Teen adventure racer thrives on endurance challenges
Adventure racer Dean Stewart relishes the challenge of competing in some of New Zealand’s remote and scenic locations.
His desire to keep improving in the sport resulted in him homeschooling last year so he could do more training and travel to events throughout the country.
‘‘I like the endurance aspect of it ... being gutsy, when it gets hard you still have to keep going because you’ve got to get to the end somehow,’’ he said.
The 17-year-old, who is now attending Menzies College at Wyndham finished fifth of 274 competitors in the open section of the two-day Kathmandu Coast-toCoast last month. He won the schools section.
To familiarise himself with the course – 243 kilometres from Kumara on the West Coast to New Brighton in Canterbury – Stewart checked it out a week before the event.
‘‘I power-walked the run section and did a slow kayak through the gorge [Waimakariri River] just to get a feel for it.
‘‘It definitely helped. It probably saved me 10 to 15 minutes [in the event].’’
His victory in the Cardrona to Luggate Big Easy Marathon in January gave him confidence.
Stewart has competed in a variety of adventure/endurance events, ranging from 12 to 60 hours to complete.
Parents John and Yvonne Stewart of Redan watch his progress at some events on the internet, through a tracking device he carries.
‘‘When the tracker stops, we don’t know if he’s stopped or the tracker has,’’ Yvonne said.
‘‘We’ve very proud of Dean.
‘‘He definitely lives life to the full and is always looking for new adventures to challenge himself with.’’
In December 2019, Stewart and school friend Toby Finlayson cycled from Cape Reinga to Bluff (3000km) in 20 days.