Marathon effort helped along by friendship
Students help hurt classmate complete her run
As more than 2000 Rotorua youngsters were sprinting their hardest down the finishing stretch of the Rotorua Mini Marathon, two Rotorua Intermediate School girls opted instead to help out their mate.
Maddison Reeve, 12, was not long into the 2km run around the Government Gardens when she heard her ankle go “click”.
“I didn’t think anything of it and kept running but then I felt this stinging pain.”
The Year 8 student knew she wasn’t in a good way but thankfully her friend, Vanessa Cassidy, 12, was close by.
Instead of finishing her race, Vanessa chose to stay behind and help her friend around the course to ensure she could finish it.
As they came towards the end, fellow school friend Year 7 student Maddison-louise Layton, 11, spotted the pair and helped out.
Together Maddison-louise and Vanessa helped carry Maddison down the finishing stretch to the end, resulting in a big round of
applause from hundreds of spectators lining the finishing area.
They were among the more than 2000 children aged from Year 1 to Year 8 who took part in the annual Rotorua Mini Marathon event, a fun run that finishes in the
same spot as Saturday’s Rotorua Marathon.
The event has grown to attract 28 schools since it began in 2010 and is run by Sport Bay of Plenty, Event Promotions (Rotorua Marathon directors), Events and Venues and Athletics NZ, with the aim of
getting more primary school children involved in running events.
Children are given “marathon passports” when they register and are asked to spend weeks leading up to the event ticking off 1km at a time as part of their training, aiming to reach 40km. Then the
event sees them run the final 2km, giving them the feel of completing a marathon.
Meanwhile, Vanessa said she didn’t mind giving up a majority of her run to help.
“It’s better for me to help people and she was in a lot of pain.”
Rotorua Intermediate teacher Patricia Kershaw said she was chuffed when she saw the girls helping their friend to the finish.
“I’m proud they supported their mate and didn’t keep running. That is typical of them, really, they’re always like that in class too.”
Meanwhile, Maddison said she was grateful to her friends who stuck by her.
As she iced her sore ankle after the event, she said she hoped for a quick recovery so that it didn’t hinder the start of her netball season this winter.