Defence House Fourth in Relay for Life

NZDF Relay for Life team members outside their 'MASH' marquee.

31 March 2008

An all out effort in the last few hours saw the Defence House Relay for Life team come in at a creditable fourth place behind teams made up of much younger runners. 

Held at Frank Kitts Park in Wellington over the weekend, Relay for Life is an annual fundraising event for the Cancer Society.

The 79 teams entered were made up of businesses, organisations and schools from around the region. Each team had their own marquee which many had decorated with a theme. The NZDF’s marquee was ‘MASH’.

Team Captain, Kylie Neal of Naval Staff, said “Our achievement was awesome, considering we were a mixed-age group team running against testosterone and V-fuelled college-aged teams.”

Hutt International Boys’ School came 1st, Chilton St James 2nd, and NZ Cadet Forces 3rd.

The Defence House team was made up of Navy, Army, Air, civilians, and family and friends.  An intrepid group of four spent a sleepless night carrying the baton around the course in heavy rain.

Most of the team had had personal experience of cancer, losing loved ones or knowing family or friends with the condition. But there were survivor stories as well and the first lap of the relay was a spectacular turn out of cancer survivors and their supporters.

Another great achievement of the weekend was SSGT Andrew McKenzie who ran an amazing 200 laps of the course in honour of his nephew Wayne, aged 13, who is currently receiving treatment for cancer. Running from the start time of 1520 to 1000 was an incredible show of endurance and commitment.

“Well done everyone who took part, whether you ran, jogged, sprinted or walked, it was an awesome team effort in atrocious conditions,” said Kylie.  “Watch out Defence House, we’ll be recruiting a larger team for next year’s effort.”

Ends

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