By Juliet Speedy
There was another sign of Canterbury’s recovery from the earthquakes today.
The Christchurch Marathon moved back into the city and brought with it hundreds of extra runners.
Four-and-a-half-thousand competitors took to the sun-drenched streets for the brand new course of the Christchurch Marathon.
Last year's quake sent last year's race out to the country and competitors today were thrilled to have it back in the city.
“It's more central and everybody knows Christchurch,” says competitor Allister Leach. “The moment you take it out of Christchurch it doesn't feel like it's the Christchurch Marathon anymore.”
“I think there's no better way to get people to band together besides having them come together like everybody out here, enjoying running, enjoying a beautiful day,” says Christchurch resident James Muller.
The Christchurch Marathon is renowned as one of the fastest courses in the world, and also one of the most scenic. The current track is on streets around the airport and nearby suburbs, but organisers plan to move it further into the central city as the rebuild gets underway.
This is the second largest marathon event in the country, and after a big drop in numbers following February’s quake last year, organisers are thrilled with the numbers building again this year.
“What more could an organiser want after the earthquake in Christchurch?” asks event organiser Chris Cox. “It has been brilliant, and particularly with the entries we're getting. We're 1000 up on last year when we were out at Lincoln, so things are tracking really well.”
Training has given people something to do when many activities have been taken away.
“Everything that we do is like normality,” says Mayor Bob Parker. “Everything that we used to do that we can carry on now just builds that strength, that resilience, a little bit more and people are really happy.”
Being happy is a good sign for a city keen to get back up on its feet.
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