Active life for runner who never lets highs and lows of diabetes get in her way

Neve Power.

When 11-year-old Neve Power competes in the Ohope Express in April she'll be doing more than just running - she'll be raising awareness of diabetes, an issue close to her heart.

Neve was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 6. She and four others who have the disease will be taking part in the race as event ambassadors.

The Whakatane Intermediate student is a keen soccer player, and also enjoys running and mountain biking with her father, Chris.

She says she's proud to have been selected as an ambassador for the race. "It's one of the biggest things I've done in my life.

"I want to do it to raise money for diabetes. Not many people know how diabetic people live."

Illustrating her point, the news of her diagnosis was a mystifying experience for her family.

"When we first found out it was a bit of a shock," says Chris.

"When they started talking about testing sugars and insulin injections my wife and I looked at each other and said, 'how the heck are we going to do this?'.

It just seemed really confusing and complicated."

They were fortunate to get some clear advice from a local paediatrician, but it was still a steep learning curve for the family.

Neve went on to an insulin pump a couple of years ago, and Chris says this has helped enormously because it has taken the guess work out of monitoring her insulin levels.

"Neve has been a trooper through it all," says Chris. "There's been the odd 'why me?' moment, but she's taken to the change really well."

Neve tries not to let her diabetes get in the way of leading an active life.

"It's kind of hard sometimes because when I do sport or running, my sugars can go high or low," she says. "But other than that everything is fine."

Neve has yet to go into full-scale training, but she's predicting she'll clock the 5km course in good time.

"We've travelled some places and there are signs that say 5km to the place we're going to. So I've seen that and I've seen how far I have to run. In the car it takes about, I don't know, seven minutes. So if I run it, it might take 30 minutes or an hour."

The Ohope Express is officially associated with the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association of New Zealand, which aims to encourage active lifestyles for people with diabetes. The race can be run over three distances - 5km, 10km, and 21.1km.

Neve hopes her involvement in the event will inspire others to follow in her footsteps.

"Nothing is impossible - even if you have a disease and you think you're not able to do something," she says.

"You can always make a difference in your life.

"I never used to be into things. I never wanted to be active. But now lots of people want me to do things, and it has made me confident."

Ohope Express
When: Saturday, April 4
Distances: 5km, 10km and 21.1km (half-marathon)
For more information, visit: www.ohopeexpress.co.nz/ohope_express