However, all 192 Otago and Southland year 9 and 10 pupils competing in the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre Get2Go Youth Challenge in Dunedin yesterday loved every moment of it.
The competition, now in its fifth year, puts 13 and 14-year-olds to the test in a range of challenging wilderness adventures.
Teams of eight represented their schools in kayaking at Careys Bay, mountain biking at Forrester Park and orienteering at Ross Creek.
Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand events manager Darren Ashmore said the participants needed no special outdoor experience - just a healthy give-it-a-go attitude.
"Our main aim is to get these kids having fun in the outdoors.
"But the event is also designed to encourage those students who might not normally get involved in sports, to have a go.
"We want to give students of all abilities a taste of the rewards that come from teamwork, leadership, problem solving, physical activity and the outdoors."
The best team from the Otago and Southland challenge, to be named today, would compete in the gruelling five-day final on Great Barrier Island in December, he said.
