Hey everybody! 

3.30am, 30 October 2022. It was still dark outside with rain lashing down with what seemed to be increasing ferocity! This was what greeted me on race day for the 2022 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland City Marathon, and it wasn’t flash. A quick check of the weather forecast from NZ Met Service was ‘in Tamaki Mataurau/Auckland marathon runners, (let’s not forget wheelchair athletes please!), are in for a rainy race today as a severe weather watch settles in over the city. One can expect torrential rain for most of the day with the weather watch in place from 6am to 6pm. There could well be some thunderstorms with strong wind gusts along with heavy downpours . . .’ 

Well, that wasn’t what was requested for race day, however that aside, I duly got kitted out in my race attire; compression top and shorts, polyprop, thermo lined bike leggings, thermo socks, NZ flag bandana, thermo lined skull cap and Invacare branded cycling top. Then with the assistance of my support group – consisting solely of my beautiful and supportive partner, helped me to get all my additional race gear; gloves, helmet, race numbers, towels, jacket, post-race top, handcycle tracking device etc, into the Mercedes Sprinter van, along with Kermit, my ‘neon green’ Invacare TopEnd Force RX handcycle, and we duly set off for the marathon start location at around 4.35am. 

After having navigated the persistent and heavy rain for about 40mins we duly arrived near the gathering point for all wheelchair athletes in Devonport at 5.00am. With it still raining continuously I opted to remain in the van for as long as possible, so long I almost missed the pre-start, however, all was right and correct for the eventual official start time of 5.50am, (as wheelchair athletes we started 5 minutes before the runners). Needless to say, it was still raining heavily as I set off in the dark in the beginning stages of the marathon through the streets of Devonport and on through Takapuna. 

This, in my opinion, was the hardest section of the 2022 Auckland Marathon. Vision was compromised due to the minimal light conditions coupled with the driving rain that forced me to dispense with my yellow tinted sunglasses, (which unfortunately fell onto the roadside never to be seen again!) and rely on peering through the rain as the light slowly brightened so that by the time I reached the ‘glamour’ section of the marathon, the Auckland Harbour Bridge, from the beginning of the on ramps the Harbour Bridge was visible in the distance despite the continual rainfall. There was an aspect of this amount of rain I have never had to consider in any previous marathon I have handcycled and that was the amount of surface water I had to contend with. The decision made when Kermit was initially ordered and on the advice of Nick Heyworth from Invacare (Aus/NZ), to go with the rubber lined ’grip’ brakes paid off as they performed brilliantly in the severely wet conditions, far better than any disc brake option would have. This did lead to me using far more caution, especially on any descents that the marathon course threw up. It meant that on the descent side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, my speed was limited to 45km/hr not the usual 65 -70km/hr. 

Once I had entered the Wynard Quarter section of the marathon that wound around Auckland’s waterfront the rain had abated somewhat which was a relief from having to squint through the driving rain as it tried to pierce through my eyeballs. Leaving the central city, I headed along Tamaki Drive as it headed for Mission Bay which was the U turning point of the course that then headed back into the central city. This section of the marathon seems to go on and on somewhat relentlessly as it is the final third of the course and by this time I was completely and utterly soaked! This was 

also the section when I consumed a couple of Pulse energy gels to give my own energy a boost to aid my brain in maintaining the drive needed to tell my arms and hands to continue turning those hand cranks to maintain the momentum built up over the past 30 odd kms. It is at these times in a marathon that I have had to come to terms with the costs to my body and physiology from my serious handcycling accident 3 years previously; my right shoulder has limitations to its continual rotation following its fracture, my strength is notedly less than it was prior to my second SCI sustained in my accident, I also develop a general tightening spasm of sorts to the muscles of both my legs. This all leads to a battle of mind over body as my body is saying “rest, rest, rest” while my brain is saying “it’s fine keep going, keep going, keep going”. With the travails of the rain earlier in the marathon coupled with the humidity this marathon was a battle of wills between the two. My marathon performances are now not how fast I can do it, but how I can ensure I complete it. 

As I was handcycling out toward Mission Bay and back I noticed a lack of other wheelchair athletes who I assumed were ahead of me. There had been 13 wheelchair athletes’ entries, but I had only seen 3 others while out on course which did confuse me a little given the cautious and considered approach I had taken I expected to be ‘tail end Charlie’ bringing up the rear. The last 12 – 15km became a grind of sorts as I slogged it out km after km. One saving grace was the mild temperature throughout. As I headed through the final section of the course, taking the penultimate left turn I heard “Woohoo! Go Ian!” coming from my partner amongst the spectators. This salutation provided me with such a great lift that I dug in and really ground the last few kms out with some effort expended. 

Eventually, the finish area was getting closer and closer and so it was that I took the final right turn up and over the ‘bridge’ into Victoria Park, bottoming out as I went, and hit the grass that leads to the finish line. It was like riding into snow, the prior heavy rain had made the ground extremely soft and riding on Kermit’s super slim marathon tyres inevitably lead to attempting a rapid reduction in gear setting which didn’t quite work quickly enough so I bogged down somewhat. After hand cranking for 42km, after a 3.30am start this wasn’t the ideal finishing scenario, certainly not one I had contemplated. It was with some relief that I managed to extricate myself and Kermit from this situation and try a final surge to and over the finish line! 

Success at last! My third Auckland Marathon, done and dried, (too wet to be dusted). I was led off by an Achilles International NZ volunteer away from the finish area to a small tent where I sat in Kermit for a period contemplating my achievement. In the end, it's about “not letting what I cannot do, stop me from doing what I can”. I can still handcycle, not too super competitively anymore, but I can still do it. It was here that I learned that out of the original 13 wheelchair athletes entered only 4 of us completed the 2023 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Marathon. The other 9 had withdrawn prior to the start due to the continual rain and surface water concerns. This was totally understandable as it is no fun competing in an event that you have safety concerns about. It was the right decision for them. Right back at 5am my partner had questioned whether or not I still wanted to do the marathon in the conditions at that time. I, however had complete faith in the ability and manufacturing standards of Invacare’s TopEnd that went into constructing Kermit, that the thought of withdrawing never entered my mind. 

Following a quick change, I discovered there was even a medal ceremony where I was presented with my finishers medal for achieving fourth placed wheelchair athlete and first Kiwi as the other 3 wheelchair athletes were all Aussies. It was then a quick clean up and loading of Kermit and myself into the Mercedes for the drive home. A huge thanks to my partner, for without her support my handcycling of marathons and the like would not be possible. After it all I thought to myself “What a marathon day!” 

About the author

Ian Walker is a C6 Quadriplegic Incomplete. Ian lives in Christchurch, New Zealand and has survived 2 separate spinal cord injury-related accidents over the past 14 years. He is a Motivational Speaker who talks about - how to face adversity, cycle road safety, living with a disability, and being a 1 percenter . . .

Ian also enjoys life coaching which he utilises through his business BMotiv8d, to assist those with a disability, (or without), who lack motivation, direction and/or confidence, those who feel disorganised or unfulfilled, and/or those who need encouragement or need to set priorities, on how to realise their true potential.