Precious shoes can be yours

Kerikeri youngster Billie Brown dreamed of owning a flash pair of running shoes, and worked hard to raise the money to achieve that. But now that she has the shoes, she wants to give them away.

Designed specifically for sprinting distances up to 200 metres on synthetic tracks, they will be just right for a young athlete of around Billie's age (10), who takes a US size 5 shoe. And Northern Advocate journalist Peter de Graaf would be delighted to hear from phys ed teachers or coaches who have a deserving candidate in mind.

He can be contacted at peter.degraaf@northernadvocate.co.nz.

Billie, a keen athlete, said she had enjoyed competing at the Colgate Games in Whangarei in January, and had been amazed to see the track shoes that some runners had.

"I didn't realise that at 10 you can wear track shoes," she said.

"I decided I wanted to save money to buy a pair. I thought they would stop my feet burning on the track on a hot day, and they would be cool to run in."

So she began doing chores, and spent all one day sizzling sausages with her dad, sister and brother to raise money. She also picked out a pair of Nike Zoom Superfly R4 shoes, available in America, on the internet - and dreamed about wearing them.

"One of Dad's friends was coming over from America, and my dad asked him to get them for me. They arrived all wrapped up as a present," Billie added.

"'Here is your early birthday present," our friend said. I was very surprised, and said a big 'thank you,' but I had worked hard to save the money for them.

"I unwrapped them, and they gleamed blue and silver. When I got them I tried them on and ran back and forth across our lawn. They were so cool to wear, and were the exact colours I had chosen."

A few weeks having gone by, she had now had a re-think, however.

"I'm lucky I still have the money to buy another pair. Somewhere else though, some young runner like me would also like to run in a cool pair of track shoes to stop their feet burning on a hot track, but they won't have the money for them because some family budgets are too tight for extravagant shoes," she said.

"I really appreciate the present, but I feel in my heart that I would like these shoes to live in another home with another excited runner. They lit up my life, and can do the same again.

"If you like running and are in a club, if you like competing at meets, if you want to run like the wind, if you are 10 or older, then this brand new pair of gleaming track shoes is yours."