MARATHON - Clydesdale enthusiasts aren't horsing around

With a record 2500 runners lining up for the Fullers 2008 Kerikeri Half Marathon this weekend, the field was always going to be best described as big.
By adding a new heavyweight division to the race, the word big might be used in a more literal sense now though.
The division, officially labelled the Clydesdale Division, is an initiative borrowed from the United States where "clydesdale runners", who have to be hovering on or near the 100kg mark to qualify, now feature regularly in most distance running events.
It will be added to the New Zealand running lexicon in Kerikeri on Saturday, with local couple Patrick and Cheryl Schofield among the first to enter the new division.
Both recreational runners since their early teens, with a penchant for high-adrenalin activities such as skydiving, black water rafting, bungee jumping, river surfing, three-day multisporting events and mountain climbing, the Schofields signed on immediately after they read about the clydesdale division being included for the Fullers 2008 Kerikeri Half Marathon.
They soon became the first to enter the event as clydesdale runners.
"To read about the dynamics and physiological challenges of carrying my 100kg body over a half-marathon distance opened my eyes to its true magnitude. It is actually mind-boggling to contemplate that the energy I have to expend to complete such a distance is eight times that required by `normal-sized' distance runners," Patrick Schofield said.
Just why bigger runners have been neglected for so long, when most other sports have weight divisions to create an "equal playing field", has always puzzled him.
Kerikeri High School teacher Harko Brown prompted the idea. He is passionate about getting people with varying degrees of motivation into the sport, he says.
"Apparently a few of the top clydesdale athletes in America are keen to see how our event goes. They are looking for international competition to motivate them even further," Brown said.
"There are many big-boned and well-muscled runners who are presently not catered for in our distance events. It has taken off in the US and has been recognised as a legitimate category in many of their major marathon events for over a decade," he said.
It was also an idea that impressed Kerikeri clydesdale breeder Roy Binks, who trains and grooms 18 clydesdales at his stud farm.
"It would be the equivalent of my horses qualifying for the Melbourne Cup, so I take my hat off to them both and to all the other amazing clydesdale runners," Binks said.
The event, which this year doubles as the Athletics New Zealand half marathon championship race, is scheduled to start at Okaihau at 8am on Saturday.