Reluctantly running half marathons

A bunch of people (who haven’t done much running in the past) have challenged themselves to run five half marathons in 2021 to raise money for The Heart Foundation and Cancer Research Trust New Zealand. We are doing this for our friend Eugene.

At the start of 2020 Eugene, who had run a couple of half-marathons previously, had a goal to complete four half-marathons in a year. In March 2020, Eugene suffered two heart attacks and had a quadruple bypass.

Eugene is a stubborn man, and would not let such an inconvenience stop him.

Keen to get back into it, in November 2020 Eugene and a group of very reluctant runners completed the Queenstown Half-Marathon.

During the post run celebrations in the pub, the decision was made to achieve Eugene’s goal of four half-marathons in one year. We thought we would top that, so we are doing five (plus a mini Heart Foundation Challenge):

- Buller Gorge Half Marathon on 13 February 2021 ✅ completed!!

- Christchurch Half Marathon on 11 April 2021 ✅ completed!!

- Hanmer Half Marathon on 1 May 2021 ✅ completed!!

- 31km in 31 days Heart Foundation Challenge throughout the month of October

- Queenstown Half Marathon on 20 November 2021

- Mount Maunganui Half Marathon on 21 August 2021 - postponed to 27 November 2021

This challenge will push the Reluctant Runners to the limits, and fitness levels will be kept up between events with smaller events; Run to Remember, City to Surf, and I think there’s a mud run in the middle there too.

All of this wouldn’t be possible without the amazing work of the New Zealand Heart Foundation. Every run that we do is in honour of the great work that has kept our friend with us.

If you wish to track our training journey, follow us on @reluctantrunnersnz on Instagram

If you are thinking, ‘Hey, this could be fun!’ Please come and join in! All are welcome at training runs and events. Most weekend and after work runs finish up in a pub or coffee shop.