A Dunedin man has completed an arduous 580km, five-day run to raise money for the Otago Community Hospice, which has missed out on much needed funding due to the effects of COVID-19.
Glenn Sutton ran from Milford Sound to Mt Aoraki (Cook) in one go - a distance of approximately 580km. He set off last Thursday morning at 8:30am, and reached the summit at around 1:20pm on Monday.
Sutton's daughter Emily, who joined her father on a few segments of the run, said her father's heroic effort was for a cause "close to everyone's heart".
"There's a few members on the crew that have had relatives unfortunately pass away in hospice, and one of the core crew members actually works at the hospice," she told Newshub.
A total of $14,315 of the $20,000 goal has been raised in 17 days on the Givealittle page.
"We are really humbled by all the generous donations that have been given and it's really cool to see so many people get involved," Emily said.
Her father has been supported along the way by a crew of about six core runners, as well as runners from various towns along the way.
"Dad's been so grateful to have people run alongside him that he has never met before and buses, taxis and people pulling over on the highway and giving money and support."
The run, named 'Sounds2Summit', has been documented on YouTube and Facebook. In a video uploaded to YouTube, one support runner described Sutton as running like a "man possessed".
"He's focused, he's eating and drinking well and he's going really well," they said.
Over a period of five days, Sutton has had approximately three 20-minute naps and one 40-minute sleep. He had been running for almost 100 hours on very minimal sleep.
The crew decided it was necessary to take a two-hour rest on Monday morning about 10km into the Mt Aoraki turn-off as Sutton was suffering from fatigue and experiencing hallucinations - an issue that often occurs in races lasting longer than 24 hours.
The ultra trail runner has completed several 100-mile (161km) trail runs, and is the only New Zealander to have completed Badwater 135, the world's toughest foot race. He's run it three times.
