Young Kiwi battler Blake Schimanski has just completed running the entire length of New Zealand in just 28 days, all to raise money for I Am Hope in memory of his late mate Shaun.
24-year-old Schimanski set himself the challenge of running from Bluff to Cape Reinga - a distance of over 2000km - to honour his late friend, raise money for I Am Hope, and to inspire others to talk openly about mental health.
And he’s gone and bloody done it.
Back in 2018, Schimanski’s friend Shaun tragically lost his battle with mental health just two days before his 17th birthday. That loss lit the fire under Schimanski to take on this brutal challenge and raise money for I Am Hope.
He kicked off ‘Run Aotearoa’ at 5am on March 31st, the day after what would’ve been Shaun’s 24th birthday.
On day one alone, Schimanski clocked 106kms. By day six, the pain had kicked in.
“Another day banked. 72kms ticked today from Oamaru to Temuka. 452kms all together. The lack of sleep combined with 15 hour days is brutal,” his support crew posted to his Instagram, where they were regularly updating Schimanski’s progress.
By the end of the first week, the young runner had covered an insane 521.96kms - even after developing tendonitis in both of his ankles.
Schimanski completed the length of the South Island by day 13, with 944.2km under his belt. An insane effort, but he was only half way there.
The North Island threw up more challenges - knee flare-ups, bad weather, exhaustion. Still, he kept moving.
“Very average start to the day,” he wrote on Instagram at the end of day 17. “Couldn't get warmed up properly and was unable to walk by 7am. Did everything we could to get the knee working and managed to slip in 40kms for the rest of the day.”
Even on the rough days, his mindset stayed rock hard.
“We’re starting to learn to take advantage of the highs and dig deep through the lows. Chur,” he wrote
By day 22, Schimanski reached his home soil in Auckland and was joined on his run by a bunch of his mates to show support.
“So many people pushing themselves to distances they’ve never ran before, so cool to see! Special mention to Troy, Kerry and Tom who ran the whole 14hours,” he wrote on Instagram.
As the final days rolled in, Blake was spent. His mum Fiona shared: “The body is exhausted, the mind is exhausted. Yet he keeps going.”
And on day 28, he reached Cape Reinga. 2,090kms on foot. Absolutely unreal.
At the time of writing this, Schimanski has raised $39,176 for I Am Hope - money that’ll go straight to helping young Kiwis struggling with mental health.
It’s not too late to donate either. Today is the final day of donations, so if you’ve got the means and would like to, you can donate to Blake Schimanski’s ‘Run Aotearoa’ campaign here.
Schimanski was supported by his family throughout the whole challenge, who were waking up at 3.30am each morning to help him prepare for his mammoth days of running, which would usually start at 5am and end at 10pm.
“Couldn’t have asked for a better crew, putting up with me and putting everything on hold for a month to help me run the length of Aotearoa,” Schimanski wrote.
And in true Kiwi fashion - he helped himself to a well-earned Double Brown shoey once he’d completed his incredible effort.
What an absolute legend.
