Teams battle it out on day two of GODZONE

There is a fierce battle developing at the front of the field on day two of One NZ GODZONE as the race moved into the 50km trekking stage of the 613km expedition high in the hills behind Marlborough.

"It's been a fascinating start to Chapter 12 with all the action on the mountainous high tops today with teams travelling through pretty rugged terrain, very exposed in places and with leading teams taking different routes along a variety of ridgelines," says race director Adam Fairmaid.

Christchurch's Josh Pearson, Fynn Mitchell, Molly Spark and Sam Anderson of Team Fear Youth charged into the lead position in the early hours, pushing ahead of GODZONE champions Chris Forne, Sophia Hart, Simone Maier and Sam Clark.

"These leading teams were initially jostling for position but quickly made some significant gains through their individual route choice," says Fairmaid. "We purposely put plenty options through this massive race stage to encourage teams to choose their own routes, and that's paid off particularly well for several of them."

The trek through the Penk Ferny mountain ranges includes Mt Barometer at 1780m, Mt Alexander, and Docters Knob, with hot conditions not slowing the leading pack of teams.

"Team Fear Youth has battled for dominance today and taking the lead position early on over Team Rab - so it's like young bulls versus older bulls," says Fairmaid. "These young guns are really taking it too Team Rab initially, starting with a different route but by noon both teams were mirroring each other."

"GODZONE is a long game and being hunted might be uncomfortable for Fear Youth, creating some self‑imposed pressure that comes with that. The Rab team are tough as old teak, and I don't expect they will be paying too much attention to Fear Youth and will continue to do their own thing."

Local Marlborough team Isabel Marlborough have stolen the march on past GODZONE winners Team Tiki Tour to move into third position, taking a central route through the hills out on their own.

"It's been interesting to watch this team's route choice that has led down onto the Penk Hut from the west side, while other teams have come around the ridge line to the southeast. It will be fascinating to see this play out on the race tracker."

Tonight, teams will continue the 50km trek before heading back to Avon Valley Lodge, where they will transition to the second bike leg of the race – a 144km mountain bike ride over the Acheron Saddle.

"I think the battle between the top two teams is fascinating with front teams racing hard for the first 24 hours with little to no sleep and now is when the wheels can start to fall off their race plan as we move into the next stage."

Follow live GPS tracking here: www.godzoneadventure.com