A ten-year-old Lower Hutt schoolboy has been disqualified from an athletics competition for running in bare feet. After allowing him to run the heat without shoes, an official told 10-year-old Wellesley College student Henry Patterson he was disqualified from the competition. Henry prefers to run in bare feet, and gets much faster times when he does so. "It's better for control, I can feel the terrain better, it's much more open. I just like to run in bare feet better" Henry said. The decision means he can't compete in the regional competition, which his mum says is ludicrous.
"I saw kids running at that event that were running in school shoes and in shoes that were two sizes too big. They ran like clowns."
Wellesley College principal Brendan Pitman says they have contested the issue, "to make sure it's fair and in line with their processes". The Lower Hutt Primary School Sports Association, which ran the event, said the event was a qualifier for Regionals, which doesn't allow runners to compete in bare feet and it had aligned itself with their guidelines.