Marathon man inspires others

Mr Howe will run his 19th marathon at Rottnest Island this weekend, the only known person in the world with C6 cerebral palsy to have completed even one.

The Osborne Park resident, who has completed the London and New York marathons as well as the Cape Town ultra marathon, said he originally chose to pursue running after continually being selected last in team sports at school.

‘I went through the main stream schooling system and in physical education there was a model called ‘team sports,’ and everyone had to pick their team and I was always the last person picked,’ Mr Howe said.

‘Because I liked sport it made me feel like a liability, so I wanted to take on a sport where I’m my own responsibility.’

Mr Howe has trained as a horticulturalist and gardens three to four days a week on top of his intense training schedule that includes a run from his house to Hillarys every Sunday for his morning coffee.

Mr Howe, originally from New Plymouth in New Zealand, said he simply enjoyed running and was pleased if he inspired people along the way.

‘I like that people see me running and get inspired themselves, in my eyes the gift of inspiration is the greatest gift you can give anyone, I just do what I like doing and if it benefits other then it’s a bonus,’ he said.

This Saturday will be the 13th time Mr Howe has run the Rottnest Marathon, his favourite course due to the hills on the Island.