Dunedin woman Poppy Restieaux’s hatred of long-distance running will not stop her from running an ultra-marathon to raise money for Palestinian refugees.
Last week, as she lay in bed, Ms Restieaux thought of a fundraiser, with the idea being to run 1 metre for every Palestinian person killed in Gaza.
She then created the "Peace for Palestine" fundraiser, and aimed to run at least 50km at the beginning of next year, with Otago Harbour being her chosen course.
"It seems like a really massive challenge at the moment."
About 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
She would make sure the run distance reflected the number of people killed as of January.
The idea came to her last week, with a social media post announcing it on Sunday.
"It was one of those thoughts. And I was like, let's just do it."
The original idea was to run a minute per person killed, but that idea was quickly changed, she said.
"I did the math and I was like ‘no’."
All funds raised will be donated to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), as she wanted to raise money for a cause that was "pretty awful" and "heart destroying".
A self-proclaimed long-distance running hater, she said her longest run so far was 10km.
"I do exercise regularly and I'm a group fitness instructor as well, so I'm going to use that to my advantage."
Last week in preparation she ran 8km.
Wind may be an issue when running around the harbour, but she was not worried, she said.
"I'm going to be running slow enough that it won't be too bad, I think."
A website had been set up and people could donate to the fundraiser through that, she said.
