For the first time in three years, the Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon was back on track on Sunday, and some dressed up a little extra for it.
Dunedin runner Glenn Sutton has been participating in long-distance events for years, even doing his own marathon at home amid the 2020 lockdown, during which wore out the grass in his yard.
For his most recent marathon, Mr Sutton decided that instead of having a cold beer after the race, he would race as the beer himself.
"I was planning to do it a couple of years ago but after Covid and everything, I decided to challenge myself and do something quirky," he said.
The beer can was made of a wooden skeleton he crafted with signage over the top, which acted like a sock or covering, and he was strapped in tight with a harness.
"The whole thing was about 19kg and I’m happy it held together pretty well," he said.
On top of carrying the extra weight, the windy conditions had added to the challenge.
"It started off windy and it just got windier, and it was hot in the beer can itself."
His friend and co-runner Bruce Adams had to pick him up after some large gusts knocked him off his feet towards the end of the race, he said.
Being blown over had left him with a few bumps and bruises but that was not going to stop him.
In five weeks he will hit the track again when he travels to Auckland — "as myself " — for a backyard event that is a "last man standing" marathon, in which participants run 6.7km laps, until they can make it no further.
