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George Boanas is running more than 2400km across Japan to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Boanas, 26, began at Cape Sata and aims to reach Cape Soya, despite limited running experience.
Funds raised will support healthcare for Palestinians living under occupation or as refugees.
A Queenstown man is running the length of Japan - over 2400km - in an ambitious solo mission to raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
George Boanas, who most recently worked on his family vineyard in the Gibbston Valley, began his journey at Cape Sataon the southern tip of Kyushu in early May, with the aim of reaching Cape Soya at the top of Hokkaido.
Despite having minimal long-distance running experience, the 26-year-old has thought about doing something similar for years, although this was the first time he felt ready to attempt such a physical and mental undertaking.
“I only decided a couple of weeks before starting,” Boanas told the Herald.
“Before April, I think I’d run the distance of a marathon four times.”
To test his limits, Boanas ran from Gibbston Valley to Christchurch - a distance of around 450km - over 12 days.
George Boanas is running over 2400km across Japan to raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
The trial, though “pretty painful”, gave him the confidence to go international and challenge himself more than ever before.
Now travelling alone across Japan, Boanas is on his second bag, third pair of shoes, carrying all his gear and usually deciding where to sleep only hours before nightfall.
“Most challenges are probably mood-related and resolved by eating lots of food.
“Some challenges are more frustrating. Like trying to fix and understand an injury with Google, or sleeping on an air mattress with holes in it and having to blow it up three times a night after hobbling all day.”
While the endeavour is a personal challenge, Boanas has set up a JustGiving page to raise money for Palestinians suffering under one of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crises during the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British-registered charity established in 1982, provides healthcare to Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as to refugees in Lebanon.
George Boanas is on his third pair of shoes, second bag, carrying his gear and choosing nightly stops as he goes.
It also advocates for Palestinians’ rights to health and dignity, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, training healthcare workers, growing local capacity and addressing shortfalls in service delivery.
Boanas was introduced to the organisation through social media and has considered supporting the Palestinian cause for many months.
“I’m not trying to convince people that I’m an expert on the history of this conflict because I’m not,” Boanas said.
“However, I know enough to know there are innocent people being treated miserably and I don’t think it requires being an expert to try and support people that objectively need the support.”
Support has come in from New Zealand, where he’s in contact with family and friends, and from locals he’s met along the way.
“People in Japan that understand some English are in general very surprised and supportive,” Boanas said, describing heartening interactions with those who don’t, where language barriers dissolved into mutual laughter.
George Boanas said people in Japan had been 'very surprised and supportive'.
Despite the daily obstacles, he’s staying in good spirits.
“I love this stuff and I’m lucky to enjoy the pain a little bit.
“It becomes rewarding and funny as soon as the challenges are over.”
The money raised will contribute to Medical Aid for Palestinians’ work at a critical time, as the conflict overwhelms Gaza’s medical infrastructure.
Last week, the World Health Organisation said that at least 94% of Gaza’s hospitals were damaged or destroyed, with staff operating without basic supplies and infrastructure devastated by repeated Israeli airstrikes.
“Only 19 of Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals remain operational ... and are struggling under severe supply shortages, lack of health workers, persistent insecurity, and a surge of casualties, all while staff work in impossible conditions.”
Palestinian residents flee conflict zones to safer areas following intense Israeli military attacks on the Jabalia Refugee Camp on May 21. Photo / Getty Images
Israel imposed a complete blockade on humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on March 2, in a bid to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
Amid international pressure and reports of humanitarian needs “spiralling out of control”, Israel’s Cabinet has since allowed some aid into Gaza.
A new food distribution centre set up by the controversial US-and-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, opened in Rafah on May 27, only to be stormed by thousands of Palestinians seeking food supplies.
Two days later, a similar incident occurred at a World Food Programme warehouse, with initial reports indicating at least two people had died with several injured.
WFP said “hordes of hungry people” broke into its central Gaza warehouse looking for food, noting it had “consistently warned” of the “risks imposed by limiting humanitarian aid to hungry people in desperate need of assistance”.
You can donate to George Boanas’ fundraiser via JustGiving.
