The Most AWESOME School Event EVAH

The Tough Kid Challenge was quite possibly the most awesome kids sporting event ever!  Lindsay, along with over a thousand other elementary school kids, got to participate in this huge obstacle course. Local community groups and businesses transformed a local stadium into the ultimate playground for the kids to run, jump, slide and race through.  The kids started out by running around the track while getting sprayed with water hoses by the local fire department. (I bet the firefighters really enjoyed that.) Then the kids onto the field to tackle the various obstacles-

- scrambling over piles of tires 

- crawling under various nets commando style 

- climbing over or between crude wooden or net fences 

- running through inflatables that had been slicked up with soap and water 

- going through a steeplechase of muddy water backwards

After all that, the kids ran up a long grassy hill. At the top, which was about 200 feet above the stadium field, there was a 70 foot long strip of black plastic that was constantly being soaped and watered by volunteers.  The slide had an angle I guesstimated to be about 25 degrees.  VERY steep.  The kids would either fling themselves at a run, sit down cautiously, or just fall onto the slide and then zoom down. Predictably, the boys were much more likely to take it a full run than the girls, who tended to stop and sit down carefully first.  But the best part was at the bottom. It was hilarious to watch how some kids tumbled off and did unintended somersaults. Or a kid, most likely a boy, would slide off and try to get up only to have his feet taken out from under him by another kid slamming into him from behind.  Not that I wanted anyone to get hurt but this was like one of those hysterical You Tube videos about puppies! See for yourself...

This last video is of Lindsay coming down.  She later regretted taking a running jump onto the slide because she got up quite a bit of speed and was unable to slow herself down on the slippery plastic. When she hit the bottom she skidded along in the mud and got a giant MUD WEDGIE!

Some things I really enjoyed about this day:

1. Watching kids have so much fun!

2. The incredible level of messiness, which resulted in total destruction of Lindsay's shirt and shorts.
3. The danger element. I had a hard time imaging this happening in the US due to concern for injury and liability.  American kids probably would have been outfitted in helmets and mouth guards!

4.  Seeing kiwi fashion out in full force. Admittedly we live in an agricultural area but the number of adults wearing the combination of gumboots, short shorts, tank top, and a brimmed hat was too high to count.  Kiwis definitely value practicality over high fashion.