When One Tree Hill local, UK-born Richard Elliot, first moved to New Zealand two years ago, he was a smoker and overweight. He says part of the reason he and his wife moved to New Zealand was for a change of lifestyle, to “enjoy the outdoors and get a bit fitter.”
Initially, he and his wife started running around Cornwall Park, going on to run the 10km distance in the 2014 Auckland Marathon. “I just about managed to get round, with a little bit of walking”. Then Richard saw an advert for an eight-week training programme, run by Auckland Joggers Club, to prepare people for running the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays, “and so I joined that”.
“They’re a fantastic club. We’d run three times a week over the eight weeks, gradually increasing the time and the distance,” he says.
Not content to stop at the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays in March last year, he also ran the Cigna Wellington Round the Bays and the 10km distance of the Queenstown marathon.
Richard says his stamina has “vastly improved”, along with his recovery times. Now training for this year’s Ports of Auckland Round the Bays, and the Auckland Marathon, he runs “roundabout 40 km a week”, and will continue to train with Auckland Joggers.
“It’s definitely worth doing and it doesn’t matter how old you are,” he says.
“It is a bit of a solitary pursuit but if you don’t want to do it by yourself, then join a running club.”
