Cadbury Confectionery scooped the pool at the South Island Cure Kids Great Adventure Race in Queenstown on Saturday (March 7), after taking out both the winner's trophy and the champion fundraising trophy, in an event which raised over $192,000 for research into children's life threatening illnesses.
Cadbury (Dunedin) raised $43,000 to win the fundraising title ahead of Livingstones (Christchurch) $35,000 and Gen-i (Christchurch) $26,000.
Cure Kids Ceo Kaye Parker says it was fitting that Cadbury, which entered two teams in the event, should take the titles.
"This was the third South Island race and Cadbury is the only team to have competed in all three events. Their support has been fantastic and they have remained committed to Cure Kids for many years. We have raised $192,314 from this event in tough economic times and we are overwhelmed with the generosity of all the teams and their supporters."
The race attracted 12 corporate teams who competed on a course starting and finishing at Coronet Peak Ski Area.
The course remained secret until the day of the race and stage 1 was a mountain bike ride via Coronet Peak Road, Skippers Road and Skippers Saddle and over a 4WD road to Mt Dewar. Mountain biking continued via Atleys Track to the Skippers Road to the Deep Creek/Shotover River confluence. Stage II involved a run/trek from Deep Creek to Greengate Creek, on to the Greengate Saddle and to the top of Coronet Peak before dropping down to the finish line at the base building.
Race Director Alan Nelson was pleased with the outcome of the race which saw all 12 teams complete the main course.
"We were lucky with the weather which was warm and cloudy with just a few showers. It was a tough course and we were delighted everyone made the cut off at the gateway. The mountain biking particularly on Mt Dewar was very demanding and the Deep Creek Canyon section was quite different from anything we have had in previous races."
"The sting in the tail was the tough climb from Greengates Saddle almost to the top of Coronet Peak," he says. "They had to gain almost 600 vertical metres which was a big call."
The Cadbury Old Gold Grafters team won the race in 5 hours 12 minutes, breaking away from the other leaders at Deep Creek.
Team captain Jeff Richardson says his team of Murray Hyslop, Jill Alexander and John Wekking was "blown away by the incredible mountainous country."
"It was a tough and rugged course but we loved it. It was very intense with lots of climbing, lots of good drops and plenty of variety. The mountain bike section was just awesome and we went to places we would never normally see. The bluffs in Deep Creek and the Green Gate Creek waterfall were amazing."
The second Cadbury team Cadbury Crunchie Chasers, also responsible for the company winning the champion fundraising trophy, finished 12th in the field, reflecting their strong competitive spirit to complete the main course.
Richardson says everyone at Cadbury remains committed to Cure Kids as their charity.
"It is a great cause and we will continue to fundraise for Cure Kids and we will be back for the race next year."
In a close finish for second and third Gen-i Rascals managed to pip BNZ Private Bank (Christchurch) crossing the line in 5 hours 27 mins, just four minutes ahead of BNZ in 5 hours 31 mins.
The hard luck story went to the PricewaterhouseCoopers team (Christchurch), who broke a chain just ten minutes into the start of the race, costing valuable time while they repaired it.
Cure Kids ambassador 10-year-old Jessica Stevens, who suffers from kidney disease, inspired the teams with her courage when she spoke at the launch of the race on Friday evening (March 6) before returning to hospital for treatment.
Ms Parker says Jessica put things in perspective for the competitors and enabled them to "dig deep when the going got tough."
She also paid tribute to the many volunteers, sponsor conmpanies, search and rescue and ambulance personnel and the local community for their support.
"Without them we could not make an event like this happen. The funds raised are so important to ensure we can continue to find preventions and even cures to help children like Jessica."
