Clinic sees 200 keen to put in marathon effort

The Lake City Athletic Club's marathon clinic attracted about 200 people yesterday. Photo/Stephen Parker

Organisers of a Rotorua running clinic are keen to help people realise their dreams of running a marathon, one step at a time.

About 200 people turned up yesterday to take part in the fourth week of the Lake City Athletic Club's 15-week marathon clinic.

Clinic convenor Jodie Hickson said this year they had more than double their usual numbers.

She said it was probably due to this year's Rotorua marathon being the 50th anniversary of its running.

Mrs Hickson said more than 250 people had enrolled in this year's clinic. About 35 were training for the 10km option, about 40 for the half marathon and 175 people were enrolled in the full marathon clinic.

She said the clinic was a fun way to train. Many people enjoyed the company of others while training to reach their goals. "You have to run at a certain pace so you can go for a 2 hour run where you are chatting with the group so it does not feel like a long run. It's a really diverse group of people with one thing in common."

She said the clinic was set up to help people to get round the lake, so a lot of first-timers were involved.

"A lot of people did the 10km last year and want to do the longer distance.

"I think the word is getting out that it's a very achievable thing to do ... and it's a cheap way to exercise."

Visit www.lakecity.co.nz for information.