Members of the Broom household, of St Clair, have entered the Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon as a group and are looking forward to enjoying the day together as a family outing.
Father Neil Broom is running the full marathon, while wife Mel Broom and their two eldest children, Connor and Luie, plan to join the 10km run.
Mr Broom will be known to some as a former national and international cricketer who played for Otago and Canterbury.
He played as a batsman for the New Zealand national cricket team, the Black Caps, from 2007 to 2009.
He then signed up to play for English domestic side Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 2015.
"I signed for two years, but I only ended up playing one year."
While living in the UK, his son Zac was born.
"Zac was born in Derbyshire, he’s a little Englishman."
Broom returned to the Black Caps for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and played for the Otago Volts until retiring several years ago.
Since then, he has become more focused on running and has entered races such as the Challenge Wānaka Half Ironman and the Motatapu Ultra 52km run.
Mrs Broom said when her husband takes part in an event, the family finds a way to participate as well.
"When Neil is doing an event, they will do the junior event.
"So he did the Motatapu Ultra in Arrowtown and the kids did the 4km junior challenge.
"It is quite good because they often have a kids’ event that goes with it."
The family took part in the Christchurch Marathon, Broom entering the full marathon, Mrs Broom and Connor running the 10km and Luie and Freddie entering the children’s 3km fun run.
When not training for a marathon, the family has plenty to keep them occupied.
Connor and Luie play rugby for the Dunedin Sharks, while Freddie plays for the Baby Sharks.
Connor also plays hockey, basketball and cricket.
Broom said with the marathon just around the corner, the family has been benefiting from the advice of running coach Simon Rhodes.
"He has been massive for my running in terms of just taking it to the next level, really.
"And he trains the boys as well on a Monday night."
Being part of a sports-mad family, it was likely not long before the two youngest children, Freddie and Sienna, would join their siblings, he said.
"Definitely, both of them will follow in our footsteps, I think."
Racing towards new milestone
Entries are coming in thick and fast, says Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon chairwoman and race director Becs Adlam.
Current entries are sitting at 2315 and could be on track to hit 3000 entrants, which would be a record for the annual event.
Having just over a month to go until the race on Saturday, September 15, Ms Adlam encouraged those who have yet to enter to register to do so before midnight on August 18, when standard entries close and participants will have to pay a higher late entry price.
Visit dunedinmarathon.co.nz to enter.
