End of the road for long-distance star
OBITUARY
Stop all the clocks; the ever-running legs of record-breaking Wellingtonian Bernie Portenski have been permanently stilled.
For those who knew her, news of her death is hard to believe. Seemingly unstoppable, Portenski has been stopped.
Her trademark laugh silenced, the smile that lit up a room dimmed, her endless stream of encouragement and advice halted.
Ovarian cancer took her life at 67. The disease first came calling in May, three days before her beloved Rotorua Marathon, and in December returned with renewed vigour.
Portenski is survived by husband Pete Horan, daughter M J (Marie-jo) and stepson Phillip.
Portenski was the most unlikely of sporting heroes. A hairdresser and self-proclaimed party girl, she took up running at 30 in 1980, quitting smoking to train for a marathon, then discovering she had a talent for it.
So started a journey which led to qualification for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, her proudest moment in sport (followed by one of lowest - the selectors did not pick her, deeming her too old at 42).
She broke world age group records, and won marathons across the world. In a stellar 1998 patch she won the Auckland Marathon, her New York Marathon age group and the Christchurch Marathon, all in two weeks.
On her 60th birthday she ran 60km. On her 65th she ran 65km, from Miramar to Eastbourne and back, raising money for Parkinson’s disease sufferers.
But while statistics can measure those achievements, there are none that can capture the influence Portenski - the mother, the hairdresser, the runner, the personality had on others.
When her daughter M J posted the sad news on social media yesterday her Facebook page was flooded with hundreds of messages of sympathy inside two hours.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester too was swift to note her ability to inspire as he mourned her death.
‘‘She had an infectious personality and was a positive, can-do person who inspired many others,’’ he said.
‘‘Local runners will know Bernie for her wonderful attitude and her boisterous encouragement. She was named Wellingtonian of the Year in 1998,’’ he said. ’’She was a great local character.’’