A call for Warriors

A call for Warriors

The Top of the South’s first obstacle racing club, the Wairua Warriors continue to excel in their chosen sport.

At the end of August, six club members returned triumphant from Hawaii, each having become a member of the illustrious Spartan Trifecta Tribe; by finishing one of each Spartan distance; the Spartan Beast (21 km), the Spartan Super (14 km) and the Spartan Sprint (7km), over the course of one weekend. Club member, Phil Alloway came first in his age group (50-54) in the 21 km Spartan Beast; with all club members finishing each race within the top 30 places of their individual age groups.

Last week it was “Girl Power” all the way, when a group of predominantly female members of the club returned from Melbourne after conquering the Spartan Beast (21 km), with an impressive 6th place for the team, in an event that attracted over 200 competing teams. Additionally, female duo, Cass Parker and Tracy East took on the Mule’s Madness, 10 miles of mud, challenges and madness in Auckland.

Club president, Mr Greg Witika, who has allied himself with other Obstacle Course Racing industry leaders, both nationally and internationally, says he sees many opportunities to attract more major events to the Nelson region. Mr Witika was also part of the organising team for Nelson’s first Obstacle Racing Event, The Wairua Warrior, which was held in April this year at Happy Valley. He has confirmed that the club is in the process of organising funding to establish a permanent 6km obstacle course at the same venue. He says, “Nelson’s Happy Valley has the perfect infrastructure, terrain and environment to host increasingly popular obstacle course racing events so a permanent course makes good sense.” The date for the Wairua Warrior 2016 is confirmed as 9th April.

Happy Valley Adventures owner, Mrs Jill Anderson, says “The idea of obstacle racing fits well with what we do here at Happy Valley, we’re all about adventures in our natural environment, the great outdoors, so we’re thrilled to be working with Greg and the team on this project.”

The club is currently recruiting new warriors. Mrs Donna Witika, wife of the club’s founder and president says, “This sport really is for anybody who wants to have fun. You don’t have to be super fit to give it a go, when I started I never thought I’d complete a 21 km course with 35 obstacles, but I just did! Nature has given us the most amazing playground so why not enjoy it?”

The Wairua Warriors run training sessions throughout the week. Visit the club’s Facebook page for more details, facebook.com/WairuaWarriors.

ENDS

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