It was the farmer who turned up at 3am with lolly cake, the hugs and unprompted gratitude from random farmers that told Glenn Sutton he was doing something special.
It was also those moments that helped shut out the nerve pain in his left leg that began 60km into his epic 617km non-stop run from Milford Sound to Dunedin to raise the awareness of mental health and money for Farmstrong.
“The whole journey we had farmers come out of their gate bringing us baking or a tray of eggs,” he said.
“Normal people going out of their way to say thanks for what we were doing.
“It was very humbling.”
The nerve damage eventually forced him to pull the pin, but not before running 603km over six days on less than five hours’ sleep and raising more than $20,000 for Farmstrong.
It took him 125 hours and 42 minutes to run the route from Milford Sound, the Routeburn Track to Glenorchy, Queenstown, Wanaka, Omarama, Duntroon, Naseby and Middlemarch to Outram, just short of his ultimate goal of reaching Dunedin.
“It was one foot in front of the other, one mountain or one town at a time.”
Sutton said the injury, which worked its way up to his knee, forced him to withdraw at Outram.
His crew were confident they could get him home, but having passed his self-imposed 600km target and concern he could have long-term repercussions from this injury, he decided to stop.
His crew completed the final leg for Sutton as a relay, but Sutton got to cross the finish line at Emerson’s Brewery.
There were multiple memorable moments.
An Omarama policeman delivered a physiotherapist to check Sutton’s leg and an elderly farmer stopped Sutton and spoke about his own mental health issues.
Having been given a hug, Sutton was approached by the man’s wife and told her husband never showed such emotion.
Sutton said the nights were the hardest part of his epic undertaking. At 3am in the remote Dansey Pass, the music was pumping as Sutton’s caravan progressed, when a car pulled up.
Sutton thought the driver was going to complain about the music volume, but instead she handed over some lolly cake and thanked him.
“It was 3am, minus 2°C and people were getting out of bed for us. It touched me and it touched my crew. It was crazy.”
Closer to home he came across some people who had stopped carting grass in an adjacent paddock to line a fence and cheer and clap him on.
His primary goal was to run 600km before aiming at 617km to reach Dunedin. Raising in excess of $20,000 for Farmstrong was an added bonus.
His motivation to raise funds for Farmstrong came from the death of a farmer he knew.
“We all hear about mental health issues and obviously services in rural NZ are not the same as in town.
“I hope this raises more awareness for farmers,” he said.
The injury meant Sutton could not go back to work this week as a Dunedin joiner as planned, but he promises this will not be his last adventure run.
“I enjoy adventure running and involving others.
“I have a great support crew and it makes my job easier. I love seeing the crew having a good time.”
