By JOLENE OGLE
WALKING 96km in 39 hours might not seem like a big deal, but when you’re racing the clock, 5000 other competitors and walking through the night, the Kokoda Youth Challenge is about as tough as it gets.
Now in its 1Oth year, the 96km gruelling trek through the Gold Coast hinterland is the length of the actual Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, and will take competitors along fire trails, across 12 creeks and summits of 5000m of vertical elevation.
Thirteen Noosa District State High School (NDSHS) students are training to take on the challenge along with two teachers, Duke of Edinburgh co-ordinator and team trainer Dean McMaster and Year 11 co-ordinator Bridge Muir.
Mr McMaster competed in the challenge last year and said the event was an “unknown” for the team of students.
“We didn’t know whether we could do the distance or what the resupply and checkpoints would be like. But it actually all worked really well. We did 25 hours, which is a really good time,” he said.
“Personally, I feel more confident this year, and I have a better idea what to do for training. You pick up nutrition and what works and what doesn’t.”
The NDSHS Kokoda Challenge teams consist of two teams of four students with a teacher as supervisor, plus a support crew of five students who will supply vital assistance throughout the challenge.
One challenger, Gabbi Hill who competed last year, is strapping her shoes on again to try and beat their time of 25 hours.
“Gabbi Hill is doing it a second time, which is great, but your brain forgets pain very quickly because she swore she’d never put on running shoes again after the last race,” Mr McMaster said.
Training has been underway for weeks, with Mr McMaster pushing the students to complete challenging training sessions every week.
“It’s a bit of a sacrifice for these kids,” he said.
“They give up a quite a bit of time in training. We usually train on the weekend and it’s getting to the stage where we go the whole day training. Once you start doing the longer walks you’re doing six to 10 hours.”
“It’s pretty tough. It sounds easy to walk 96km, but it’s steep and it takes a toll especially at 4am in the morning.”
Year 11 co-ordinator Bridge Muir said she had been busy with extra training sessions to make sure she was ready for the challenge.
“I’m certainly a lot more prepared than I was a few weeks ago. I run through Noosa National Park each day, surf in the afternoon and will amp it up over the next few weeks,” she said.
The students have received their team shirts, nutrition and essential competition gear needed for the challenge that will take place on 18 July in the Gold Coast hinterland.
All that’s left to do is train, train, train.
The students are also fund-raising to help pay for their gear and entry fees, plus raise funds for the Kokoda Youth Foundation. If you would like to support the team visit their Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/tve3bm4.
