Marathon walker Richard Sandy makes it home with time to spare

Richard Sandy completed the Rotorua Marathon in a quicker time than he had predicted.

Te Puke's Richard Sandy didn't quite give it his all when he walked the Rotorua Marathon recently.

''At the end I could have carried on walking, I knew I had the stamina for it,'' he says. ''I had no problems whatsoever. I knew stamina-wise I could do it and the legs started to tighten up a little bit at the end, but that was all. ''

Richard had set himself a target of seven and a half hours for the 42km event, but a higher morning temperature than he had hoped for meant doubts set in.

''I was hoping for a temperature of about 14 degrees, just nice a cool, but as it happened, it turned out to be 18.

''I thought then that I would be nearer to eight [hours] but once I started going, I finished in just over seven and a quarter.''

He had a walking companion for around 15km, but she succumbed to blisters and had to drop out.

Richard, unexpectedly, also suffered with blisters.

''I know if I hadn't have trained for it, I wouldn't have finished it. I ended up with two big blisters on one of my feet. I wasn't expecting that because a couple of times I'd done 38k around Te Puke and had no problems, but there you go - I've done it.''

Richard is 74 and his brother, who is 10 years older, admired Richard's achievement.

''He said 'good on you, well done' and he's not easy to impress.''

While the marathon was a personal challenge for Richard, he was also collecting sponsorship money that he will split between Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade and the St John Te Puke health shuttle, where he is a volunteer driver.

He says he expects to raise around $1000 in total.