One of the world’s most famous tests of physical endurance, the Tour de France takes about 90 hours of cycling, spread over three weeks, to complete. An adventure race can take up to 160 hours of non-stop racing over as much as six days, with virtually no sleep or rest. It requires an elite level of skill in mountain running, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting and navigation but, above all, an almost superhuman capacity to endure suffering and pain.
Generally considered the best adventure racer the world has ever seen, New Zealander Nathan Fa’avae’s career has taken him all over the world, from the deserts of Africa, Mexico and the Emirates, to the plains of Tibet and China, and the peaks and valleys of Nepal, Ecuador, Brazil, Patagonia, Russia, and the European Alps. Nathan is also the creator of New Zealand's most successful Adventure Racing, Team Avaya.
We caught up with Nathan to discover how he became the dominant force in the world’s toughest endurance sport.