Garth Barfoot is set to make his 17th appearance in the Rotorua Marathon

21 April 2021

Patience has been a virtue for 84-year-old Garth Barfoot – who is all set to make his 17th appearance in the Rotorua Marathon next month.

Originally entered for the 2020 Rotorua Marathon, health problems denied him the opportunity to compete and last year he underwent a heart valve operation to fix an artery blockage.

Hoping to compete in last September’s rescheduled Rotorua Marathon – following the postponement of the original May date – the former real estate boss of Barfoot and Thompson fame was denied the opportunity to compete because Aucklanders could not travel because of Covid restrictions.

However, the octogenarian is fighting fit and relishing the prospect of competing in the marathon next month.

“It has been a long wait but I’m looking forward to giving the race a go,” he adds. “I was told if I didn’t have the heart valve fitted I would only have two years to live so it was an important procedure.

“I’ve then had to wait a while longer, although age has started to catch up with me. I ran six hours 12 minutes three years ago in my last appearance and this time around I’d be pleased to do eight hours 12 minutes!”

Garth and Judy Barfoot at the 1990 Rotorua Marathon

Garth was introduced to running in his mid-50s and made his marathon debut at the 1990 Rotorua Marathon. He has since gone on to be become a Survivors’ Club member (in which a runner needs to complete 15 Rotorua Marathons) and has also completed ten NZ Ironman triathlons.

He describing discovering his passion for endurance sport at a relatively advanced age as “a novelty” and recalls the buzz of reading for the first time in the NZ Herald he had placed top three in his age-group for a triathlon.

“I spent my whole life with my name beaming down in big capital letters in those Barfoot and Thompson ads but to see your name in small print, well, money can’t buy that.”