Not content with competing in just one Tough Guy/Gal challenge, RPM’s Karyn Heatley and Joanna Boardman took part in their second event on Saturday 23^rd August 2014. The event was held near Rotorua’s Hells Gate, an aptly named location for the event.

Karyn and Joanna had read how the Rotorua course was the toughest of all of the national courses and wanted to test their strength, stamina and skills on the most demanding course on offer.

The mud was plentiful, catered for especially by the farm digger that had churned up the course, couple this with the rain and there you have it, the perfect quagmire to be conquered.

The water was very cold, which was bearable up to the midriff point. At the neck point, it was a total panic stations, especially for Joanna, who hates the cold water and was particularly loathing of this obstacle weeks before the event.

The hills were near vertical, so much so that ropes had been thrown down from the top to assist competitors with pulling themselves up when needed. Well, at least one hill was like that.

The other hills saw Joanna and Karyn sprinting to the tops – in their dreams – reality check; they got up them the best way they could.

There was commando crawling, electric shock therapy along with cargo nets and high fences to scale, but the tough gals from RPM ran the physically demanding route with a smile.

With the course finished, the mud was clinging to every available item of clothing and was to be washed away before we could proceed.

We climbed into the giant trough of cold water and rinsed off as much as we were able to before settling ourselves in the 40 degree spa pool to asses any damage to body and soul.

The hot steamy finish was well worth the effort and a fantastic day was had by both. See you all again next year, fitter, faster and stronger!!

 

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