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11-year-old runner racing Antarctic half-marathon to inspire other kids to get active

He's running to prove that he is capable of the distance even if he's just 11 years old.

One determined New Zealand youngster is proving that kids are not to be underestimated.

Quinn Gardiner-Hall lives just outside of Auckland in New Zealand where he runs and trains hard for his goal races. Though he’s only 11 years old, he has dedicated his efforts to the half-marathon distance. Despite the fact that many may have pegged him to be lining up at the start line of a kids fun run, he has proven that he is well capable of taking on 21.1K.

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Not only is he able to cover the distance, but he’s also seeking to travel to see races outside of his country. According to NZ HeraldGardiner-Hall’s big goal was to run four half-marathons in four different countries before he turned 12. He’s just about to complete that goal when he runs the half-marathon in Antarctica on March 10. 

Last year, he headed to Hawaii to run the half-marathon there. He completed it in 2:07, a time which he says he’s happy with considering the hot conditions. He has also competed in Australia when he was nine years old. He is trained by his mother, Kylie Hall, who says that her son is intrinsically motivated and that her main objective is to keep him healthy and prevent him from straining himself. 

The speedy kid says that he isn’t intimidated by the cold weather conditions that he will have to endure to compete. To many Canadians, the temperatures that he’ll face are not far off what they face in the average winter training run. Still, the New Zealander shows a positive attitude less than a month away from the big date. 

“It’s supposed to be really, really cold down there, although it’s not as cold as in the middle of Antarctica because we are only on the Peninsula. It’s 0 to minus 15 degrees Celsius and with the wind it can get down to minus 21,” he told the Herald

The Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon is held on King George Island. That’s located 120 kilometres off of coast of Antarctic peninsula and south of lower tip of Argentina. If Gardiner-Hall completes it, he’ll be the youngest person to have finished the course. 

“My mission is to get more Kiwi kids to get off the couch an get active and stop playing the play station,” he says. 

 

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