Train for Two

Here’s a game to play with an adult!



How do you play?
You'll need an adult to play with.
You'll also need one Cuisenaire rod of each length between 1 (white) and 10 (orange), or you can just write down the numbers on a piece of paper. You could use the interactive version here.
Decide who is going to go first, and choose a distance between 11 and 55. We'll use 25 as an example. The aim of the game is to make a train of length 25 (exactly).
Each player in turn puts down a Cuisenaire rod, putting them end to end so that there is a single train. The person who puts down the last rod to make 25 wins. If one player puts down a rod that makes the train longer than 25, then the other player wins. (If you aren't using rods, then you can use each of the numbers between 1 and 10, but only once.)

Does it make a difference who goes first?
Can you work out a winning strategy?