Eight brave east Auckland school pupils will be pushed to their limits in one of the country’s toughest adventure races.
The Botany Downs Secondary College (BDSC) team has been chosen to compete in the Hillary Outdoors Get2Go challenge.
They recently won the wider Auckland title in an event testing their orienteering, mountain-biking and kayaking skills.
They’re now set to travel to Tongariro in the central North Island later this year to compete in the event’s national version, a five-day adventure race, and they’re looking for sponsors to help them get there.
The team says the Get2Go challenge is held throughout each region to find the top 12 schools to contest the national title over five days in December in Tongariro National Park.
Their team is comprised of pupils Wiremu Taka, Alex Botha, Callum Hyde, Kade McLoughlan, Malak Kardaman, Olivia Penman-Gates, Lily Vickers, and Lola Hamilton.
They were selected on their cross-country results followed by a survey of each athlete’s level of tramping, sailing, canoeing, mountain biking, rock climbing and orienteering experience.
“At the national event we’re aware of the general plan but won’t know the specifics or routes of any of the challenges until just prior to each,” they say.
“We’ll go head-to-head with other teams for the first two days, complete a two-day expedition, and then compete against all other teams on the last day.
“The expedition may see the teams running and paddling for seven hours for two consecutive days in challenging terrain.”
They’re doing three training sessions weekly with most of the fitness work happening in their own time.
“As there’s a large problem-solving component, our training includes knots, cooking, tents, blindfolded activities and a range of other skills,” they say.
“We’re using specialist coaches to upskill where necessary. Each athlete is required to pay around $1400 for the event and to purchase a range of compulsory specialist gear for safety reasons and to be competitive.
“We could have summer conditions or there might be midwinter-like conditions in the region at that time of the year.”
To help them raise the needed funds, they’re staging two bake sales, a raffle and a fun run.
“Local business sponsorship will be an important part of this venture, and we’d like to hear from any company who can supply prizes for our raffle or provide sponsorship which can then be acknowledged by the college,” the team says.
People interested in sponsoring the adventure race team can email BDSC business manager Deidre Lane at d.lane@bdsc.school.nz.
People wanting to donate to help the team can email parent Rachael McLoughlan at dmcloughlan@yahoo.com.
