Les Marsh plans to climb Mauao on his 100th birthday.
He is keeping fit each day by doing laps of the garden at Radius Althorp retirement village where he lives.
The laps began when the country moved to Level 2 again and a lot of rest homes increased restrictions, this meant Les needed to stay within the grounds.
He does five to 10 laps of the garden and finishes it off with 50 standing pushups.
'There's not many blokes at 100 that are silly enough to do this sort of thing,” he laughs.
His daily routine has also raised $300 for the Cancer Society through sponsorship from staff and residents at the village.
Les could be seen as the New Zealand equivalent of the United Kingdom's 100-year-old Sir Tom Moore who raised more than £40 million (NZ$63 million) for healthcare workers by doing laps of his garden.
Les says $300 isn't a huge amount but it's better than a kick in the ear.
His quest to climb Mauao came about after walking around the base track for his 99th birthday in January.
Les did the walk with his sons in memory of his late wife Hazel. They did the same walk for her 90th birthday so Les felt it was fitting to do it for his 99th.
Never one to shy away from a challenge Les isn't sure if he'll make it to the top but he's going to give it a go on January 16, 2021.
At the return of level one the first thing Les did was get out of his building and head off on a two hour walk which has given him a bit of confidence to take on the task.
'I thought: ‘well maybe I could get up the Mount'. You've just got to live one day at a time these days.”
Climbing mountains is a bit of a tradition for him. He would climb Te Aroha with his son John every year for his birthday but at 82 he decided it was time for a change.
'I said to John: ‘this is the last time we do this. It's too hard on your blimming knees' and I said: ‘I wouldn't mind doing a marathon before I peg out'.”
He and John ran five marathons together during Les' eighties, he took out first place in the Masters category for one as well.
The running family joke is I took out first place because I was the only one over 80 running the race, Les recalls with a grin.
His trek up the Mount might not win any records but he's determined to make it happen.
5 comments
Admirable.
Posted on 02-10-2020 12:52 | By morepork
I think he may be underestimating the difficulty. Last time I climbed the Mount (a few years back to indulge an overseas visitor) it nearly killed me and I vowed not to do it again... But if Les actually makes it (and I really hope he does) I'll have another go... :-) His spirit is inspirational.
Inspirational!
Posted on 02-10-2020 14:56 | By Jaybee
Wow Les, great to see you're still enjoying life and inspiring others all around you. Les is a Legend in his own right, manicuring the road front gardens of the Katikati Police Station for many years, all voluntarily... hope we read about you again along with a picture from the top of Mt Maunganui.... wish you all the best!!
Excellent stuff Les!!!!
Posted on 02-10-2020 15:02 | By Bruja
Fantastic.....keep us posted! Were you from Morrinsville at any stage? Just recall your name as being my parents age and from there.
Hey morepork!....
Posted on 02-10-2020 21:29 | By groutby
...how about I challenge you then to do the walk with Les on 16th Jan?..I'm easy 35 years his junior so if he reckons he can do it, so should I, and I haven't been up the mount since I have been in Tauranga (near 30 yrs!)...I'll whack $50 on the table if you will...any other writers prepared to do the same?..maybe we can do the 'Les Marsh Challenge' through SunLive eh?...great cause!
@Groutby.
Posted on 06-10-2020 14:09 | By morepork
Not quite sure what exactly you are proposing. Are you betting me $50 you will make it to the top? As I don't know you, I'd be foolish to take the bet. (Also, $50 to those of us on fixed incomes, is a considerable amount of money, even though I agree it is worth 50 bucks for the effort involved.) I certainly won't bet against Les making it, and I will do what I said and try another time if he does, but at least for now, I can't accept your offer.
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