The sound of children cheering echoed far and wide as more than 1500 "tough kids" leapt, bounded and crawled their way through a giant obstacle course in Invercargill yesterday.
Presented by Sport Southland, the Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid event attracted 1600 school pupils from across Southland and as far as Stewart Island to Rugby Park.
Sport Southland communications manager Nathan Burdon said the course was built to give children the motivation to do "what they’re made to do" — move.
"It’s fantastic to see. You give them a good opportunity, create a bit of hype and they’ll just get out and do it ... You can see the smiles on their faces — they absolutely love it."
The event had been running for about eight years, with a course made up of many obstacles such as cargo nets, cable reels, climbing walls and slides.
Mr Burdon said it was great to see such a good turnout, which included pupils from Halfmoon Bay School on Stewart Island.
Some schools were unable to make it due to the travel distance, including Te Anau School.
However, the school improvised by setting up its own event, similar to Tough Kid.
