INFO

 

The race will be held in the Eastern Taranaki area, an incredible adventure playground full of potential- hills, rivers, lakes, farms, bush and more hills. 

Under an hours' drive from New Plymouth, it's easy accessible from all over the North Island. The race rego and briefing on Friday night will be held in Stratford. 

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Entries will open April 15th 2025.

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6 HOUR

 

All teams have up to 6 hours to collect as many CP's and be back at the finish by 4:00pm. This race is perfect for those new to Adventure Racing or who maybe have some experience in other multisport/ adventure activities. Team size can be two, three or four person and a support crew is not required. The core disciplines will be mountain biking and trekking with a few mystery activities for good measure. Terrain may include farm tracks/ 4WD and gravel roads and farm/ hills and small bush sections.  Rogaine style sections will be a feature- allowing you to make strategic choices about your route and abilities. The actual race location will be revealed closer to the start date, and the later start time of 10:00am will enable teams to travel in the morning.

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12 HOUR

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Starts 8 am, all teams must be finished by 8pm Saturday evening.

The main requirement is the ability to keep moving (at whatever your pace is) for close to 12 hours- the optional checkpoints will allow all teams to finish within the 12 hours- those with greater pace/ navigation skill can obviously collect a few more CPs, but course completion will certainly be achievable for all teams.  Rogaine style sections will enable teams to strategize and work to their strengths and abilities.

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Team size can be two, three or four person. Support crew  requirements for this year's race are still being finalised. The core disciplines will be mountain biking and trekking. 

 

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36 HOUR- 

PACKRAFTING

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Start time TBC Friday night/ Sat morning, with expected finish times around Sunday lunchtime/ afternoon.

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Teams are FOUR person only- mixed, male or female. The premier category is the Mixed Team Packrafting division, and the winning team will be allocated maximum points for the NZ Adventure 1 Series, more details can be found on the Adventure 1 website.

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A Support Crew will be required for this year's race. We have aimed to limit the late night/ early morning workload for support crews, meaning a decent night's sleep should be achievable and a box drop will be utilised later in the race.

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36 HR-

KAYAKING 

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Yes that's right, if pack rafting isn't for you (yep they're expensive, difficult to hire and a bit more on the 'committed' end of the AR spectrum) then you can now enter the 36 Hour race and bring sit on top kayaks instead of packrafts.

They need to be 'sit-on-top' variety (single or double) and won't need to be carried far. The support crew will have an easy drop off and pick up point- heaps of access for a trailer and they won't need to hauled all over the countryside. Please note- we don't supply or hire these kayaks- competitors will need to bring their own as well as PFD's and paddles, but the sit on top type are pretty easy to ask around for.

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36 HR-

NON-PADDLING

For teams who don't have access to kayaks or packrafts, we also have a division for 'Non-Paddling'- an extra MTB / Trek stage will replace the water section.

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BRIEFING

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Race registration and general briefing for the 12 and 36 hour teams will be held in Stratford on Friday evening.  Race Briefings will be one hour before start times on Saturday. But as we all know, these timings are subject to change for a variety of reasons- we will keep you all well posted!

If you can't make it to the Friday briefing let us know and we can sort you on the Saturday morning. There will be a catch up briefing/ rego on Sat morning for teams who can't make Friday night- the actual venue will be posted on Friday afternoon. Maps will be given out 45 mins before race starts.

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FORMAT

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We receive plenty of questions about the race format for the 'Munter. While some races have all compulsory checkpoints and the CPs must be collected in numerical order (or face penalties or become unranked), the Marokopa Munter format will involve rogaine sections where some CPs can be collected in any order and are optional. This way, teams can choose their level of challenge and use strategy to maximise their strengths.  

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All teams have either 6, 12 or 36 hours to collect as many CPs as they can and be back at the finish line within the allotted time. Decision making, teamwork and strategy will play a big part in teams' success.

The main difference between the 12 and 36 hour races, aside from the obvious extra hours out racing, is that the 36 hour race will involve greater difficulty in navigation, especially with the hours of darkness. Route choice and strategy will also be an increased feature. Perfect for teams wanting to step up into longer length races, or those who are just suckers for punishment and want to be an ultimate Munter!

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