Health
1News

Man to run length of Baldwin St 126 times for I Am Hope fundraiser

July 13, 2021
Aucklander Matt Fenn is running up and down Baldwin St on Saturday to raise money for I AM HOPE.

Auckland man Matt Fenn is putting his body on the line again to raise money for mental health charity I Am Hope.

Three months ago, he ran 654 kilometres around the Auckland Domain, every 1km for a New Zealander who had lost their life to suicide last year.

It took him 150 hours and left him with stress fractures in his feet.

On Saturday, he will run up and down Baldwin Street in Dunedin 126 times.

This will mean he would have climbed 8848 metres — the equivalent of getting to the top of Mount Everest — in an activity dubbed "Everesting". 

"I’m trying to draw attention to the idea that Everest looks different to everybody," Fenn told Seven Sharp.

Matt Fenn will make climb Baldwin St’s 76m elevation 126.5 times to equal the height of Mt Everest.

"Everyone’s got their own mountain that they’re climbing and I really want to encourage people to share what that mountain is to them, what that struggle is, because when you share that, the struggle gets a little bit easier."

Associate professor Melanie Bussey, director of the University of Otago's Motion Analysis Research Lab, told Seven Sharp running down the street is harder on the knees, but running up is "physiologically taxing to the cardiovascular system".

"Running down mechanically is probably going to be more work for the muscles."

She said the uphill effort was akin to burning 10,000-ish calories — the equivalent of 40 Big Macs.

I Am Hope's founder, Mike King, announced today there will need to be a second Gumboot Friday in order to raise adequate funds for young people's counselling.

He said the $943,000 raised in the last appeal will only last for three months of counselling services paid for by his charity.

SHARE ME

More Stories