Olly Ballantyne steps out and up in Napier Gut Buster for a great cause

Rodney Halpin, who got up at 2.40am to go to work in the forestry and finished the day with an hour-long run in the Multiple Steps, finishes just before 7pm. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Taradale High School student has turned out to be a step ahead of the rest, and even the best, in a gut-busting, near-hour-long, Wednesday-evening run on Mataruahou – the Bluff, Middle and Hospital hills of Napier.

Fourteen-year-old Olly Ballantyne ran the 10km of "Gut Buster" marking the 19th anniversary Multiple Steps, an annual Multiple Sclerosis Hawke's Bay fundraiser, in 57min 11sec.

Former 5km winner Justin Dawson thought beforehand he had better "graduate" to the 10km, and afterwards that he had better lose a few of his 100-plus kilograms. Photo / Warren Buckland

The climbs and descents included the 232 steps of the Brewster Steps, and the 209 of the Fitzroy Steps – counts verified by several who took part.

The first female was Dianne Bulled in 1hr 2min 17sec. For the 5km mainly-Bluff Hill run, based on the founding event held in 2012, the fastest time was the 31min 31sec run by Layton Gunn. Kevin Clark won the flat 5km in 25min 39sec.

Ballantyne was one of a group from Taradale High School, which won schools honours, but a special feature of the night was the talent among the 177 entries across the various courses.

In a unique rugby battle of the sexes Tuis Hawke's Bay women's rugby star Kristen Cottrell ran the 5km in 36min 34sec, heading off Hawke's Bay Magpies player Mark Braidwood, who was possibly unaware of any such challenge and finished in 43min 56sec. Former Magpies rugby captain Michael (M.J.) Johnson, who played 137 games for Hawke's Bay from 1998 to 2010 and now a regular triathlete and runner, also competed.

There were about 30 from Napier Crossfit, which won the club/team title, and which included such people as former Football Ferns player Stephanie Skilton, who afterwards reckoned she "hurting" and it was "tougher" than her previous challenges in the event, and Justin Dawson, a former 5km event winner who ran the 10km in about 70 minutes, reckoning he needed to drop a bit of weight from his 100-plus kg frame.

Many had done the event before, including Rodney Halpin, running about 1hr 2min at his fourth time. Having sprained an ankle recently, he was "quite happy" with the outcome on the night, finishing about 16 hours after he got up for the day to go to work driving a loader in the forestry.

But there wasn't much appetite for the bigger challenges in the steps climbing and running field.

Realising some limitations on numbers, by the nature of the course, organisers anticipated 60-70 starters when it was first held, but got 124, raised about $1200 and MS Hawke's Bay was later awarded the Bupa Community Workers Award for Best Fundraising Activity of the Year. In 2015 there were about 350 entries, and it raised a further $3500.

Jackie Harper, organising the event for the first time but working in conjunction with Les Holland, of Napier Crossfit, was a little disappointed with the numbers, but was looking forward to the next event.

The date to mark on the calendar is October 25, 2023.