5000km run to raise money for charity

Only days ago, long-distance runner Perry Newburn was legging it out of Wanganui on stage one of a 5000km feel-good fundraising marathon and this afternoon he plans to arrive in Whangarei.

His planned 71-day Great New Zealand Run is to raise money and awareness around the country for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.

Each day of the run has been designed to give Mr Newburn, an experienced ultra-marathon runner, an achievable goal.

Members of the public, running clubs and sponsors have joined him on stretches of his journey.

Kathy Lewis, Northland representative of the run's sponsors ENZED Total Hose and Fitting Service, said she hoped people would turn out at the Town Basin this afternoon when Mr Newburn arrived.

"It's a good cause, we'll have people there passing the [fundraising] bucket around," Ms Lewis said.

Local runners would join Mr Newburn on the road tomorrow to accompany him on his next stretch.

Mr Newburn, 57, has five pairs of running shoes with him on the 5000km run around New Zealand but he expects to wear out more than that.

The runner who completed his first marathon at the age of 49, hopes the Great New Zealand Run will raise $30,000 for the mental health cause. He has worked in mental health for a long time, most recently as an alcohol and drug counsellor for MASH Trust in Palmerston North.

He said a diagnosis of mental illness - for either the person with it or someone close to them - would affect one in four New Zealanders during their lifetime.