A great challenge for a great cause

Its becoming harder and harder to raise funds in these tough economic times, but that hasn't stopped one determined endurance athlete from doing his part to fund raise for a worthwhile charity close to his heart.

Aucklander runner Malcolm Law has dreamt up a challenge all of his own which is sure to test even the toughest of ultra runners plus hopefully some much needed funds for his chose charity, the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation of New Zealand.

Malcolm, or Mal, will be running each of New Zealand's seven 'Great Walks' in seven consecutive days. The Great Walks are a network of hiking trails set in New Zealand's stunning mountains and back country. They are well spread with two in the North Island and five in the South Island and range in length from 32 km to 78 km. The seven walks ( or runs in Mals case) cover a total of almost 360 km.

Aptly named the Mizone 7 in 7, the challenge will take place over seven days from November 29 this year. Mal will be be joined on each run by a number of keen supports but Mal will be the sole runner running all seven Great Walks.

Check out the 7 in 7 website for more info and follow his progress as he gets closer to the big event. He updates is blog regularly with details of his training which has just ticked over 1000 km of training runs. He reckons there's another 1000 in him before the event.

There's also a link on his site where you can sponsor him and you could even win some cool prizes by doing so.