Skates on for Timaru’s Amazing Race fundraiser
South Canterbury’s best roller skating youth are about $1000 closer to a championship in Australia thanks to a clue hunt around Timaru.
Eleven of the 35 teenagers heading to Brisbane this Easter for the 2019 Oceania Speed Championships hail from the South Canterbury Roller Skating Club, and each member needs to raise about $2000 to go.
Their latest fundraising effort was the Very Amazing Race on Sunday, during which 12 teams of four searched Timaru to solve a serious of clues, organiser and speed skater parent Libby Benson said.
‘‘All the speed skaters that participate and help out get a share of what we raise,’’ Benson said.
‘‘It’s amazing that a third of the whole New Zealand team come from South Canterbury.
‘‘They are team members that will probably do very well over there.’’
About $1300 had already been raised through a car wash and quiz night.
The latest fundraiser marks the second time the club has run an Amazing Racestyle event, the first one held a couple of years ago to also raise money for an overseas competition.
‘‘All the people that came in, even the people that came in last, said they really enjoyed it,’’ Benson said.
‘‘It’s something to do with friends and family and it’s just fun.
‘‘They’re all highly competitive.’’ While last time the race had been too easy, this year it seemed to have been a bit too hard with the fastest team taking more than two hours to find all the clues.
‘‘They’ve probably learned more about Timaru than they ever knew before,’’ Benson joked.
Participants were encouraged to dress up, some donning sombreros and others wearing tutus.