by PETER GRACE
Two young women from Christ the King parish in Auckland arrived in Bluff last month as part of a team run from Cape
Reinga to Bluff.
One of the Australian women clocks up the k’s on the road to Bluff.
Sisters Luisa and Besi Feki, aged 23 and 28 respectively, were part of Run4Mind, an event organised by Australian sisters Jennalea and Rachael Laycock from Melbourne, to raise awareness of, and money for, mental health.
The four women began running south from Cape Reinga on September 7. Their plan was to run 2000 kilometres from there to Bluff in 32 days. They were scheduled to arrive in Bluff on October 8.
Luisa and Besi’s dad, Alofangia, told NZ Catholic that his daughters were supported by their parish, Christ the King in Owairaka.
“So many people we know, including ourselves, suffer or have suffered from mental ill-health,” the website reads.
“Running and exercise can help with the management of mental illness, including depression and anxiety.”
Those who followed the run through a Facebook page saw that living the vision was tough.
On the first day, Rachael was bitten by a Rottweiler, meaning she couldn’t run every leg — an upsetting result for her.
About four days after leaving Cape Reinga, another post wrote about the body shutting down, falling asleep unexpectedly, twice almost passing out, “and my Achilles and blisters are doing my head in”.
A later post said: “I (Rach) smashed out the first 23.5km with Pesi . . . till 15km, Luisa then smashed out 21,
currently sitting at 38ks, with Jen aiming to bring us home for the last 32ks.”
Facebook page photos included bloodied feet.
Run4Mind’s goal was to raise $10,000 or more for Mind Australia and The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.
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