Back in may I was in a race called the tough guy and girl challenge. I ran 3km in 30mins. I did it with my friend Braeden from room 10. We had lots of fun. Here is my recount on the day.
Tough guy and gal challenge
“It’s finally the the day,” I thought as I hop into my friend Braeden’s car. “Friday the 23rd of May”. I’d been thinking about this date ever since I’d signed up for the race. Braeden and I talked about it while his Mum drove. We had to wait a while at the bridge because of construction, but we soon get back on track.
We arrived in Clifton. There was a huge stage covered in spot prizes and medals and stuff like that. 20m in front of that was a gazebo. Inside the gazebo some men were cooking sausages for after the race. Behind that there were boxes and boxes of Hydrate Zero for people who finish the race. 10m to the side of the gazebo were the showers. Surrounding everything were dry fields covered in prickles. At the back of the fields was a beach. And in the middle of everything were all the competitors eager to start the race. We met up with Braeden’s Dad, while his Mum, goes and gets our race numbers. She comes back with the race numbers and a goodie bag. It had lots of stuff to give us energy. Like muesli bars and jellybeans. We also got soap to wash our clothes with later. Just then a man walked onto the stage. He said that this was the first tough guy and girl challenge to be held in Hawkes Bay and that at the end of the 3km race there will be a prize giving. He said that there were some electric dingly dangly bits at the end of the race. We could either go through it or take the chicken run, which takes longer. Then he wished us good luck and called the 1.5km races to the start line. All of the 3km racers (the race Braeden and I were in) ran through the fields to watch the little 5 year olds race through the course.
After about half an hour it was our turn. The commentator called us to the starting line and we waited and waited and waited. All of a sudden the commentator called “on your marks..” We got ready... “Get set.....GO!!”. We all raced over the haybales and headed for the fields. We both get tripped by bigger kids but we recover fast and get back into it. The first obstacle was crawling under barbed wire. I got a prickle in my hand. “OWW!” I say as I crawl along. I get pricked in the butt a couple of times by the barbs, but it doesn’t hurt to much. We quickly reach the end and once more start running.
We reached the second obstacle. We have to crawl through a dark tunnel. I start crawling and get another prickle in my hand. When I come out the other side I pull both prickles out. then keep running.
Braeden is still beside me as we run along the beach. We turn the corner and find that we have to run through a swamp! I literally jump in, wetting Braeden as he slides in behind me. I look at him and see him laughing. I wait for him to catch up. Then we carry on trudging through the sloppy mud at the bottom of the swamp. It smells like rotten fish and chips mixed with seaweed as we struggle up a muddy hill. I cover my face with the mud and smile. We run back through the fields and over the fence. Then we have to run through the electric dingly dangly bits. “OWWW!” I hear someone say as they run through the electric strings. The strings weren’t that bad but they did hurt. Finally we made it through and were on to lap 2!
After the race we each got handed a bottle of Hydrate Zero by a volunteer. Then we took a quick shower and lined up for a sausage. I saw my cousin in front of us and waved and he waved back. By this time I had finished my drink. Soon it was time for prize giving. Braeden won some popcorn and we ate it together. I had a Crunchie in my bag and offered him some but he said no. My Mum had just arrived and was talking to Braeden’s Mum. She gave me a pat on the back. I loved the race and can’t wait to do it again next year!
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