This year, Coomera Rivers will once again enter 4 teams into the 15km Kokoda Schools Cup Challenge which takes place at Brookfield in June. The first few training sessions will involve all students who are interested in taking part, but in the end, we can only choose 16 students who will race on the day. Students will not only need to show they are committed to the team and to getting fit, but also demonstrate the Kokoda values of Courage, Mateship Endurance and Sacrifice.

Mt Warning provided the perfect training ground for our first Kokoda training session on Saturday morning. It was an early start for teachers and 28 students who formed a convoy from Coomera Rivers car park at 6:00AM, making their way down to Mount Warning where the cloud covered the top. However this group did not let the rain dampen their spirits. While some students and teachers powered up the 170 or more flights of stairs, all students made it to the top of the mountain in less than 2 hours to enjoy the ...... Cloud. Yep, there was no view, they were up in the clouds. There was mud, leeches and rain, but this only made the walk more enjoyable. The chain section where the team needed to climb the steep rocks proved challenging but each and every student embraced the challenge and made it up the mountain to the summit.

A really big thank you to Mr Burrows who organised the session and to all teachers who gave up their Saturday morning to train with our students. Thank you must also go to the parents who joined the team on the walk which made it feel like a community boot camp.  Those stairs certainly had muscles burning and lungs bursting. With training sessions like this, our Coomera Rivers Crusaders will be more than ready for race day.