Dubbed as “the toughest secondary school sporting event in New Zealand”, the long awaited 21st Macpac Hillary Challenge Finals took place last week across five days in the Tongariro National Park.

Our combined Otago Boys’/Columba team battled against the other top teams in New Zealand for a shot at glory in this prestigious event.

The format of the Finals was designed to push all teams to the absolute ceiling. The first two days involved twelve gruelling challenges which did everything from smash the body to testing teams’ mental resilience to their respective limits. This was followed by a two-day long Rogaine before finishing with a day of adventure racing in some of the country’s most brilliant terrain. Joining the four Columba girls in the team, Dan Hayman, Moss Pelvin, Brayden Foote and Luke Geddes were ready to use the same tenacity which had qualified us for this event for the first time ever to compete with the other top eleven schools in the country.

With all to play for, the week started strongly with some fantastic performances in the opening challenges. Having set the bar high for the other teams, highlights included some outstanding high rope climbing performances from Brayden and Dan and pushing defending national champions Motueka High on the off-road bike challenge. The two days ended with the team sitting in a very strong 6th position which represented a great start. The challenges already took a small toll however with a few niggles and a couple of injuries emerging with three days still remaining.

Often described as the toughest two days of the competition, this edition’s Rogaine saw teams taken to the alpine reaches of Mt Ruapehu. Not only was the map challenging in itself, but blizzard conditions with snow down to 800m was forecast on a course which took teams up to 1800m elevation. Alongside additional gale forced winds, the forecast was bleak.

A steady first five hours to the Rogaine was rapidly halted by an incoming snowstorm from the south making visibility difficult and wind gusting at 70km/h. With navigation becoming so difficult on the slopes of the volcano, a decision was made to push down lower towards the bushline. Aided by navigation under testing conditions by Luke and Moss, finding a safe place to get a few hours of sleep eventually became the priority. Having descended nearly 500m in just a matter of hours, a makeshift tent was created – keeping the snow at bay. This would prove to be a tactical team move as other teams suffered from hypothermic conditions further up the hill.

After a cold start to the morning, day four turned into an absolute stunner on snow-covered Ruapehu. Making up for a slower prior day, the team whipped through the rugged terrain east of Whakapapa Village to accumulate points on what proved to be a very fruitful day. After finishing Day 3 further back, the team moved back up to 8th place with just a few hours of racing to follow on the ultimate day.

The final adventure race was always going to be a challenge for everyone after four bruising days of racing. Remarkable tenacity was shown to paddle, bike, wade and run to the finish line on the 50km course. Doing everything in their possible capabilities to get the entire team across the line, Otago Boys’ and Columba crossed the finish line at about 2:30pm on Day 5 to a huge applause from the crowd – a fitting end to what was an epic week.

The final results saw an 8th placing maintained, ending a massively successful debut Hillary Challenge Final on 2677 points. The team have been stoked just to qualify for the week and to make the Top 8 is even more of an achievement in the pinnacle of secondary school adventure racing. For much of the team, it has been a process of years of preparation through the Get2Go and other qualifying events which Darren Ashmore and the team at Hillary Outdoors run. It has very much been a long journey for everyone, but the support of the school community has been invaluable in fostering an environment where adventure racing can thrive!