Here is our posting of 2018.

It was a week out from our NZHL XRACE and here is what we asked. "Very special volunteers needed for this Sunday. We are looking for two-three STRONG people - read rugby prop types to help out a family with an 8-year old girl who is autistic and has cerebral palsy. We've said 100% yes to this super team but we just need the big guns to lift and carry the chair where chairs aren't meant to go. So, can anyone find us a couple of strong dudesses or dudes that can get this team around the course. It will be a tough one."

Tough was an understatement. The course had a good kilometre of soft sand. Rocky, uneven singletrack and of course a steep uphill section with no trail whatsoever.

Three guys raised their hands and turned up, taking turns on the chair. One was a fireman I think and I honestly have no idea what their names were. They had no connection to any teams whatsoever - complete XRACE strangers who just said, "yeah, mate" and turned up and gave an 8-year old girl a bit of a push when she needed it.

A local reporter got wiff of the story and came down to cover this fantastic family and these super heroes. He immediately found the going tough and would have got better comments from a bag of rocks. These guys didn't want to be interviewed, didn't want to be patted on the back and were quite embarrassed about all the fuss being made about them. They mumbled through the reporter's questions and in the end simply said "mate, got a work shift. Gotta go" and with that, they disappeared.

To these three from all of us, You deserve too much Christmas pudding and a long snooze on the sofa. Thanks boys.