Sticking together wasn't as straight forward as you'd think for the 300 or so strong Cystic Fibrosis Auckland team during yesterday's Round the Bays event.
While most of the estimated 70,000-strong field that lapped up the sunshine in the event's 41st running needed merely to keep an eye out for the T-shirts of their teammates, Sarah Hitchings and the other seven adult CF sufferers in the race had to look a little closer. If a fellow runner had a red wrist band, they had to keep their distance. A risk of cross infection - where sufferers of the chronic lung disease swap bugs that are harmful only to other sufferers - means coming together isn't easy.
"CF people aren't allowed to meet each other," Ms Hitchings said.
"You don't want to be coughing all over each other and spreading germs. It can be quite isolating at times but there is a good support network in New Zealand and the association is fantastic. Everyone gets together on Facebook and through social media."
Yesterday's event raised just over $30,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Auckland. The money will be used to help provide vital nebulising equipment - which allows medicine to be breathed in aerosol form - for the country's 400 sufferers of the genetic disorder.