On Saturday, 12 April, Emma, Annabel, and I started off the holidays with a 6-hour adventure race in the Kaikōura region for the South Island Secondary Schools Champs.

The day began early as we packed up, layered up, and drove to the race site. The sun was still behind the mountains and the hills that surrounded us, so it was very cold. Before the race, we dropped off our bikes in the transition area and double-checked that we had enough food and water to keep us going. We gathered at the start line with students from other schools, buzzing with nerves and excitement. The race started with a 2-hour rogaine section, which included navigating up and down hills and constantly checking the map to find checkpoints and make sure that we didn’t get lost. Occasionally, we had to climb through or over the fences while trying our best not to touch the electric or barbed wires.

After the Rogaine, we were met with our first mystery activity: frisbee golf. A line was drawn on the ground, and we had to land the frisbee into a basket while standing behind the line. It took us quite a few tries as a team, but we eventually got the frisbee in the basket. Then we ran to the transition area to grab our bikes and started biking down the gravel road. Although we wanted to get to our next checkpoint as quickly as we could, we had to keep referring to the maps to make sure that we didn’t miss them. This section of the race turned out to be one of my favourite parts: biking alongside the river and doing multiple river crossings with our bikes. Depending on how deep the water was, we either rode straight through or had to hop off and walk our bikes across. By then, the sun was out so it was very hot, so the water cooled us off.

After biking for several kilometres, we arrived at our second mystery activity: counting sheep in an enclosed area. Luckily, we completed this task quickly, which gave us a chance to refill our water bottles with water and electrolytes. After that short break, we biked for about 15 minutes before encountering a massive hill. It was so steep that we had to push our bikes up for an hour under direct sunlight. This was by far the most gruelling part of the race, both physically and mentally. My arms and calves were burning, and the hill seemed endless. But after what felt like forever, we finally reached the top. Then we were able to go full speed down the hill to our next transition area, which was very rewarding. 

We were back to rogaining, navigating up and down hills once again in search of checkpoints. Luckily, none of the fences we encountered were electric this time, which made crossing them a lot easier. However, the elevation was much greater, which I didn’t think was possible. When we finally reached the last checkpoint that we wanted to get to (top of a hill) we hit an unexpected obstacle—a cliff blocking our planned route back to the bikes. It wasn’t marked on the map, but it was definitely there. As we were a little tight on time, we had to quickly figure out a new way down that was both safe and efficient. Luckily, we bumped into a team from Cashmere who was also a bit unsure of what to do. So we decided to stick together. Working as a group, we carefully made our way down a steep slope covered in dense gorse bushes. We leaned back to keep our balance and prevent ourselves from tumbling forward. It was a tough descent, and we got scratched up, but we were able to make it back to the bikes in good time. 

The final stretch of the race was a fast and exhilarating downhill ride to the finish line. It felt incredibly rewarding to descend the same hill we had struggled to climb earlier. As we approached the finish line, we could hear the cheers of the spectators. After nearly seven hours, we crossed the finish line just before the cutoff time. Getting off my bike, it felt strange to walk on flat ground again, but I was incredibly grateful that there were no more hills that I had to climb. 

Within our team, there was a strong sense of accomplishment as we crossed the finish line. This is because the race was both physically and mentally challenging and because for Emma and I it was our first 6 hour race that we had ever completed. But with the guidance and experience from Annabel having done 6 hour races before we were able to complete it as a team. 

Huge congratulations to this senior team, ‘CGHS Blue’ who placed 22nd in the 6 hr schools category and 31st overall. The junior team ‘CGHS Red’ also raced in the 6 hr race. This team included Charlotte Craw, Harriet Craw and Milly Leech and they placed 18th in the 6 hr schools category and 24th overall.

Congratulations to both these teams who took on the challenge of the 6 hour race.

Congratulations must also go to Zara Sheppard, Millie Parsons and Liv Abley who represented CGHS in the 3 hr race. Well done to this team of Year 10 students who raced with smiles on their faces all day in their awesome team outfits. Ka pai to the ‘CGHS Sassy Sub 8’s’!