Survivors Club
The Red Stag Rotorua Marathon boasts a unique and esteemed club affectionately referred to as the 'Survivors Club.' Its members have notched up an impressive achievement - they've participated in and successfully completed a remarkable 15 or more full marathons.
Rotorua Marathon Survivors Club - 2025
Saturday 3 May 2025 saw 138 members of the Club take on one of the events on offer. 117 the full marathon: 16 the half: the 12km 4: and 1 the 5km. Interestingly there was a number of club members that have not taken part in an event for some years that took up the challenge of an event this year.
11 joined the club as 15year members this bringing the club membership to 648. Unfortunately, 90 of the membership have joined the “elite club in the sky”.
Those who joined the club as newbies or moved up follow:
15 years: Robert Aikman, Jackie Aitken, Jenny Burns, Alister Duncan, Mohi Hingston, Theresa Honeycombe, Liz Ireland, Catherine Nixon, Mukesh Patel, Leonie Smith and Monica Tate
Those that moved into the next 5-year category were:
20 years: Tim Carroll, Dan Franklin, Betty Harp, Scott Hotham, Wayne Martin, Daniel Nicolson, Patrica Sitchbury, and Margaret Woisin
25 years: Debra Arnold, Marylin McGrath Charlotte Nasey and Ron Soper
30 years: Mike Bush, Marty Finch, Mak Mckenzie, Denise Stewart-Jacks, and Mel Tuineau
35 years: Dennis Hunt, Peter McHardy and Vern Scheffer
40 years: Tom Hira and Paul Taylor
45years: Verna Cook-Jackson
Courtesy of the event owners, Athletics New Zealand, all of the above were presented at the prize giving or the Survivors Club dinner or as they crossed the finish line, with their official Survivors polo shirt, which is embroidered with the club’s logo and the milestone each have reached.
The annual Survivors dinner was held again at the Millennium Hotel with 60 plus in attendance. 38 years survivor, Roger Donnell, again kindly donated vouchers as spot prizes. Winners were drawn from club members in attendance at the dinner. Thank you, Roger, for this generous donation.
If you know of people that could be eligible for admission to the Club in 2026, please get them email Pam Kenny at thekennys.nz@gmail.com or post to 3 Haratua Place, Rotorua 3015 details of the previous 14 Rotorua Marathons they have finished (times and years) and if the family name has changed, former names(s), plus the size polo shirt worn. This, so these details can be verified against the events records. It is important that this information is advised prior to the end of March 2026, to allow time for your prestigious polo shirt to be ordered in and embroidered.
Participation in the Half Marathon, 5km or 10km events do not count towards club membership: neither does the rained out 1999 event. As mentioned above a number of the club members are finding the challenge of the full marathon distance too much and are now participating in one of the shorter distances on offer on “marathon day”. That is the half marathon, 12km or 5km.
In our last mail to members a number of postal letters and emails were returned. Should you have changed your postal address and / or your email address please advise Pam at one of the addresses above. Also, should you know of members that have now “gone to the elite club in the sky” please advise – thank you
Roll on to the 62nd Rotorua “marathon day” 2 May 2026.