Salon team's hair-raising challenge for good cause

TOUGH TEAM: From left, Morgan Whiley, Caroline Hulena, Renar Harkness, Nicola Sands and Jemma Price from Hair@88 are competing in the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge. PHOTO/GLENN TAYLOR HBT141937-05.

Six women who take their looks seriously, are getting down and dirty for a good cause at the inaugural Tough Guy and Gal Challenge today.

When Havelock North's Hair@88 Boutique Salon owner Caroline Hulena, gave her team free reign to decide on a fundraiser, they came back with something challenging and completely unexpected.

"I just told the girls, 'you come up with an idea and we will do it', and they came back with this," she said. "It looked like something that was totally out of our comfort zones - we are used to wearing makeup and having our hair done, so having mud in our face and hair will be interesting."

Throughout the course, they will be subjected to obstacles - including net climbs, barbed wire crawls, swamp crossings, climbing frames, tunnels and an electric maze.

"We are quite scared that our hair is going to get caught in the barbed wire, because it's going to be [teased up] quite big," Mrs Hulena said.

Through putting their bodies on the line, the hairdressers hoped to raise at least $2000 for Cranford Hospice in Hawke's Bay.

They chose the cause because it was local, and had already started gathering funds in the salon, with a donation box and two raffles. They also have a website where people can make a contribution.

Last night the ladies gave up their time to do 20 blow waves - with all proceeds going directly into the pool.

"I think Cranford is something that everyone's been touched by in some way - everyone talks so highly of them - and we are donating locally."

The group will be hard to miss today, wearing bright orange tutus, black and orange striped tights, crazy hair and orange lippy.

"My husband will be leading us, he's also going to be our personal photographer so we can show the clients what we have done; we won't be racing against the clock," Mrs Hulena said.

This weekend's event is the first mud run in the series for 2014, and is being held at Clifton Station at Cape Kidnappers.

Joining them are more than 500 entrants and teams from Brebner Print, Downer, Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Unison.

A new Junior Tough Guy and Gal Challenge proved extremely popular in the Bay with more than 600 primary and intermediate children signing up from 20 schools. They competed on a course which replicated the adult Tough Guy & Gal Challenge, yesterday.

Online entries have closed for today's event but late entries will be accepted from 8.30am until 10.30am.

To donate online visit: toughguyandgalchallenge2014.everydayhero.com/nz/hair-88