Popular Get2Go Challenge series starting next week

It's New Zealand's leading outdoor team adventure event for junior secondary school students, involving approximately 1600 students from over 150 schools throughout the country and run by Hillary Outdoors.

Starting with the first event in Whangarei next Tuesday, Year 9 and 10 students from throughout New Zealand will compete in the Get2Go series over the next two months in a series of one-day events in a bid to qualify for the national final over five days on Great Barrier Island in December.

The Trident High School are the defending national champion, whilst the Whangarei Boys’ and Girls’ High School team, Cashmere High School, Havelock North High School, Taradale High school, Waimea College, Takapuna Grammar, Thames High School, New Plymouth BHS/GHS and Onslow College are all schools that have performed well in the Get2Go series.

Who is going to take the title this year?

The Get2Go series has elements of adventure racing, team building, leadership and development in a competitive environment and is as popular as ever, explained Events Manager Darren Ashmore.

“The Get2Go series was born out of the successful Hillary Challenge event that was started in 2001.  We identified an opportunity to create a junior equivalent of that.”

Now in its 10th year, students in teams of eight will compete in a series of 12 nationwide one-day Get2Go events leading up the final.

The series has grown from four events across the North Island in 2006 to 10 events in 2007, to become nationwide since 2008.

“We’ve had about 14,000 students go through the Get2Go series. Each year between 150 to 180 schools will enter a team.”

Each event is limited to just 24 teams, mainly to do with safety management and resources. “Some regions sell out quickly – the Otago-Southland region this year has been full for six weeks and their event’s not for another two months.”

“There are many students that are not necessarily interested in mainstream sports, but they try this out and then also see other sporting opportunities such as orienteering, rock-climbing, mountain biking or multisport.”

Darren explained that there are four categories at each Get2Go event. “Teams can be all-boys or all-girls, a mixed team, or a category that we call Mixed Premier, which is a team of four boys and four girls.”

The Mixed Premier category is the most competitive one, and the one that earns qualification into the national final in December.

“Just over half the teams entering this year will be Mixed Premier ones, vying for a shot of getting into the final, whilst the other half are there for the experience and enjoyment of it.”

Schools are encouraged to join forces with their gender opposites and enter the mixed event that way.  “This makes it a bit different to other sports but because we want that gender split for the Mixed Premier grade we invite teams to join together with one other school. This also extends to two co-ed schools joining together if they wish which makes it fair and allows students from small schools to join up with students from larger nearby ones.”

Follow the series on the Hillary Outdoors Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/hillaryoutdoors

2015 Get2Go Series dates:

·       28 July – Northland

·       30 July – Auckland/Counties Manukau

·       4 August – Bay of Plenty

·       6 August – Waitakere/North Harbour

·       11 August – Waikato

·       13 August – Taranaki

·       18 August – Manawatu/Wanganui

·       20 August – Wellington/Wairarapa

·       25 August – Hawkes Bay

·       14 September – Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough

·       16 September – Otago/Southland

·       18 September – Canterbury

6-11 December Grand Final – Great Barrier Island