“As you can see I’m no spring chicken but I still love to get out and run on the trails – and the road when necessary. Last month I ran the Taupō Ultra 50km off road.
Being an active child, running was a way of using up excess energy, running track until the body and legs decided the slower pace of longer distances was a better challenge. The biggest challenge though was coping with the early mentality that women were not strong enough to run any distance over 800yards – and cross country was a definite no no!
Running my first marathon in Rotorua in 1983 was hilarious as spectators voiced their surprise (and support) at seeing a female runner. Women were not allowed to run Rotorua for the first 5 years – woohoo thank goodness we have come a long way since then.
I am very lucky to be surrounded by a wonderful group of running buddies, some who were not even born when I ran my first marathon – eek! I enjoy nothing more than getting out and about with them. And of course no run is complete without a cup of tea or coffee and a scone afterwards.”
Raewynne @raewynneniwa
(Taranaki)
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Portraits of runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
