Thirty-year-old Rebekah Smith is setting herself a challenge by competing in the up-coming 2011 Huntly Half Marathon, and blogging about it.

The Tokoroa resident says she’s been aiming to complete a half marathon for some time, and the Solid Energy Huntly Half Marathon is her chance to achieve that goal. “I kept telling myself that I’ll do a half marathon by the time I’m 30, and then my 30th birthday came around and I thought I’d better get into it.”

She hopes that her blog, which will feature on the Huntly Half website, will encourage beginners and other willing participants to get involved. “I guess because I’m not a runner or naturally fit person, I think my blog will show that anyone can do it and that you don’t have to be physically fit to get into. It’s quite hard but it’s all about dedication,” she says. Smith plans to write about her training, nutrition, and the challenges of preparing for the competition.

Smith says she started walking to lose weight and was later introduced to running by her nutritionist. She soon found that running was a sport she loved doing and says it’s rewarding. “Up to six months ago I could only run around the block and now I can run 16km."

Although her goal is simply completing the half marathon, Smith has been getting some sound advice and training from Hamilton City Hawks coach Graham Dudfield. The Hawks club organises the half marathon event. “Graham is organising a training plan for me where I run 4-5 short runs a week and one long run. I also do a lot of core strength training to help prevent injury.” Dudfield says Smith is a great example of the types of people who can achieve anything if they put their mind to it and get active.

As well as training for the Huntly Half, Smith will compete for charity in the New York Marathon later this year where she will be running for the NZ organisation Jigsaw, a network of 42 agencies put together to prevent child abuse. “Last year I watched a lot of things on the news related to child abuse and I wanted to find a way of helping out. I contacted Jigsaw about running in the New York Marathon, and my aim is to raise $50,000 for the organisation. There’s only a selected amount of places for the event,” she says.

Smith has also received an abundance of support from her colleagues at Carter Holt Harvey. “The guys in the area have been very supportive, and they’re all active people as well so they have been very interested in what I’m doing. We also have a gym here at work so sometimes I’ll go there in the morning or in my lunch break and run."

Smith says the most challenging part of the whole process will be her mental fitness. “I think it’s the whole mind thing for me. Once I’m out and running I’m actually okay but it’s just getting up and doing it. Probably to push myself further for the 20km it will all be mind over matter.”.

The 2011 Solid Energy Huntly Half Marathon and 2XU 10km run takes place on Sunday May 22, 2011. The annual event, which starts and finishes at the Huntly Park Domain, has $15,000 worth of merit and spot prizes on offer, including $1000 each for the first female runner and first male runner home.

Follow Rebekah's progress as she prepares for the 2011 Huntly Half Marathon on her training blog!