they completed a 539km course through Tasman.
They then competed for a second time at GODZone Chapter 7 in Fiordland.
‘‘From what we understand, the Chapter 9 course in Rotorua is set to be of epic proportions similar to Fiordland, which was a real challenge that we enjoyed,’’ McCaw said.
‘‘It was the first time Rob and I got to race at the pointy end of the field; we pushed it and put pressure on ourselves to be competitive, which was an amazing space to be in.’’
Since then, McCaw and Nichol have developed a solid adventure racing partnership, completing several Coast to Coast multisport events and several 24-hour adventure races across New Zealand.
‘‘Added to these events, we have also done a few missions of our own, so collectively we are starting to build some more exposure to endurance racing, which has been beneficial,’’ McCaw said.
‘‘We are lucky that Sarah is keen to race with us for a third time as it’s an opportunity to take our learnings from Fiordland and see if we can improve on that.’’