Rotorua Marathon: How Mark Gray prompted a rule change

Mark Gray is looking for Rotorua Marathon number 40 on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

When Mark Gray made his Rotorua Marathon debut as a 15-year-old in the mid-1970s his very presence brought about an age rule change.

Forty-six years on, the Pāpāmoa-based occupational therapist hopes to create another slice of race history as he pursues a 40th "lap of the lake" on Saturday.

Gray was a member of Onehunga Harriers in Auckland when he opted to take the start line for his Rotorua Marathon debut.

"There were no other people at the club my age at the time and as most of the guys at the club were training for the Rotorua Marathon, I decided to enter the race," he said.

"That first experience was pretty daunting. I was alright up until around 25km but then it was zombie mode and I finished in around 4h 2m."

Gray, 61, said his presence at the age of 15 brought about a lot of criticism about whether people of such a young age should run the marathon and the following year the rules were adjusted to restrict entry to those aged 16 and above.

He returned the following year, ran a much improved 3h 34m and was quickly hooked, going on to complete a further 37 Rotorua Marathons.

In the first half of the 1980s, he dipped under three hours three times, recording his personal best of 2h 55m in "1982 or 1983".

So what had been the enduring appeal of the event?

"There's always been something special about the Rotorua Marathon," Gray said.

"It was regarded as the toughest marathon and numbers kept growing and growing. It seemed to have a special magic which other marathons don't have."

Gray later developed into a top-quality race walker winning a national 50km race walk title just one month after race walking the 42.2km distance at the 1986 Rotorua Marathon in a sub-four-hour time – a moment he described as his favourite experience in the race.

However, for most of his 39 appearances in the historic race Gray, who represented New Zealand at the 1991 World Team Race Walking Championships, has completed the event as a runner and it was after securing his 30th finish his gaze switched towards reaching the landmark of 40 Rotorua Marathons.

For this year's event, the father of two adult daughters plans to race with a friend and has relatively modest plans to complete the challenge in around five and a half hours but whatever happens on September 17 he intends this to be his last marathon.

"It will mean a lot to achieve 40, especially when so few have achieved that milestone, but this will be my last one and I might target shorter races in future.

"But whatever happens I'll come back and see people at the race because I've made some amazing friends here. Everything I went on to achieve in athletics started at Rotorua. It was the catalyst for everything."

To enter the Rotorua Marathon – full-distance, half-marathon, 10km and 5.5km go here