When Glenn Sutton stopped running to touch the sea at St Clair Beach early yesterday, he had completed more than 10 marathons back-to-back in under three days.
The 43-year-old Dunedin joiner ended his 427km run from Haast Beach to St Clair at 1.25am.
He had picked up a pebble from the Haast Beach surf on Friday and carried it with him on his run.
The more than 67-hour journey had its highs and lows, he said.
He was ``pretty beaten up'' on the final stretch home from Green Island.
``I was battling away - I hadn't been eating properly and I started hallucinating in Concord.''
The visions included ``seeing'' people hiding in the bushes and trying to talk to them.
The first time the run became difficult was between Raes Junction and Beaumont, when he was ``cold and hungry'' and needed a 20-minute sleep to ``come right'' before getting back on the road.
A euphoric moment was running between Makarora and the The Neck between Lakes Wanaka and Hawea at twilight.
``It was beautiful - the sun was going down, the lake was a mirror and snow was on the mountains.''
About 70 people, mostly friends and family, greeted him on the Esplanade yesterday.
The support had been ``humbling''and people showing signs of support along the way was ``fantastic''.
When he got home about 2.30am yesterday, he had a shower to warm his muscles and went to bed but his sleep was hampered by soreness.
``I couldn't get comfy.''
He had a week off work to ``put his feet up'' to watch the swelling diminish.
He was walking ``like a 90-year-old man'' yesterday but was injury-free and hoped to be running again within a week.
``It hasn't put me off at all and I'd do it again - the whole experience was really cool.''
