Perhaps expat Whanganui Olympic runner Lucy Oliver, nee van Dalen, could see the potential even then.
In January 2013, the 1500m runner was at Cooks Gardens and stopped to have a picture taken with Castlecliff twins Carrie and Teresa Rennie, aged six, who had competed in the "Fastest Kid on the Block" competition.
Oliver and her own twin sister Holly van Dalen, also an elite runner, were heroes to the Rennie girls.
Whatever advice was imparted that day has been taken to heart as the now 11-year-old Rennie twins closed out their time at Castlecliff School yesterday with a mountain of accolades from a great 2017.
Carrie Rennie made newspaper print for winning her girls' grade at the interschool cross country, along with the recent Mitre 10 Tough Kids competition at Cooks Gardens, where Teresa was runner-up in their race.
Carrie was also the interschool 300m winner and topped the points for children in the Sport Whanganui Athletics programme.
An allrounder, she was part of the girls' 11-year-old representative touch team, a finalist at the interschool swimming sports, and a keen soccer player for the Castlecliff team.
Teresa won the girls' race in the new 1.2km Kids Run-A-Thon at the Pak'n Save 3 Bridges Marathon last weekend, and was an interschool 300m runner-up in another 1-2 finish by the twins.
Forging a different path to her sister, Teresa is a member of the Whanganui Gymnastics elite squad, a finalist at the interschool swimming competition and a standout player for her Castlecliff School netball team.
The Rennie twins, who despite the obvious competition in running events remain very supportive of each other, will be attending Whanganui Intermediate School next year.