It has a well-earned reputation for being brutal - and now the long-time race director of the Northburn 100 near Cromwell is about to get a taste of his own medicine.

The tagline for the gruelling mountain running event is: “Where suffering is a prize and everyone’s a winner”.

This March, race director Terry Davis will line up to suffer alongside the rest of the field, taking on the longest course on offer - the 100 Miler, a 161 kilometre route that has runners climbing and descending 10,000 metres over up to 48 hours.

“It’s very hilly…and they’re quite relentless,” Terry said, describing the course.

A Cromwell resident who has built a business around running events that get people out into the Central Otago hills, Terry said there was nothing else quite like the Northburn 100.

“Ours is a long climb that goes on and on and on, with a lot of false summits, and it just wears you down,” he said.

“Then when you get to the top you think, ‘Oh, great, downhill’, but the downhills go on and on and on and down can be more uncomfortable than going uphill."

Year after year, competitors are drawn to the challenge, though that does not mean they enjoy it at the time.

“It's very much type two fun,” Terry said.

One section, dubbed “the death climb”, comes more than 100 kilometres into the race and involves a steep ascent from lake level to Leaning Rock.

Checking the course in previous years, Terry has tackled it himself.

“While I was going up there, I had vivid ideas of ‘I don't need to keep doing this. I could just lie down here and die in these tussocks, and I wouldn't have to keep going’. That seemed like a pretty attractive option.”

At the inaugural event in 2012, Terry - already race director - recalled standing on the finish line.

“The ones who did finish just had looks of anguish on their face. There were no smiles or relief or how happy they were that it was done, they just absolutely collapsed and looked like death warmed up, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Geez, it can't be that hard’.”

Terry Davis: 'If I just jog around and make it look easy, they will be terribly disappointed'. Image: Facebook

News he has stepped away from directing duties to compete this year has spread, drawing some good-natured ribbing from fellow runners.

“There are a lot of people that just can't wait to see me really suffer,” Terry said.

“If I just jog around and make it look easy, they will be terribly disappointed.”

So, what is the appeal?

“For me, endurance events - and all the training that you need to do for them - are just absolutely fantastic for mental health, because you have to spend a lot of time outdoors, in the fresh air, in the mountains,” Terry said.

Also high on the list of positives, he said, were the people.

“The trail running community is the most fantastic, inclusive, embracing – just really friendly and welcoming – and they're just the best community of people that I know.”

Glen Christiansen, the general manager of The Gate in Cromwell and another keen runner, will take over as race director for this year’s Northburn event.

Marathon, half-marathon, night races and a kids adventure race are among the options available to entrants.

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