Kids up to tough obstacle challenge

St George's Faith Hogan completes her climb through the netting at Cooks Gardens on Friday .PHOTOS/LEWIS GARDNER311014WCSMKIDS11

St John's Hill School and Wanganui Intermediate School children charged over, under and through 2km worth of obstacles at Cooks Gardens for the Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid challenge at Cooks Gardens on Friday.

From Oliver Jones winning the Year 3-4 boys' section in 6 minutes 46 seconds, through to Antonia Harding coming third in the Year 3-4 girls, St John's had the best overall average finishing times of the younger grades.

Among the senior school races, Wanganui Intermediate did not have any individuals on the podium, although Conner Hoskins and Dillon Adrole were strong finishers to come fourth and fifth respectively in the Year 7-8 boys' race.

The school had good participation among the 1400 students from 28 schools, and picked up the best overall gong.

Huntley's Adam Lennox was the fastest pupil, as he put down a 5m 45s time in a very competitive Year 7-8 boys' section where the top four finishers all went on or under the 5m 50s mark.

Results were recorded on mat-to-mat times, so while individuals might finish behind other competitors who had started behind them, the fastest time earned the superior placing.

TVNZ's The 4.30pm Show, along with host Massad Barakat-Devine, were filming segments to feature on the children's weekday show at a later date.

The top three competitors from each category from Year 5-6 onwards will join with the best from the Downs Group Rangitikei Tough Kid Challenge in September, and they will represent the province at the inaugural Mitre 10 Mega Regional Tough Kid competition on December 12. They will take on schools from Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu.