Running 100km within 24 hours may feel like a hard slog in the mud for most, but a large contingent of Dunedin teenagers have taken on the challenge to fundraise for mental health.<\/p>\n
About 100 students are taking part in the annual King\u2019s High School annual K24 challenge where participants collectively run for 24 hours in a 300m loop within the school\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n
The challenge is held to raise funds for I Am Hope\u2019s Gumboot Friday \u2014 last year they raised $15,000, but did not have a tally yet on how much they have raised for 2026.<\/p>\n
Deputy head boy Dan Kelleher, 17, said people did not talk about mental health enough and often suppressed the feeling they might need help.<\/p>\n
“By being here, doing a hard activity, pushing ourselves, and getting out and running for 24 hours, we\u2019re hoping to make a difference for some of the boys and girls in need.”<\/p>\n
Dan said they were signalling to their peers and friend groups that they were all a safe harbour for them to come to if they needed to talk or needed help.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s all about being there for each other in hard times.”<\/p>\n
Last year, he was in a cast with an injured leg, but still came along, spent the night and scootered around the track.<\/p>\n
This year, he planned to run about 20km-30km.<\/p>\n
King\u2019s High School teacher Jeremy White said a few students last year managed to rack up 100km and that was definitely a goal for some of the runners yesterday and today.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s the great thing about this, you have guys who don\u2019t think they\u2019re athletes \u2014 then five hours later they\u2019ve covered a marathon distance without even thinking about it.”<\/p>\n
The students aimed to have at least one person running around the track for the entire 24 hours.<\/p>\n