The tone was set very early on: “if you’re too slow you’ll be pulled”.
Those were the words from chief tactician Vern Mardon to the 60-odd men, women and Giants who gathered to run a relay marathon in 200-metre sections in an effort to collectively beat the time set by the great Rod Dixon when he won the New York City Marathon in 1983.
So, it was no surprise to see the strained faces of each runner, desperate not to let down the team and not to get a tap on the shoulder from Vern.
Fortunately, Vern didn’t need to worry. The Racing Rod for Rānui team smashed the time, completing the marathon in 1 hr 46 min 19 sec, an average of 2.31mins per kilometre.
In fact, if the competitors were one person, they would have set a new world record for the marathon.
The opening and final leg were completed by organiser Conal Beban, who rallied a group of people that included members of the Nelson Giants, former All Black Wyatt Crocket and dozens of local businesspeople.
He said he was thrilled with the event and that it was able to raise more than $15,000 for Rānui House, a place for people to stay when undergoing treatment for life-threating illnesses in Christchurch.
“I was absolutely stoked, we had a whole bunch of people who fully bought into the event, they were giving it their all when they were going round. But we had to respect Rod and the people who donated.”
The run was completed alongside various races of The Spectacle in Nelson city on Saturday and added to the carnival atmosphere.
Watching the runners attempt to break his time, Rod Dixon volunteered himself to run the final leg.
“I’ll go backwards to slow you down,” he joked.
Conal says he wants to ensure the event continues next year.
“It was one of greatest things I’ve been involved in. The buzz The Spectacle created for Nelson was amazing.”
