Light up the night in a neon fundraiser
High-flying Wellington stair runner Melissa Moon will heed a near-decade-old suggestion when she leads a warm-up for the Neon Night Walk/Run, on October 27.
‘‘Any time I said to somebody in Wellington, I’m training for the Empire State Building race, they’d say ‘Oh, have you been up Colonial Knob, there’s like, over 700 stairs,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I should do it one day’.’’
Moon had an impressive career, winning the 2010 and 2012 annual 1576-stair, 86-floor Empire State Building Run-up, and claiming two world mountain-running titles, and seven national cross-country crowns.
After leading a warm-up for the Neon Night Walk/Run, she’ll walk up the 712-step, 8-kilometre course to the Colonial Knob lookout, encouraging others as she goes.
There is a discounted entry fee for those fundraising for one of the seven partnered charities – Heart Kids, Dementia Wellington, Mental Health Foundation, Arthritis NZ, Healthy Futures, Life Flight, and Save The Children.
‘‘This event is very charity driven, and we don’t have a lot of that in New Zealand. When you go to the UK, at a lot of sporting events, you have to raise money to actually get in – like the London Marathon,’’ Moon said.
‘‘They’re really seven good charities, and one of them is quite close to my heart, Dementia Wellington.
‘‘I’m a massage therapist now, and for the last seven years, in particular, the focus of my massages has been elderly and dementia care.’’
She said the party atmosphere of the night would suit her personality, and she was supporting the event because she thought it was giving awareness to charities that deserved more recognition.
‘‘Basically, it’s a bit of fun, you dress up, you wear your little headlights, you have a wee adventure,’’ Moon said.
The course can be done once, or participants can go up Colonial Knob two or three times.
Music and lights will energise entrants to reach Colonial Knob by sunset in the noncompetitive event, after which, they can return to the action at Camp Elsdon.
The Neon Night Walk/Run will be held on October 27, beginning at Camp Elsdon. For details, visit neonnightwalk.co.nz.