Given the size of the task he has set himself, it would be a fair assumption that he had a loved one living with cerebral palsy. But he doesn't - he simply wants to help.
"In early 2017 I ruptured a disc in my back that required surgery and eventually a spinal fusion. While awaiting surgery, I was at home on Facebook when I saw this family was raising money for their daughter Liv to get surgery in America," he said.
"I did not know her, but I just thought it was a good cause that I could get behind while I was stuck at home. I got all the CrossFit gyms together in Hawke's Bay and we raised a heap of money for Liv."
That money helped pay for Liv to undergo the $150,000 surgery. She is now 15 and has greatly improved.
For McCrory it was the start of fundraising journey that has seen him take up running ultra-marathons, with every cent going to Kiwi kids requiring SDR surgery.
His first challenge was the Blue Lake 24hr Challenge in Rotorua in 2019, with the suggestion coming from his son to raise money for "kids like Liv".
Liv's mum gave him the names of three other children, Ethan, Reid and Zach, and he raised money for them by running his first-ever 115.5km at the Blue Lake.
Since then McCrory has run four ultra-marathons, the longest 160km.
His latest challenge is by far his biggest, and he is doing it the hard way with only a self-contained campervan driven by his wife Kathleen for support.
The day he left Te Puke, in pouring rain, he at first said he didn't know why he had taken on such a massive challenge - then laughed.
''My running coach is Neil Wagstaff, who coached Lisa Tamati, a well-known ultra runner.
She's run the length of New Zealand and I took inspiration from that.''
The original plan was to run from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
''But with the Covid borders and my leave from work and that kind of thing, I didn't want to take the risk of getting stuck in Auckland or getting locked down or anything like that, so I just had to make the decision. I looked at how many kilometres it was and just mapped out plan Z.
"It took us a few days, but we worked out if we came up through Gizzy and Opotiki and up to Tauranga and then down again it would be the same amount of Ks.''
McCrory's goal is to run about 50km per day.
''The blisters were really bad in the first few days, but they've settled down a lot now and I've not really had any problems.
The projected end date for the marathon of all marathons is January 13.
''Then we'll drive back and go back to work.''
McCrory says he has received a huge amount of encouragement.
''The support out there's been phenomenal - we've had lots of messages on Facebook saying 'if you need food, water, a place to stay just let us know' - it's really been amazing and Kathleen is going the whole way with me - I couldn't do it without her.''
McCrory was looking forward to the leg along the Desert Road and also running down the Kaikoura coastline.
His progress can be followed on Instagram: @andrew.mccrory.ultra.runner and on Facebook: Running Aotearoa For SDR.
He also has a givealittle fundraising page: Running Aotearoa for kids with Cerebral Palsy..
