Running for running shoes
On April 16 people from Switzerland and Finland will compete in a race an Ohawe-based man has created, but there’s no flights involved.
The Greatest Virtual Run NZ is a fundraiser that Jason Reid organised to raise money and awareness for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which covers autism and Asperger’s.
Reid said the run could be done anywhere in the world.
‘‘People can walk or run, choose a distance, do it anywhere they like and everyone gets a medal in the end,’’ he said.
Reid founded the charity Running on the Spectrum late last year to raise money to get running gear for children with ASD and the Greatest Virtual Run NZ is his first fundraising event.
He is a teacher aide and recently noticed a change in a boy with Asperger’s when he ran. ’’I was working with two boys with autism and one boy was low functioning with very high needs,’’ Reid said. ’’I used to do running with him in the morning and it used to calm him down and get him into a nice space for the day.’’
Reid, who has high-functioning Asperger’s himself, wants to help other children on the spectrum get into running too by providing them with running shoes and a fitness movement programme.
He said a lot of kids affected by ASD were not into mainstream sports.
‘‘They don’t fit in to the rugby or the cricket sort of team environment,’’ he said. ’’There’s a lot of studies that have come out that running is really emotionally good for kids on the spectrum. It clears their head a bit.’’
Reid is a long-distance runner and raises money and awareness when he travels the country competing. At the same time he has recruited many runners for The Greatest Virtual Run NZ.
With an entry fee of $20 and a running number and medal provided to all, Reid hopes the walk/ run will appeal to many in Taranaki as it has to the running nation.
He will be doing a run from Hawera to New Plymouth with collection buckets in hand and stop at businesses on the way to get donations and perhaps sign people up for the run.
Reid’s long-term goal is to get people involved in Running on the Spectrum all over New Zealand to raise money for ASD kids in their region.