Tough gal the highest fundraiser nationwide for Tough Guy and Tough Gal

Nine-year-old Lily McLaughlin had a blast in the mud taking on the junior Tough Guy and Tough Gal challenge with her friends. Photo / Supplied

Hundreds of Hawke's Bay kids participate in the junior Tough Guy and Tough Gal Challenge.

The challenges are one of New Zealand's largest mud run series.

Havelock North Primary student Lily McLaughlin has taken on the junior Tough Guy and Tough Gal challenge for the second year in a row - and topped it off by raising the most money nationwide, for the challenge's chosen charity Ronald McDonald House.

The junior challenge gives primary and intermediate-aged kids a chance to participate in a mud run tailored especially for their skill set.

Competitors take on a 1.5km or 3km muddy obstacle course consisting of swamp crossings, water crossing, net climbing, crawling under obstacles running through native bush trails, tunnels, jumping over hurdles and up climbing frames.

Lily first ran in Tough Guy Tough Gal in 2021, and a week before the 2022 event noticed that the event had teamed up with Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) as their charity partner.

Lily and her father, Aiden McLaughlin, started working to put together her donation page and get the word out to family and friends.

Lily was the highest fundraiser nationwide, for the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge, raising more than $1600 to go towards the RMHC.

Lily said, "I think it's a really good cause so I was really happy to raise the money."

She went on to say, "other people also raised money as well so that means that Ronald McDonald house gets a lot of money".

As the top fundraiser, Lily won a new Samsung Galaxy A7 Lite tablet, the 9-year-old said she didn't even know there was a prize.

"Winning the tablet was such a big surprise," Lily said.

A spokesperson from RMHC thanked Lily for all her hard work to support families staying at RMHC New Zealand.

"Thanks to Lily, kids in the hospital will be able to have their parents close to them while they recover," the spokesperson said.

Lily and her friends had so much fun at the Tough Guy Tough Gal Challenge that she encourages everyone to give it a go next year.

"It's a fun activity that kids can do, it's not really competitive and everyone helps each other," Lily said.

"The best part of the challenge was getting all muddy."