Round the world runner visits Hamilton

Running around the world is not everyone's cup of tea.

But Aussie academic-cum-athlete Tom Dennis is doing just that to raise funds for OXFAM.

The lean 50-year-old has swapped the comfort of his Sydney home, wife and two grown-up daughters to pound the roads around the globe.

Last week, accompanied by a posse of Hamilton Road Runners, he ran through Hamilton on his way north and a completion date for his New Zealand leg of February 7.

The PhD mathematician, with qualifications in oceanography, has taken leave from working out how to harness electric power from the restless oceans, to gauging how his own power will tide him over day to day.

Running around 50kms each day, Tom has already covered the South Island, enjoyed alpine scenery, crossed Cook Strait, ventured north past Tongariro National Park and succumbed to the pleasures of a Rotorua thermal spa.

He selected OXFAM as his charity of choice, not only for the work the organisation carries out but, because much of its fund raising is based on athletic activities.

Tom reckons his athletic odyssey will take 20 months 'the adventure of a lifetime', he calls it.

Follow Tom's journey on his website www.tomsnextstep.com