There will be frost on the ground and it will be pitch black but for kayaker Aiden Nossiter it's just the normal start to another training day.
But yesterday the 16-year-old got a real winter warmer with a cheque of $2000 from Gilbertson's Mitre 10 in Wanganui.
Nossiter and cyclist Cassie Cameron, 17, were named winners of the store's young achiever scholarships and both Wanganui High School students say the money could not have come at a better time. Cameron has been named in the New Zealand junior track cycling team that will line up in the world championships in Invercargill in August, while Nossiter was selected for the New Zealand under-18 kayak squad that heads off to Europe on June 28.
He had to raise $4000 for his trip which the scholarship completed.
Both had been busy raising funds for their campaigns and Cameron said the money was "a huge boost".