A group of rangatahi from Hastings challenged themselves to complete a 100km relay run from marae-to-marae in the Hawke’s Bay region, overnight.
Around 20 youth aged from 16-24 participated in the 16-hour run as part of Project Patu, a six-week rangatahi programme that focuses on education, health and employment.
Project Patu lead Jackson Waerea said it was an opportunity for rangatahi to visit their marae which was a first for some of them.
“It was just an idea that came up as part of our programme — daily exercise is part of our routine so they just set the goal to train towards, and for them, a lot of it is about reconnecting with their marae – so having a bit of a purpose behind the runs,” he said.
“It's not always a positive reason why some of us go back to our marae and stuff. For a lot of them who either haven't been there or have only been there for tangi and stuff, it's a good reason to sort of return.
“So they put down their marae, we chose a route and we're just running it as part of our kaupapa, as part of our programme, so it's pretty exciting, pretty neat for them.”
Their route took them from Te Hauke, a small settlement 20km south-west of Hastings, through to Pakipaki, Waipatu in Hastings, Kohupātiki, to Marine Parade in Napier, through to Moteo, Waiohiki, and Omahu before finishing in Bridge Pā on the outskirts of Hastings.
Decked out in hi-vis vests and headlamps, the group left at 9pm on Thursday night and finished just after 2pm the next day.
Each rangatahi had a goal of running 20km, but some ran more than 50km. They ran a relay-style system where they could tap in and out, taking naps throughout the night in accompanying vans.
They were joined by another youth group called Topline in the morning which topped up their numbers to around 30 runners.
At each marae, they were welcomed with a kai station.
“We get fed up like kings and queens so it's been good,” said Waerea, at the 11-hour mark in Omahu.
“I think the kids might be sick of Powerade and lollies by now, but it's kept them going, and it's just good to see that when we pull up to a new marae there's a bit of energy there from the local whānau.”
One rangatahi said there were quite nervous coming into the run. “But man, everyone just stuck into it, got in the zone and they didn't even think they'd be able to run 500 metres and now they're running 5km, stuff like that. So, yeah, pretty surreal moments, and I think everyone is just proud of themselves as well.”
Waerea said the group planned to hold another run next year.
“Hopefully we don't have too many rangatahi from too far out the region because, if we say we're going to run to each of their marae, we've got to do it.”
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