Crowds turn out for New Zealand's largest childrens marathon

Last Sunday saw over 500 children run their final mile of the Rod Dixon KiDSMARATHON, cheered on by the programme's namesake and Sir John Walker.

Despite forecasts of thunderstorms and heavy rain, children and their families braved conditions and were rewarded at the finish line with sunny skies and medals for their efforts

The children were some of the 3500 schoolchildren, aged between seven and 12 year, from thirty Manukau area schools that took part in the first North Island Rod Dixon KiDSMARATHON programme.

Rod Dixon, founder of the international programme, says the Manukau programme has the potential to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere within the next two years.

Dixon explained "it was inspiring to see these children complete the marathon and see the pride in the eyes of their parents at the finish line. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from the community and we predict this event will triple in size next year."

Over a period of less than 10 weeks the children have run a full marathon, 42.2 kilometres, broken down into manageable distances that have been run from scratch - building fitness, endurance and confidence. Each child has a Rod Dixon's KiDSMARATHON booklet and logged each kilometre, run on a course around their various schools. The booklet also contains information on nutrition and overall health.

Rod Dixon started the programme over eight years ago in conjunction with the Los Angeles Marathon, and now has more than 210,000 young participants in the United States. Earlier this year more than 10,000 schoolchildren ran their final mile at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The programme has the US President's Seal and is supported by the first lady Michelle Obama.

Dixon added "these kids are fantastic, but they all want to race out from the starting line at full speed. Our challenge is to get teach them that it's the long game that's important I can't remember how many tortise and hare stories I've told.

"KiDSMARATHON is about creating a fun environment to develop a lifestyle of healthy exercise and nutrition habits, it also empowers kids with the knowledge and character to achieve in the classroom as well."

A line up of local diganarities congratulated the kids for their efforts and helped hand out medals at the finish line. Rod Dixon was joined by Sir John Walker, Callum Penrose, Brent Catchpole, Ross Robertson and John Robinson.

Another goal of the programme is to be a proponent in stopping childhood obesity.

Counties Manukau has one of the country's most diverse ethnic makeups, including New Zealand's largest Maori and Pacific populations, coupled with some of the highest levels of childhood obesity.

The programme in Manukau was made possible through the efforts of Counties Manukau Sport and the generous support of the New Zealand Community Trust, the Dragon Community Trust and the Blue Sky Trust.

The Rod Dixon KiDSMARATHON will reach even more children, with plans next year for it to be rolled out in a number of regions in New Zealand.

For more information go to www.kidsmarathonfoundation.org/

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