Callum Harris (coach), Flynn Hill, Geneva Overwater, Matthew Kingi, Mackenzie Johnson, Angus Dorahy, Macey Polwart, Callum Hill, Alesha Ahrens and Olivia McLeod (coach).
Briefing parents that their children are likely to emerge from the bush "bleeding, vomiting and crying" is all part of the job for the coach of Northland's champion adventure racing team.
Eight students from Whangarei Boys' and Girls' High schools have won the gruelling Genesis Energy Hillary Challenge, which sees
12 top schools from around the country endure five days of extreme outdoor pursuits.
WBHS' Callum Harris coaches the team with Olivia McLeod from WGHS. He said students trained 20 hours a week in the lead-up to the event, culminating in a 30-hour training week at Tongariro National Park, the location which played host a week later.
"All the parents came down," Mr Harris said. "I've had to brief them that they [the competitors] are probably going to be bleeding, vomiting and crying when they come in, that's exactly what happens. There's boys with tampons up their noses to stop bleeding."
The event, which finished on Friday, is 15 years old and WBHS won the first year, but since then the Whangarei schools have been consistently just shy of the mark, often to arch rivals at New Plymouth Girls' and Boys'.
