Runaway bride joins city race
Kids charity the winner as quartet in half-marathon swap their Lycra for lace
It got a good workout on the reception dance floor more than a decade ago, but Danielle Hermez’s wedding dress faces its toughest test yet at today’s Auckland Marathon.
The self-proclaimed “Runaway Bride” will run 21.1km in the halfmarathon while wearing her old wedding dress, an ivory-coloured “princess” style outfit with a tight-fitting bodice and poufed ruffle skirt.
Running by her side will be her three “bridesmaids”, Matias Perez, Michael Walker and Christian Costa, each attired in oyster pink slips with cowl necks and spaghetti straps.
The quartet are raising money for KidsCan charity, which helps children affected by poverty by providing food, jackets, shoes and health products to schools and early childhood centres.
Hermez, who will be running her fourth half-marathon, decided to dust off the old wedding dress after seeing a firefighter clad in full gear taking part in a previous race.
“I figured he was doing it for charity . . . it was my 10-year wedding anniversary and I thought, ‘There’s a good way to re-use the dress’.
”[My husband] doesn’t care what happens to the dress, because we’re already married, and neither do I.
“I’ve worn it quite a few times for dress-up things so it’s quite a multiuse dress and I’m just glad to get another use out of it.”
She expected to hear a bit of chatter from the sidelines, but all in good fun.
“The boys are the ones catching all the flak [so far]. We can all take a joke. And the boys look great — they’re beautiful.”
While her bridesmaids’ simple outfits weren’t expected to cause problems, some concessions had to be made for their leader in white.
Hermez, 32, will carry a bouquet, but neither her original veil nor shoes would be making a return — for safety reasons she’s switched to a hat and trainers.
And the skirt has been hemmed up to her shins, so she doesn’t trip while pounding the asphalt alongside thousands of others.
The shoulder straps have also been “reinforced”, given the most intense workout the dress had previously been subjected to was on the wedding reception dance floor, Hermez said.
She hasn’t trained in the dress, but ran about 300m in it for a photo shoot.
“It actually felt really good. But I can imagine 21km on it’s going to be a lot hotter. I’m not quite sure if I’m wanting it to rain or not, whether that will make it better or worse.”
Runners tackling the Auckland marathon will set off in near perfect conditions as light winds and 18C are tipped for the start of the race, forecaster MetService said.
The city should then hit 23C by 10am before climbing to a top of 27C.
“If we can get across the finish line in a good time we’ll be stoked, but just raising the money is the main reason, and that’s what we’re in it for,” said Hermez
She chose KidsCan after becoming more aware of the charity’s work when her son started school last year.
“He’s pretty lucky — he’s got shoes and a jumper and a proper lunchbox, and not every kid does. Especially with all the lockdowns, KidsCan have been helping all the families.
“I’d love to raise as much as I can for them.”
● To support the Runaway Bride’s chosen charity, KidsCan, go to aucklandmarathon21.grassrootz.com/kidscan/the-runaway-bride