With torrential rain outside and hot, humid conditions inside, a group of hardy emergency services staff pounded the pavement for 24 hours last weekend to raise money for the I Am Hope Foundation.
From 12 noon Saturday to 12 noon Sunday, nine members from Canterbury Police, St John and FENZ ran a whopping 407 km. They did it in shifts, running round and round the 240 metre indoor track at the Selwyn Sports Centre in Rolleston. They were all Selwyn locals, supported by friends and family who ran alongside in support.
Some of the group are serious runners, while others are most definitely not – but they all did it for the same reason. Organiser Constable Glenn Dawson explains, “We’ve all seen more than our fair share of suicides and mental health incidents throughout our careers and it affects us too.
“We wanted to challenge ourselves – to push ourselves physically and mentally. It was a struggle, but doesn’t come close to the struggle so many young people face on a daily basis.
“We could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but so many people out there can’t.”
Glenn says the group chose the I Am Hope Foundation because it promotes mental health awareness and funds counselling for rangatahi.
“We’ve raised over $5500 so far, which equates to more than 40 counselling sessions. Hopefully that can make a real difference in the lives of our young people.”
As well as a fundraising target of $3000, which they smashed, participants set their own challenges. Senior Constable Mark Ingram ran for the full 24 hours, while Detective Constable Brent Menzies ran 30km in full Police uniform and Constable Marc Kiely ran for four hours wearing a 20kg vest.
Local St John member Jess Banfield had never run more than 5km, but she managed to run for an hour, complete a 12-hour night shift, then returned in the morning to complete another two hours. In total, Jess ran 23km.
As the hours ticked by slowly and the bodies began to hurt, encouragement from friends, colleagues and families kept the team going. For Mark Ingram, it was his wife’s insistence on achieving her own steps for the day that got him back up off the bench, having already run for more than 20 hours.
Mark smashed his personal goal of running 100 miles in 24 hours (he did it in 21 hours and 12 minutes, then ran some more), but says there was a point he thought it might be time to try another sport. To push past the pain and doubt, he would remind himself why he was doing it.
“Raising money for the I am Hope Foundation was the reason we were all there, but I also wanted to do my best for Glenn. He spent months organising this event – what we did was nothing compared with the effort he put in.
"All we did was turn up and run around in circles. I really hope it becomes an annual event, so he gets the recognition he deserves.
Glenn and the team would like to thank New World Rolleston and Cookie Time for keeping them hydrated and fed, as well as Clearview Primary School, who held a 'Hats for Heroes' day and raised $605.
Group photo caption:
Back row (left to right): Neria Wildermoth (Navy, Youth Development Unit at Burnham), Andrew Cogger (I Am Hope), Nicky Walsh (St John), Mark Ingram (Police), Karl Kitchen (FENZ), Brent Menzies (Police), Tarryn Burt (Glenn’s daughter’s rugby coach, who got a last-minute call-up after a cancellation).
Front row (left to right): Glenn Dawson (Police), Marc Kiely (Police), Jess Banfield (St John).
Absent: Keri Herd, St John