Wayne shares his medal with his biggest supporter – his mum.
‘I look at some people around me, and when you say you’ve done 30, they say, “I could never do not even one.” You can. As long as you can get up, get out of bed, and walk. I believe most people spend all day at work. Unless they’re sitting on an office chair all day, they’re on their feet. Most of them are doing a lot of Ks, steps. I can reassure you, mostly you should be able to get around. Don’t sell yourself short.’ end up going past people who were starting to break down. Ron said that on the hills ‘you could tell the men from the boys’, being able to identify the ones who had put time into training and the ones who hadn’t. Wayne says that, even though it was hard on the day, he was grateful his father’s urging got him over that point. Both parents spent many years following their son in this way and being noticed by envious others. ‘Everyone around me would say you’ve got the best support crew.’ 30 DOWN, 20 MORE TO MATCH
So, what’s behind wanting to do 50 marathons? Wayne says he was inspired by the late Colin Smythe, one of the originators of the Rotorua Marathon. Starting in 1965, Colin ran or walked each and every marathon over the following
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DIABETES WELLNESS | Spring 2024
50 years until he passed away nine years ago. ‘I used to joke with him every year that he needs to stop because it makes it harder for me to catch him. It’s a massive goal.’ Wayne reckons doing 30 marathons without missing a year is even more of a challenge nowadays. Race requirements change, family have their own timetables, and sickness and fitness obviously play a huge part. And then Covid – when regional lockdowns disallowed Aucklanders to race in 2020. Wayne agrees he is blessed. ‘There’s so many things that could go wrong and stop you on a winning break. I’ve just been lucky. Healthwise, I’ve been good. Just 20 more years to go. Although I’m not sure if my support crew are happy with 20 more years to go…’
‘GOOD NEWS’
Wayne was diagnosed with type 2 about 15 years ago, when he was working for Fonterra. The test was part of their wellbeing plan for all employees, and Wayne is pleased that it was identified then, even though the news he received was scary. Some years later, he was told by hospital doctors to start taking insulin but also that at his age he could do a lot more to try stop negative things happening to his body, such as neuropathy (nerve damage). This was when Wayne started walking with his health in mind. He jokes about how he was recently called into his GP’s surgery to hear about his latest blood tests. ‘I had some good news! I was feeling some chest pains and ended up in hospital. I got the allclear and went back to work. But prior to that, I’d done blood tests
