There were some fresh but still tired faces amongst the trophy winners of the seventh annual Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid challenge at Cooks Gardens on a very hot Friday afternoon.
Sport Whanganui's obstacle course event pulled in another record turnout with 2100 children from 36 schools attending, which necessitated inverting the course while also sending the runners in each grade off in groups at staggered intervals, to try and avoid bottlenecks.
Each runner was individually tracked and timed, so the runners to get line honours were not necessarily the trophy winners.
This year's event started with a long 250m dash along the Cooks Gardens running track, before clearing mat and tyre obstacles and diving under a tarpaulin.
They then cleared steps along a truck deck, before getting into the real fun with water hoses blasted by the fire brigade, then hanging towels, rope netting and over a collection of wooden fences, low balancing beams and tyre fence.
It was a hard climb up the hill with a jog around the lookout tower, followed by a detergent covered slide, and twisting run back down.
Clear the bungy ropes and one last run up some steps to the final slide at the finish line.
"Pretty tiring," said Whanganui Intermediate's Nathaniel Kirk, who took line honours for the Year 7-8 boys, with his 4m 31s time also being the fastest to claim the trophy.
It was the second time he had done Tough Kid.
"A lot more running but that's good for me because I'm a 1500m runner," Kirk said.
"It's pretty hot."
Catching her breath, Te Wainui A Rua's Ella Thompson agreed as she was the first Year 7-8 girl home.
"Both slides were the fun bit, and getting squirted by the fireman.
"And I didn't like the hill."
Thompson hoped her time would finally be a winning one, as she had come runnerup twice and third place twice in her previous attempts at Tough Kid – having competed around the same time as the great Jessica Johnstone, who won every year from 2012-16 across the three age grades while at St George's.
However, Thompson was denied again as St George's Jemma Tan, who completed her race in 5m 9.8s, just 0.1s faster.
In the Year 3-4 races, the boys title was comfortably won by Fordell's Scott Hughes, the first individual trophy for his school since 2012, while the Girls grade was claimed by St John's Hill's Sienna Gilmore.
Year 5-6 saw Kai Iwi's Toby Corcoran win a first-ever Tough Kid trophy for his school, while the Girls title was claimed by Castlecliff's Carrie Rennie, who finished ahead of her own sister Teresa.
In the team events, which this year were added up from collective efforts across the individual race, there was a changing of the guard in the Junior grade as Westmere claimed the trophy ahead of five-time winners St John's Hill.
The Senior title was retained by the large Whanganui Intermediate contingent for the fourth straight year.
Image 1 of 16: Mitre 10 Mega Wanganui Tough Kid 2017 at Cooks Garden: Cooling at the start of the 7/8 Boys Race. Friday, December 01, 2017 Wanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.
Results
Year 3-4 Boys: 1. Scott Hughes (Fordell), 4:16.1; 2. Thomas McMurray (Westmere); 3. Liam Meijer (St John's Hill); 4. Ethan Toy (St John's Hill); 5. Xavier Booth (Westmere).
Year 3-4 Girls: 1. Sienna Gilmore (St John's Hill), 4:57.3; 2. Hannah Byam (St George's); 3. Fiana Tweedale (Westmere); 4. Isla Jones (St John's Hill); 5. Madi Honeyfield (Whenuakura).
Year 5-6 Boys: 1. Toby Corcoran (Kai Iwi) 5:07.8; 2. Lucca Chant (St Mary's); 3. Thomas Fitzgerald (St John's Hill); 4. Connor Rees (Westmere); 5. Tawai Pinnock (Churton).
Year 5-6 Girls: 1. Carrie Rennie (Castlecliff) 5:25.6; 2. Teresa Rennie (Castlecliff); 3. Aroha Runga (Tawhero); 4. Estelle Murray (Westmere); 5. Ruby McIntrye (Westmere).
Year 7-8 Boys: 1. Nat Kirk (Whanganui Intermediate) 4:31; 2. Morgan Murray (Westmere); 3. Jonty Triple (Whanganui Intermediate); 4. Chase Morpeth (Whanganui Intermediate); 5. Hunter Gibson (Whanganui Intermediate).
Year 7-8 Girls: 1. Jenna Tan (St George's) 5:09.8; 2. Ella Thompson (Te Wainui A Rua); 3. Paige Cromarty (Westmere); 4. Maggie Jones; 5. Lauren Phillips (Fordell).
Top Junior School: 1. Westmere; 2. St John's Hill; 3. Durie Hill.
Top Senior School: 1. Whanganui Intermediate; 2. St George's; 3. Westmere.