Runner Josh Partington took off from the Port Lincoln foreshore last Saturday morning with a grand endeavour to test his endurance while raising funds for Movember.
Mr Partington, a physical education teacher, set himself the goal of running 245 kilometres for the month, which represented the 2455 men that died by suicide in Australia last year.
Last weekend he set about running his final 100 kilometres.
Over the following nearly 30 hours, Mr Partington ran five kilometres every hour, with a well earned sleep break in the evening.
“The longest I’ve run before yesterday was 30 kilometres in a day,” he said.
“I finished up 75 kilometres yesterday at about eight and then jumped in the jetty pool that had opened up just [the day before], so it was perfect timing.
“I think it’s nice to challenge yourself and do something that’s a bit out of your comfort zone and it was a great way to support something and raise some funds.”
Mr Partington said he had been undertaking Movember fundraising since 2013.
He completed a total of 75 kilometres on Saturday and the last 25 kilometres on Sunday, reaching his goal at 12.30pm at Jump Ship Brewing, where family, friends and supporters had gathered to help him celebrate.
After crossing the line with some of his friends in tow, Mr Partington said he was proud of the achievement and was happy to share that he had raised more than $5000 as of that morning.
“Big thank you to everyone that got behind it and supported either financially, or coming out and doing a 5 k with me or just coming out to say hi,” he said.
“Ace merch donated the shirts, that was amazing.
“I’d go past Axel Stenross and cars would be beeping and recognising it, so yeah, pretty special. Going into the weekend I didn’t envision running 90 of the 100 k’s with people so I was excited about that.”
Three students and several friends and supporters joined Mr Partington on his runs, some for five kilometres and some for a lot more.
When asked if he would do it again next year he replied: “In some capacity I’d love to, if it’s not for Movember specifically, for another cause.
