Harry & Henry are set to race
In 2022, we introduced brand new short courses to inspire young athletes to participate in multi-sport racing and we had a couple of 4 person Junior teams on the course for the first time. It turns out that we've got some harder-core young athletes who are itching to race in more than one stage, so we've introduced 2 person teams in the junior categories for 2023.
Harry and Henry are two 14-year old athletes entering as a 2 person team in the Junior category this year. Having stood on the sidelines watching their parents compete, they're excited to be competing for the very first time.
"We both do lots of sport at school and we're super-keen to give the Challenge a crack", Harry said. "I've been nagging Dad for years about letting me go in the Challenge", Henry said.
The boy's parents are keen paddlers, trail runners and cyclists, so they'll certainly be getting some coaching out on the water, up the trails and on the road in the lead-up to the event. When they're not doing school sports, both Harry and Henry ride their mountain bikes, spending time on the jumps!
The Junior athletes will be racing with everyone else in the Challenge, but they start separately. On race day, the solo athletes will start in Wave 1, the non-junior teams will start in Wave 2 and finally the teams in the Junior category will start in Wave 3. The start time for Wave 3 will be co-ordinated so the Juniors will be sprinting for the finish line with the other athletes who started before them in Waves 1 & 2. How exciting!
Harry and Henry want some competition. Who will take them on?