So you think diving in Wellington in winter is tough….
I got convinced (conned?) into signing up for this years Tough Guy & Gal Challenge in Rotorua this month.
With no preparation I felt as if I was entering Hell and was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.
Amongst 1500 other participants some dressed up, a group of GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) divers from Wellington and Auckland met in Rotorua to complete yet another challenge – though this one was mostly above water. We decided to do this as a team to help each other mentally and physically as we looked at the obstacles in front of us. Having done the event before Jamie set himself a bigger challenge as he completed the 12km event as a team of one. We were worried he might overtake us on the course but we made it to the finish line first and were there to cheer him on as he finished his event.
6km may not sound far to some but throw in some water hazards – purely designed to get stones into one’s shoes (note to self – wear long socks next year), some obstacles – hurdles, tunnels, A-frames and an electric fence (& yes a number of our team tested this and the power was on!) then it was definitely far enough. Of course we were all waiting for the mud, glorious mud and the last obstacle did not disappoint as we waded, crawled and got stuck in waist deep mud. You had to work together to make it through. The final run was made more difficult with an extra kilo of mud in each shoe.
Our team made it over the finish line in 1:08 – so next year’s challenge will be to come in under the hour.
Definitely achievable in 2014. Who else is going to join us?
