There are 9 "Great Walks" that the Department Of Conservation has deemed the most scenic and most developed of the tracks in New Zealand. The tracks all have huts along the way and they each take 2-7 days to compete. They include the Rakiura Track on Stewart Island, the Kepler, Milford, Routeburn, Heaphy, and Abel Tasman on the South Island, and the Tongariro Northern Circuit and Lake Waikaremoana Track on the North Island. For those of you adding, the ninth "walk" is actually a paddle down the Whanganui River, not a walking track. If one does all the eight runnable tracks, the mileage adds up to 248 miles/400 km. The Whanganui paddle add another 90 miles/145 km. The tracks are spread apart geographically by thousands of kilometers they cover a variety of terrain tips and ecosystems.
In 2009, Mal Law ran the seven mainland runnable Great Walks in 7 days, which is chronicled in his book "One Step Beyond." (Anyone know his official time?)
In 2014, Ben Southall, Luke Edwards, and Patrick Kinsella made an attempt to finish all nine, including the Whanganui, in nine days. They aborted their completion of the Whanganui due to high river levels, but scrambled in time to finish the eight land walks in 9d23h20min.
Patrick, Luke, and Ben's FKT is chronicled in this article written by Patrick in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2014/dec/05/running-new-zealand-nine-great-walks-in-nine-days
