Tough kids all soft for TV

Renee Harrison (sitting, left) and Rachel O'Connor (sitting, right) with members of the WDC Youth Committee who have approved funding for a television crew to film October's Wanganui Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid challenge to appear on TV2 later this year.PHOTO/GEMMA BARTLEY, SPORT WANGANUI

They will clamber over the obstacles and then down slides, before heading home to clean up and preparing to see themselves on television a short time later.

Segments from the 2014 Wanganui Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid challenge in October will later be screened on TVNZ's children's programme The 4.30 Show.

Sport Wanganui's annual fun day classic for Year 3-8 primary and intermediate students will be filmed by a TVNZ crew, thanks to securing funding from the Wanganui District Council's Youth Committee, which will pick up the tab for travel and accommodation.

Last year's dash through the massive obstacle course at Cooks Gardens attracted more than 1200 participants from 30 local schools.

Sport Wanganui's event manager Rachel O'Connor had approached the company behind the television show earlier in the year to pitch the idea of screening footage from Tough Kid on their week-day magazine style programme.

"Craig Hanford from MediaWorks initially put us in touch with Whitebait TV, which was fantastic as they are the producers of The 4:30 Show and were keen to cover the event," she said.

"Thanks to the funding from the Youth Committee we were able to secure their commitment, and I am really excited to showcase our Wanganui kids and the event on the show".

WDC's Youth Committee consists of 18 young people tasked with advocating issues which affect their peers in Wanganui, while supporting events and initiatives beneficial to the city's younger population.

Co-chair Renee Harrison said they saw the value of Tough Kid challenge being on public television.

"The Youth Committee agreed that this is an opportunity to showcase an exciting Wanganui youth event on a national level and a way of celebrating the success of each young person who participates on the day."

Those committee members will also be working as marshals and event volunteers on the day.

The 4.30 Show is fronted by energetic hosts Eve Palmer, Michael Lee and Massad Barakat-Devine.

Barakat-Devin, who like Cher and Madonna is known just by his first name "Massad", will travel with the production crew from Christchurch to Wanganui to be on the ground during the day, then stay overnight in the city.

This year, Tough Kid has expanded to include a regional competition, which will take place on December 12 at Cooks Gardens between selected teams from Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki and Wanganui.

But first will be the local schools on October 31, at Cooks Gardens, with official entries opening this week at $3 per child.

Another innovation for the 2014 edition will be an electronic race timing system so every competitor will know how she or he did.