Louis puts his “heart and sole” into fundraising challenge

Bohally Intermediate pupils are widely encouraged to “maximise their potential” and Louis Guthrie, a year 8 student, has done exactly that - tackling a demanding challenge to help those in need.

The inspirational 12-year-old recently undertook a 100km running challenge set up to raise funds for a cause close to his heart.

Louis signed up for the Heart Foundation’s MyMarathon challenge as part of his Bohally MP - Maximising Potential - goal. The standard challenge is to run 42km during May, but he decided to push himself further and committed to running 100km.

He completed a series of runs over various distances during the month, all carefully recorded, leaving just four kilometres remaining to complete his ultramarathon goal. On Thursday afternoon at Bohally, cheered on by his family, and with a couple of the staff for company on the eight laps of the back field, he completed his mission, turning in a series of 3 minute 48 second kilometres to wind up in style.

Asked why he tackled such a demanding task, Louis got straight to the point.

“We have got family friends who have had heart conditions,” he explained, “they haven’t got like the perfect heart, if you know what I mean.

“Also, two years ago I raised a thousand dollars each for Life Flight and Ronald McDonald House in Wellington, so that is another reason why I wanted to do this … it feels really good to raise money for charity.”

He originally hoped to raise around $450, but had underestimated the generosity of the community. So far his efforts have brought in more than $6700 for the Heart Foundation, leaving him floating between second and third and only a couple of hundred away from first place nationally for fundraising out of more than 7200 participants across New Zealand.

Louis’ mum, Kate Guthrie, has been impressed by her son’s commitment, the youngster planning and managed the challenge all by himself.

“He worked out his running distances, kept track of his progress using my watch, and has stayed committed throughout the month,” said Kate.

“To be honest, if he hadn’t been wearing my watch, I probably wouldn’t believe how far he has run because some days he barely breaks a sweat. He was pretty incredible to watch, and it was interesting hearing what he thinks about when he starts to get tired. He said he just reminds himself why he is doing it.”

Link to his page – donations close on 31 May:
www.mymarathon.co.nz/fundraisers/louisguthrie/mymarathon-2026