A father who once battled weight issues and his daughter with cerebral palsy have completed the Christchurch Marathon today in an inspiring story of love.
Six years ago, Jason Kapa was twice the size he is now.
“I tipped the scales at about 187kg, that was my biggest,” he told 1News.
It was his daughter Alicia, who lives with cerebral palsy, that drove him to make a change.
“When I don’t want to run, there’s days where she doesn’t want to sit in the chair, but there’s nothing she can do about it and so that’s my inspiration to sort of suck it up and get out there and do it.”
Running became a passion and before long, Alicia decided to join him.
“It’s pretty fun, I enjoy going fast, so the faster the better,” she said using a voice synthesiser.
That journey led all the way to the Christchurch Marathon, where the goal was initially to finish the 42km route in 5 hours.
The duo have a saying: "He is my legs, she is my inspiration," and that was clear in today's effort.
Shaving almost an hour off their target, the pair crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 11 minutes in the same way they trained.
Together.
Watch the inspiring video of the father-daughter duo completing the Christchurch Marathon together in Thomas Meads' report above.
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