Nothing fires these youngsters more than a challenge

After crossing nine hurdles over a distance of 3.9 km, an unflinching Fariha Siddiqui, a Class VIII student sounded upbeat and ready to take on several other adventurous challenges.

Participating in the Rocksport Challenge, a two-day long racing event organised at the outskirts of the Capital in the rocky terrain of the Aravalli range, the youngster excitedly told Metrolife, “I had participated last year as well. While it was the same hurdle race but the obstructions this time got more difficult, in a way more fun!”

The carnival that was started by the renowned VJ Rannvijay Singh, attracted personalities such as social activist and retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and an Indian woman skier to South Pole, Reena Puri among others. Organised at the Camp Tikkling located near Teekli village, a 5 km-long forest trail was set up in the dense Aravallis. It was the highlight of the event as it included a racing circuit with 13 grueling tasks such as bombardment zone, GShock zone, Jumping heights etc.  On the sidelines, there were soft adventure sports like hot air ballooning, quad biking, zip lining, rock climbing, and paintballing to engage families, especially children. 

According to Rannvijay, “Adventure gives a perfect platform to attract the X-Box and Facebook generation towards outdoors.” Inspired by the youth icon, Fariha, the Manav Bharti school student says, “He always motivates us at the beginning of the race, saying that we need to be strong and never give up.” A keen sports enthusiast, Anshu Kataria from Manav Rachna school, says, “High jump is my favourite sport, and I go for a run in the hills every alternate day,” adding, “Jumping over the pits, handling bicycle to cross over a pool and climbing the hill were the most interesting parts of this year’s challenge.”