A friend in need is reason to run

Willy Adams. Photo / Greg Bowker.

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The motivation to run comes from many sources. Some of the 11,000 people who entered the Auckland Marathon events yesterday wanted to win; others were aiming only to finish in a reasonable time.

But Welshman Willy Adams, here on a working holiday, was running to help a friend badly beaten in Swansea.

He found sponsors to back his half-marathon downunder, donned a shirt bearing his mate's face and raised $1100 to help pay medical bills.

More than $60,000 was donated to the marathon's official charity, the National Heart foundation.