Athletics: Olympic gold medallist shows the way

By JULIET ROWAN

Hamish Carter was missing the heat of Athens when he led a pack of eager runners down Queen St last night.

"It's freezing. I need a bloody jacket," the Olympic gold medallist joked while waiting to lead the crowd of about 50 runners.

The group were doing a training session for "You're the run that I want", a 10km Nike charity run to be held in Cornwall Park on October 3.

Carter may have been shivering in his yellow T-shirt and black shorts, but he was happy to provide motivation. "If I can get a few more people involved, that's great. You can't be sitting at home doing nothing."

The runners were also enthusiastic about the chance to run with Carter.

"It will definitely be motivation. I don't want to look like a fool in front of him," said Kerith-Rae Dias, a 21-year-old microbiologist from New Lynn.

Gavin Carroll, 23, wanted to try and keep up with Carter. "It'd be rude not to," he said.

In fact, Mr Carroll would have had no problem because Carter jogged only about 200m before turning around and heading back to Foot Locker, where the session began.

The sessions for the charity run began on August 16 and will continue until early next month. They are held several times a week at various locations in the city.