1000 tough guys and gals take on gruelling challenge

More than 1000 competitors took on the Wellington Hydr8 Zero Tough Guy & Gal Challenge Camp.

Diving through a pool of mud and dragging yourself under a tunnel in the middle of a cold July morning doesn't sound like an appealing prospect.

Having to do it twice sounds even less inviting but if you want to prove you're a tough guy or gal then it is all in a day's work.

The Tough Guy and Gal Challenge has been running for more than a decade and has expanded in the past few years to include more destinations around the country than just their spiritual home of Rotorua.

It's proving popular too, with more than 1000 people taking on the elements at Camp Wainui in Lower Hutt during the weekend.

Competitors come in all shapes and sizes with varying degrees of colour and creativity attached to their costumes from highlighter yellow to a group in cow-themed onesies.

Then, of course, there was Nathan Tucker who took on the course in Wainuiomata on Saturday accompanied by a female blow-up doll as part of a challenge for his stag do.

He and his friends were going around the 6km course twice, with the top three finishers from the double loop heading to the national final in Rotorua on August 23.

As the keen souls were in their final stages before starting the gruelling trek through mountain trails, hill climbs, mud, wet grass and crawling under barbed wire, the Village People's 1978 tune Y.M.C.A blasted in the background.

Competitors completed the hand-signals - anything to help warm you up or psyche you up, right? - and with a burst of the hooter they're off.

Because of the staggered start, the 6km competitors go next and friends Andy, Briar and Lucie have decked themselves out in black and bright yellow for the occasion.

Andy and Briar have proven they're tough gals before and they hoped to finish within an hour and enjoy a glass of wine after.

The course offers little respite and there are prizes for males and females over and under 40 who finish inside the top three.