Marathon man clocks up a 30-year milestone

ROBERT Scott is hoping he doesn’t have to fill in as a pacemaker again when he runs the ASB Auckland Marathon, which celebrates a milestone birthday next week.

Sunday, January 23 marks 30 years since the event began in 1992. The 2021 event was to have been held in October.

Scott has been a constant in one of the pinnacles of the New Zealand running calendar since the start, with 29 finishes to date.

The 56-year-old, who ran for Auckland University Running Club, labelled himself a ‘‘weekend try-hard’’ but has won several marathons, including the Wellington Marathon.

‘‘I’ve placed in most provincial marathons of New Zealand, but I’ve never placed at Auckland.’’

Auckland was just a step too far in terms of being at the front end of the field, he said.

Scott said he kept coming back each year because the event was extremely well organised and because he had raced it every year since it started.

‘‘I’m getting older and if I can run a marathon every year as I am getting older, hey why not. The older I get, the less and less of my age group I see, but there are plenty of old guys still ahead of me.’’

Scott said he didn’t have a favourite year but memory had stuck with him.

‘‘I came across the 3hr 45min pacemaker and I looked at this guy hanging over a rail on Tamaki Drive and I thought ‘what the hang?’. I spoke to him, and he said, I can’t do it any more, I’m stuffed.

‘‘I said give us your bib I’ll run 3hr 45min, but at this stage we were at about a 3hr 52min pace. So I put the bib on and dragged the pace. I got back on schedule 20 minutes later and ended up coming in at 3hr 44min.

So I was the unintentional pacemaker that year.’’

A positive change that he had noticed in his 29 races was the increase in the number of women athletes in the field. He guessed that in 1992 it would have been 75 per cent men and 25 per cent women, but today it was about a 50-50 split, if not more women.

The race brings together different communities from across the Auckland region, often raising money for varying causes, and the postponed 2021 event will be no different.

The Auckland City Mission’s team will consist of members who have experienced, or are experiencing, homelessness.

While they come from different backgrounds and have faced different challenges the charity said they had spent the last year getting together to support each other in training.

Meanwhile, Ben Sinnamon will run barefoot to raise money and awareness for KidsCan Charitable Trust.

Amy MacCormack, Regional Director at Ironman Oceania, said it gave her ‘‘goosebumps’’ to be involved in organising the event.

She said providing those experiences to people of all ages and abilities year in and year out was really special.

Moving the event to January after its postponement in October due to Auckland’s Covid-19 Delta lockdown was no easy feat but was one made possible by her amazing team, she said.

MacCormack said the race was all go under orange and green traffic light settings.

The full and half-marathon start at King Edward Parade in Devonport at 6am and 6.50am respectively.

The 11km Traverse start line is located at Smales Farm bus station, in Northcote, beginning at 8.50am.

‘The older I get, the less and less of my age group I see, but there are plenty of old guys still ahead of me.’ ROBERT SCOTT