Nearly 3000 kids race through Whanganui’s Cooks Gardens for Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid

Around 2800 kids raced their way across Cooks Garden in the Mitre 10 MEGA Tough Kid. Photo / Finn Williams

Around 2800 school children from across Whanganui ran, climbed, crawled and slid their way around Cooks Gardens across two days in 2022′s edition of Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid.

The event was cancelled last year due to Covid-19.

This year’s event took place across two days, with Thursday playing host to the event’s quiet hour for children with sensory issues and the Tough Teen event for high school students.

On Friday the Tough Kid for children between Years 3 and 8 took place.

Sport Whanganui rangitahi activator Harry Unsworth said 70 kids took part in the quiet hour, 300 in Tough Teen and 2400 in Tough Kid.

Year five and six girls jostle for position heading up the hill towards the Whanganui Velodrome. Photo / Finn Williams

He said overall the event had gone very smoothly, thanks to the work of volunteers and the sponsors.

“The volunteers have been fantastic and all the community sponsors have been really good,” he said.

He said overall feedback from the participants had been positive and the vibes for the event had been great.

Slip and slide on the way to the finish of the course. Photo / Elyana Gibson

Kai Iwi School pupils Asher and Kai (Year 4 boys) and Illeana and Charlotte (Year 6 girls) all took part in he event for the first time this year, and said they enjoyed taking part.

“It was scary but it was fun,” Asher said.

All four said their favourite part of the course was the waterslide going down the hill from the bell tower at the top of the course.

Whanganui Intermediate Year 7 boys Alex Payne, Luke Ander and Lachlan Giltrap had all competed before, Alex and Logan having done so three times including this year, and Lachlan four.

Alex Payne, Luke Ander and Lachlan Giltrap from Whanganui Intermediate School. Photo / Finn Williams

They found the event exciting.

“It was real and it made your heart pump a lot because of how fast you were going,” Luke said.

Alex liked the big slide the most as well because of how fast he went down it.

Lachlan’s favourite was a net they had to crawl under, while Luke’s was a small crawl space filled with mist that the kids had to get through.

One competitor getting a reward from Mitre 10 Mega Whanganui Owner Hayden Gibson after completing the course. Photo / Gené Tonye

“You couldn’t see where you were going so you just kind of had to wing it,” he said.

One thing that united all of the children was how they wanted to come back for another go next year.

“It was really fun, it makes you feel like you want to do it again,” Giltrap said.