The Kiwi Sessions Continue: I have the pleasure of talking one on one with greats of Adventure Racing for the past two decades. With 8 world championships to his name, he's been a cornerstone of New Zealand's top team (Seagate and then Avaya). He's humble, open, and still super stoked on the sport. He's just taken back to back wins at both of New Zealand's expedition races - despite his team making one of the worst mistakes you can make in the sport. Lets dive in shall we?

Want to know what to look for when you dotwatch the Magnificent? Check out this course walkthrough that details the challenges and highlights of each stage, and what we expect to see out of the racers. Where will the racers find special challenges, surprise navigation difficulties, weather sensitive stages, and more. Sleep card? 3d printed maps? What's that all about? Dot watching is so much fun whey you know what to look for.

What's it like being a race director out in the wild preparing for one of the most challenging events in the world circuit? And are RD's as nuts as you imagine that they are for doing what they do? Heck Yeah. And we took a microphone along on some route setting to capture the action (and random thoughts) that pop up as we hack through the bush in the rain.

It'll add some color to your dot watching of the actual race, and if you are a racer, you may glean a bit of insider info too.

Just when you thought the conversations coming out of New Zealand couldn't be better after hearing from both Fear Youth and Sophie Hart. - we bring you Tide Faavae.

Unless you are a total newbie, you've marveled at Nathan Fa'avae's winning career. He won his first major adventure race in 1999, and shortly thereafter started a family with his wife Jodie - a 7x NZ MTB national champion.

Suffice it to say that the 3 kids were exposed to a fair amount of athleticism and adventure. Tide Fa'avae is the youngest in the family, just 19, but is the first to tackle a expedition race. But Tide didn't race with her parents as one might expect - she raced with a bunch other "kids" (she was actually the oldest on the team!).

We talk about growing up the Fa'avae household, her siblings, her first race, and her wisdom that most veteran teams could learn from.

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Tell me you are a new adventure racer without saying it. Easy.

"Sophie Hart? Never heard of her. "

Now tell me you are an long time competitive racer that just was granted a wish to add a female racer to your next World Champs bid. Easy.

"I pick Sophie Hart".

But whichever one of those you are - this podcast is worth a listen. Sophie is the most successful female adventure racer on the planet, with multiple world championships, multiple God Zone wins, Coast to Coast wins, won the most recent Eco Challenge, the list goes on. But she's also a doctor, a mum, and just as down to earth and humble as anyone I've ever met. Thanks to Sophie for her time.

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Ephebiphobia: The Fear of Youth

Straight off their amazing work at the Godzone race, where they entertained dot watchers across the globe with their antics, we talk to this young Kiwi team that has been making waves the past half decade as they've improve drastically each year. They are now firmly entrenched in the top echelon of the expedition racing game, and their meteoric rise shows no signs of slowing down. But they still make mistakes, have humility, and oh so much drive.

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A new Adventure Race Training podcast has been launched! Wait what? People actually train for adventure racing? And coach adventure racers? Preposterous. Well maybe not. Meet Nick, and why he might be worth listening to...

The season was a banger for sure. But what can we learn? Are pack rafts bad for the sport? Should race directors design easy media coverage? Will next year's races be as "flawed" as this year's top events? Lots to unpack here with two opinionated folks.

Legit advice from 25 years at racing. I been holding onto this advice until I had enough street cred to get people to listen...so after a podium (podium is top 5 at worlds!) at this year's World Champs, I might never have a better moment. So buckle up for a quick "top 15" of things that you probably don't do, and won't believe...but would make you a better racer if you did.

Best Race - Worst Race. Flip sides of the same coin?!?

Just listen - either you were there and survived, your happy that you weren't there cause you know you might not have survived, or you wish you were there creating memories that will never be forgotten.