Sixteen-year-old Harry Irvine has faced many challenges in his life but crossing the finish line of his first half marathon with his uncle by his side was a remarkable achievement for the young athlete.
"It feels pretty good," Harry said after taking part in The Canberra Times Fun Run on Sunday.
"It was definitely challenging compared to what I've done before."
The Marist College student, an organ recipient, had spent months training after school to prepare for the 21.1 kilometre race, finishing just 60 seconds over his goal time of two hours.
His final strides across the finish line gave way to tears of joy and relief as his family proudly cheered from the sidelines.
Harry's uncle Sam, who ran with his nephew, said the moment made him remember when he finished his first half marathon.
"It's pretty awesome. I tried to do lots of exercise to be able to share something like that with him and it was really nice," he said of the win.
"It was really quite emotional and special. You can tell how special it was for him."
Harry has long been an avid runner and competed in triathlons before undergoing a kidney transplant in 2015, after he was born with a large tumour on the base of his spine.
His father, Brendan was the organ donor and it was encouraging to see his son rise to the challenge.
"It was really emotional knowing what he's been through," Brendan said.
"It's been a hard training regime and physically I tried to guide him as much as I could to get the finish line and to see him run as well as he has, it was certainly very cool for him to achieve this and have such an amazing time and really enjoy it."
'Brilliant' but windy conditions for runners
The 2024 The Canberra Times Fun Run attracted thousands of participants and raised over $90,000 for 173 charities.
Families, dogs and children gathered to watch support loved ones on a warm spring morning while runners tackled big headwinds crossing the Kings Avenue Bridge on their way to the Rond Terrace finish.
University of Canberra medical imaging student Yousef Gemchu, who came second in the men's 10-kilometre run, spoke of plans to take out first place next year.
"It feels pretty good to see where you are at and to see where your fitness was at. The weather was good, the conditions were good, and it felt better as I went," he said.
Charities that raised the most money for the day included Running for Premature Babies, Beyond Blue, PanKind Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and the Children's Cancer Institute.
Paralympian Amy Tobin won first place in the 10-kilometre wheelchair race and completed a personal goal to run in every state and territory across Australia.
"I started wheelchair racing but I realised my legs were stronger than my arms and during COVID-19 I was bored and the only thing we could do was exercise then I found this on the internet and I haven't stopped since," she said.
"Don't be afraid of your diagnosis, it doesn't define your true capability, so go out there and do whatever you want to do and enjoy it."
Full list of winners
Half marathon male
- Alex Dreyer 1:11:47
- Aden Reynolds 1:12:32
- Bradon Suter 1:14:31
Half marathon female
- Alexandria Spencer 1:20:26
- Ella Appleby 1:26:32
- Kristy Zwickert 1:28:25
Half marathon agender
- Jonathan Naef 1:40:59
- Heidi McGrath 1:50:57
- Cordelia Jerjen 2:01:37
10km male
- Daniel Dreher 30:43
- Yosef Gemechu 30:55
- Jordan Cowley 31:26
10km female
- Sarah Fletcher 36:10
- Lilly Carnell 41:00
- Olivia Nicol 41:15
10km agender
- Andrew Paton 48:29
- Ash Harris 50:44
- Fika Ihsan 59:31
10K wheelchair
1. Amy Tobin 1:07:28
