Former drug addict to run 24 hours
To overcome a 16-year heroin addiction Perry Newburn turned to running.
On April 12, the 62-year-old hopes to add to a lifetime tally of 50,000 kilometres while tackling a cause close to his heart.
Newburn will run for 24 hours to raise money for Idea Services, which has an intellectual disability empowerment centre in Feilding, where his 24-year-old son Sean is a patient.
Sean was born with Patau syndrome, or trisomy 13, where he has an extra chromosome 13.
Newburn wants to help the centre fund the development of a sensory room.
In the past decade, he has run 60 marathons and an average of 35km every day.
Following the Christchurch earthquake, he raised $20,000 by running from Auckland to Christchurch. Later this year, he plans to run from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
Newburn’s fixation with running didn’t catch on till he was nearly 50. ‘‘I won a 16-year battle with heroin,’’ he said. ‘‘The number of overdoses, I’m lucky to be alive, to be honest. I probably shouldn’t be alive.
‘‘It sounds simple now, but at the time I had to ask myself ‘do I want to live or do I want to die?’
‘‘There’s a lot to live for now, and this run is part of what makes you realise that.’’
Since then running has taken him all over the world and given him a new meaning. A few years ago he ran across the United States to raise money for cancer kids, from New York to Los Angeles. It took him 51 consecutive days and nearly 4000km.
‘‘I enjoy doing the long runs these days. This one is close to my heart because of Sean.’’
He starts at 8am. Donations can be made by contacting Newburn on 027 285 6389.