“Somehow - I don’t know how - I was sitting at the bottom of the Crown Range having done 160 km and I just broke down,” he told The Country’s, Jamie Mackay.
“I’ve never been in a state like that before in my life.”
Running the Devil’s Staircase – the winding road leading from Kingston to Queenstown along the shores of Lake Wakatipu - had taken its toll the night before, he said.
“It was pretty rough. The mind was beaten, the body was beaten.”
“I was very fortunate to have mates behind me, dragging me out of the van after five to ten minutes sleep and telling me to get up and going.
“There were points along that way that I told them that I wanted them to run from Kingston to Frankton to save my legs, so I could get up over the Crown Range.”
Having hit rock bottom, there was one person, in particular, Anderson wanted to talk to, so he called his good mate and fellow runner Ben “BOC” O’Carroll, for a pep talk.
“I called up O’Carroll and I couldn’t even talk to him, I was bawling my eyes out.”
“It’s probably one of the [most] heart-breaking things [I’ve done] - making that phone call and Ben just saying, look everyone’s behind you, we’ve got you – just keep on going.”
His friend’s words were enough to spur Anderson on to complete his mission.
“I found myself sitting at the bottom and I thought – alright, I need a wee game plan and that was just calling BOC, and what an absolute legend he was.”
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Anderson was happy to share his vulnerable moment with others around him.
“My mates saw me in tears, my mum and dad saw me in tears, just random people as well and I wasn’t ashamed of it – I put myself out there – that’s what got me up over the hill.”
The support didn’t stop after he finished either, as Anderson has raised over $52,000 for Movember – smashing his goal of $21,000.
“When I first started out, $5000 was my target,” he said.
“It’s just been mindboggling how much support everyone’s been throwing towards the Movember foundation.”
Understandably Anderson was feeling the effects of his epic journey when The Country caught up with him yesterday.
“The body’s sore and swollen – ankles are no good, to be honest with you - they’re just like big fat sausages, but that’s probably the price you pay.”
However, he managed a modest celebration when he reached Wānaka at 7 pm on Saturday, after 31 and a half hours on his feet.
“I was pretty excited when I got to the end … I had a glass of beer and even managed to have a wee stubby and that was me done – I was straight to bed after that.
“The reception that I got when I came into town was just incredible, just randoms and people from all over the show, it was very, very cool.”
Anderson may have done all the running but it was definitely a team effort, he said.
“With a good bunch of mates surrounding [me], and the local community supporting me and everyone in New Zealand cheering me on - it got me there – incredible.”
