fearyouth

fearyouth is a group of young athletes supported by and associated with the fearsociety. From a humble start which involved some local 14 and 15 year olds showing up to our rogaine events and smashing them out, it has evolved into a proper squad with big ambitions and a plan for the future. The squad is mentored in all aspects of endurance and adventure sport, is able to take advantage of our supplier discounts and partnerships in terms of getting top quality gear, gets significant discounts on annual membership fees, reduced event costs, and has a structure set up such that the older members of the squad also serve as role models to support the growth of newer or younger members. FEAR also offers financial support towards the entry and participation cost of select high profile events, and provided guidance in further fundraising. As of the end of the 2023 event season, the squad has grown to 10 youth, with 7 core members having competed in international events, with good results.

Core members are: Fynn Mitchell (18), Molly Spark (20), Dean Stewart (20), Josh Pearson (21), Josiah Murphy (21), Flynn Goodger (23), Sophie Shallard (21)

Additional members are: Zac Pearson (21), Oak Jones (22), Henry Spark (22), Bailey Taylor (19)

Fynn Mitchell

Fynn is a Fiordland Local who's dad started participating in FEAR events early on, and has done GZ a number of times. Fynn's first FEAR event was our inaugural Dusky run, which he did with is dad. He's shown himself to be a jack of all trades and an exemplary navigator and is just keen to do it all.

Molly Spark

Molly is a spitfire and has seems to have more energy than the rest of the team combined sometimes! AR comes in her family (her dad has started 6 GodZones!), and she exemplifies the 'good things come in a small package' saying perfectly.

Dean Stewart

Dean showed up to a rogaine back in 2020 and was fastest round the course, beating Zac by minutes, who was used to the top spot. His background with remote hunting and navigation made him a huge asset to the team, and he was pretty fast too.

Zac Pearson

Zac is up for anything, and good at most of it. He was a top NZ mountain biker during his secondary school years, and became a proficient paddler and orienteer through participating in FEAR events. His style is 'fast and loose'.

Josiah Murphy

Josiah doesn't like going slow. He's a weapon on the bike and like Zac and Josh was one of NZ's top riders in Enduro and Downhill when he was younger. A local of Te Anau, Josiah has been friends with the twins for over a decade.

Josh Pearson

Josh is the more level headed of the twins, and wasn't as keen about all the hard work at the beginning. But he's got mad skills and is quite 'suffer-capable' and has ended up being a go-to team-mate for both long and short events.