Tackling Kokoda no Little achievement
JAYDEN Little failed to complete the weekend’s Kokoda Challenge – and that’s the last time you’ll see the word ‘fail’ anywhere near his name in this tale.
Because when it comes to all the things that make this most unique of team endurance events so special – sacrifice, grit, determination, fortitude – the Pacific Pines teen is a winner in every sense.
“When Mum told me these guys needed a hand, I thought I may as well have a crack if no one else was,” he said of how he came to sign on for the annual 96km Hinterland trek at the 11th hour.
“I didn’t even meet my team until just before we started on Saturday.”
That’s right – while many of the 2500 entrants spent months training for the gruelling challenge, 16-year-old Jayden stepped up a week ago when a Trinity Lutheran College mum posted a desperate appeal on Facebook after late scratchings from her sons’ team.
“We didn’t even have time to get correct footwear,” explained Jayden’s mum, Nikki.
“He did have special socks which he said was awesome, but they got wet so he threw on a different pair and that’s when the blisters came out.”
Some teams cover the Kokoda Challenge at a cracking pace, a la the lads from Team Physiologic who were first to finish in a little under 13 hours.
For the majority though, Saturday night stretches until dawn and beyond.
“We had a couple of calls from Jayden between 3am and 5am,” Nikki recalled. “He was really struggling.
“I couldn’t sleep because I was so worried about him … he said, ‘I’m just so tired Mum and everything hurts, I don’t think I can do it’.
“Everyone I know who has done it has said that’s the time so many people pull out. They’re supposed to be asleep and instead they’re freezing and climbing mountains.”
And that’s what Jayden kept doing. While his mother used the Kokoda Challenge Facebook page to seek advice on “feet that are fading fast”, he kept climbing, trekking and moving forward beside his new-found friends – siblings Reece, Dylan and Charlotte Brown.
Then, shortly after the 72km checkpoint, it was over.
“Earlier I had slipped on a muddy log and landed on my hip,” Jayden said. “I assumed it would get better but I just couldn’t even walk uphill anymore. I had to turn back to the checkpoint. “I was gutted.”
It was 11am. He had been walking for 28 hours.
“We’re bursting with pride,” Nikki said of her boy.
“To step up to help people he didn’t know and then walk for eight hours after I thought he was going to stop was astounding.”
His effort also epitomised a quote on the Kokoda Challenge website: “It doesn’t matter if you didn’t finish – what matters is you dug in deep and gave it your all.”