Fundraising

24-HOUR MOVER

At midnight on Saturday, 19 November last year, most of us were fast asleep or partying. Not so for Connor Allnut. The 26-year-old electrician from Timaru was exactly halfway through his 24-hour fundraiser for Sneaker Friday.

For Diabetes Action Month, Connor Allnut, ran, cycled, long-boarded, scootered and walked his way around Christchurch’s Hagley Park, over 24 hours. In that time, he raised just over $7000 through both his Givealittle page and in-person donations. The funds raised will go towards the 2023 Family Camp, ensuring it is affordable for all our families to attend.

‘It felt like a good way to raise money and to get kids out on their bikes and scooters or whatever they wanted to do. The main thing was to show kids with diabetes that they can still go out and do everything that their mates do.’

What kind of person decides to spend all that time relentlessly moving around a very large city park, all in the name of fundraising? The very same kind of person who volunteers as a teen mentor for Diabetes Canterbury Youth. Also the same kind of person who raised about $800 for Diabetes New Zealand though a Big Splash event in Timaru a few years earlier. Connor says the volunteering first came about when he felt there were a lot of diagnosed kids who would benefit from talking to someone who’s not a doctor or a dietitian. ‘Someone who has a good sense of what it’s like to live with type 1 diabetes.’

Connor was diagnosed with type 1 when he was 16. He remembers sitting outside the dairy with a huge chocolate milk, finishing it, being amazed at still feeling thirsty, then going back in to buy a juice. When he got home, he kept drinking. Luckily, this mum was a nurse and cottoned on. The next day, she told a doctor at the hospital she was working at, and he told her to bring Connor to the hospital immediately or they would call an ambulance to his school.

Connor came up with idea at the beginning of 2022. He says it felt like a good way to raise money, and he wanted to do something that kids could be part of, hence the bikes, boards and scooters.

PLANNING

Concentrated planning for the event started halfway through the year. He collated his thoughts and ideas on how the event should run and submitted it to Diabetes NZ, who of course thought it was a brilliant idea. Being a keen rugby, futsal, soccer, and AFL player, Connor was already super fit. He also goes to the gym a couple of times a week, so he says he didn’t feel he needed to do any extra training for the event.

THE DAY

Connor originally had a set path planned, but some of the footpaths in the park were being resurfaced, so his laps was shortened for a number of reasons. Hagley Park covers a huge 165 hectares, and a loop is roughly seven kilometres, meaning it would take Connor an hour to complete. This would mean if he needed a snack or a drink, or if a supporter came to see him, they could be waiting a long time before he made it back to the gazebo HQ. The Christchurch spring provided some challenging weather. ‘There was very heavy rain, on and off, for the first 14 hours. It would stop for half an hour and we’d go, “sweet!” This is at one in the morning. Then it would start pissing down again.’

Connor wore a jacket and waterproof pants for a while, but the water soaked through. His friends were getting drenched as well, but the mood was light and he says they all just laughed about it and kept going.

The weather saw him work through three changes of socks, one pair of gumboots, metres of strapping for his feet, and a pair of running shoes.

SUPPORT

While Connor was prepared to be moving around the park a few hours on his own, he says time definitely went quicker when friends joined in. His partner had secretly organised a pit crew, so every hour a new set of friends would appear, with many accompanying him on his laps. He was joined by a couple of runners who were planning on doing a similar fundraising event in a month, so they used it as a training session for an hour or two.

After 24 hours of almost constant movement and no sleep, Connor thought it would be a good idea to run the last lap. ‘There were people there, friends, family, and they were all clapping, which was really nice. I’m very grateful for their support. It was just as nice to stop and sit down and know I didn’t have carry on too.’ But ever the helper, Connor helped pack up the gazebo and all the gear to take home.

COUCH TIME

A burst of energy hit Connor once he’d finished, so after a shower, he went to the pub for lunch with friends. Then he says he just slept and laid around on the couch for two days as he couldn’t do anything. ‘That was probably the worst I’d ever felt. The recovery was definitely worse than doing it.

‘I couldn’t think or do anything. I’d try to eat and drink but couldn’t do it. Even to get up from the couch was such a big task at the time.’ Luckily, his partner was off work to support his recovery. By the time Wednesday rolled around, Connor was able to go back to his work as an electrician, but he told his boss that he couldn’t be left alone to do jobs. ‘Basically, I was just his apprentice for the rest of the week as I couldn’t think straight. And I was limping for a few days.

‘I didn’t realise how long it would take to recover. I went to the gym a week later and only got through three different exercises, and that was too much. It took four days to be able to walk properly as I had sore feet and blisters.’

His boss was supportive, backing him on the day and making a large donation. Would Connor do this again? He says he would, definitely. ‘Something similar but different. Maybe something longer.’