Northland mountain bikers raise money for Heart Kids NZ

Jayden Hudson-Owen, with sister Hannah beside him on an e-bike, and Michael Lea and son Archer set off on the last lap. Photo / Supplied

It wasn't quite the treacherous elevation of Mt Everest, but biking up and down the Parihaka mountain bike park day-and-night for nearly 19 hours tested Whangārei mates Michael Lea and Jayden Hudson-Owen.

The ambitious adventure, which started at 8pm on Friday and ended about 2.30pm on Saturday, involved 2 kilometre laps up and down the park for a worthy cause close to their hearts.

Everesting for HeartKids is a 250km, 9000 vertical-metre challenge that takes up to 24 hours to complete.

The duo had raised $5400 by lunchtime yesterday but were waiting for a few sponsors to finalise their donations.

All proceeds will go to Heart Kids NZ— a not-for-profit organisation that provides support services to kids, teens and adults living with a childhood heart condition and their whānau.

Lea's son Archer, 3, was born with a heart defect and underwent an open heart surgery when he was two months old, while Jayden's sister Hannah has a heart condition.

Lea was a competitive mountain biker until about a decade ago and said he would take part in Everesting tomorrow if he had to, as the challenge was for a worthy cause.

"Mentally, it was definitely the hardest thing I've done. I've previously done 250km in a whole weekend, but not within 24 hours. We took the odd break for a couple of minutes only, but otherwise kept going.

"Jayden and I have been talking about Everesting for months now, and we wanted to give back to the community rather than just do it for the sake of it."

Lea is 26 years old and Jayden is 16.

Jayden Hudson-Owen, left, and Michael Lea decided to compete in Everesting to raise money for kids with heart defects. Photo / Supplied

Jayden's mother Trudy said her family set up a base camp and were up whole night on Friday to support their son and other riders.

"It was quite cold that night, about four degrees for a while. In the end, both riders were pretty shattered, but elated. It was a really cool vibe up there.

"Mountain biking is Jayden's passion. When he's on his bike, he's the happiest he can be."

According to Heart Kids NZ, 12 babies are born each week with a congenital heart defect (CHD) in Aotearoa, affecting an additional 600 whānau a year.

Heart Kids NZ receives no government funding for its services and relies on public generosity.

Those wishing to donate can do so via www.heartkids.org.nz.