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17-year-old New Zealander finishes half marathon in 10th place ... while wearing crocs

Callum Robertson-Barnes celebrates the completion of a Tough Guy/Girl race in which he placed second. He later finished 10th in a half marathon while wearing crocs — Kerikeri High School Sports

Callum Robertson-Barnes celebrates the completion of a Tough Guy/Girl race in which he placed second. He later finished 10th in a half marathon while wearing crocs — Kerikeri High School Sports

Only in New Zealand.

There aren’t many teenagers capable of finishing in the top-1o of the standings in a half marathon. That’s precisely what Callum Robertson-Barnes, a Kiwi who attends Kerikeri High School, achieved at the 2014 Kerikeri Half Marathon. Of course, Robertson-Barnes had a secret weapon: He ran the race in rather unconventional footwear … crocs to be exact.

Wait a minute, a 17-year-old ran a half-marathon wearing crocs? And he finished 10th? Believe it or not, it’s true.

In fact, according to this story from the New Zealand Herald, Robertson-Barnes covered the Kerikeri course in a blistering 1 hour and 23 minutes. Throughout it all he strode ahead in his crocs with a pair of socks underneath. The only issue he had was that the transponder — the tiny timing device worn on shoes or on the back of entry bibs — had to be worn in one of his socks and eventually caused a blister.

Don’t worry, Robertson-Barnes isn’t completely crazy. He’d planned on running in his traditional sneakers, but discovered the night before the race that he had somehow lost them. Given the choice of running in dress shoes or crocs, Robertson-Barnes — who is also a skilled obstacle racer — chose the latter because he had worn crocs on one previous hiking trip.

That, apparently, was a wise choice, with the teen telling the Herald that he’d be happy to run in the rather unorthodox shoes again — you can see the teen holding them post race in a photo here — given the chance.

“Definitely, just watch out for the transponder, and wear some socks.”

 

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