Left: After training for only four months, Zac Guille claimed victory in the Maui Half Marathon in Hawaii last month. Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Marc McGowan
A BOUT of asthma could not stop Cranbourne North teenager Zac Guille from triumphing in the under 14 division of the Maui Half Marathon in Hawaii last month.
Just 7km into the 21km race, Guille, 14, began to wheeze, but after a few puffs of Ventolin and he managed to storm past his competitors to victory.
It comes after his older brother Jacob, 18, won the Maui Full Marathon as a 16-year-old in 2005.
Guille has only been training for four months with his father Roger, but has always been fit through playing football, cricket and tennis.
The year eight Lyndhurst Secondary College student has now set some lofty goals for himself.
“I want, if we go back to Hawaii again, to do the full marathon and maybe the Melbourne Marathon one day,” Guille said.
Guille runs up to 40km a week in training, which is a significant achievement after suffering an asthma attack four years ago and having to be airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“I didn’t understand what was going on. The night it happened, I was just sleeping,” he said.
“I had to stay in hospital for two weeks, but it’s been my only major attack.
“I still get asthma sometimes, but I use my Ventolin and it goes away.”
Guille’s success comes as no real surprise when his genes are examined.
His uncle, Trevor Guille, ran 10 Melbourne Marathons in a row, while another uncle, Paul Van-Leur, competed in the 10km state final against Steve Moneghetti 15 years ago.
Roger’s is delight at his son’s performance.
“I’m really rapt for Zac and he surprised me with how much guts he’s got,” he said.
“He put in quite a bit of training and after having a bit of an asthma attack, he had a few puffs of his puffer then kept going and came home pretty strongly.”
The family’s sporting infatuation does not stop there, with another of Guille’s brothers, Josh, 17, playing cricket, football and tennis.
