Meet the man who ran in gumboots
A former Black Power member who turned his back on a life of crime has completed the 100-mile Tarawera Ultramarathon in gumboots.
And in case that wasn’t challenging enough, Paora Raharaha also completed 10 burpees for each kilometre during the weekend event – racking up a total of 1600.
‘‘I ran in gumboots at the Auckland Marathon last year with two mates who were raising money for charity,’’ Raharaha said in a statement.
‘‘I decided to add burpees in there for Tarawera. It was my first miler as well so it was tough. I haven’t done much trail running so I found the trails tough, quite technical.
‘‘I was glad I made the cut-off time. I had a few times when I was leaving the Aid Stations with 30 minutes to spare and had to keep on moving,’’ he said.
When last caught up with Raharaha it was 2017 and he had just completed a Corrections programme that puts ex-prisoners into work, and he had ambitions to become a qualified personal trainer.
The gumboot-clad runner took on the challenge on the trails around Rotorua to raise money for the running group Huntly Team Little Big Bots.
At the time of writing Raharaha, had raised $3100 for the group on his
Givealittle page.
The group trains children of all ages, but primarily between five and 12, to encourage weight loss, building self-confidence and self-esteem in the hope it will assist them to build a better future for themselves. The group also gives children a sense of belonging and brings families together through training and attending running events.
‘‘The group changes them by attending running events, some have self-esteem issues and they use it to build confidence,’’ Raharaha said.
‘‘They believe that the fitter you are the better life the kids will have. It also brings families together by attending running events and getting out and doing something they wouldn’t normally do.
‘‘Some of the kids ran the last 7km with me which was great,’’ he said.
‘‘They really lifted me, I was gone at that last Aid Station and they got me home.’’
Raharaha crossed the finish line in
35:39:39, just inside the event cut-off of
36 hours, and was greeted by family and friends performing an emotional haka.
‘‘I still can’t believe I did it, at the start line I realised I was actually going to do this, it was surreal,’’ he said.
‘‘It was good to actually make the last cut-off time, there were a lot of emotions through the whole run, I’ve never been like that before, I think it was because of how long it was and how hard it was to push on.’’