Kai Martin’s Run for DV raises $50,000 over 500 kilometres
The Murray Bridge ultramarathon runner has achieved both of the goals he set for 2026.
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Kai Martin has done the impossible – again.
The ultramarathon runner achieved both of the goals he had set for his second Run for DV early on Monday morning: completing a 500-kilometre run around Murray Bridge’s Sturt Reserve, and raising $50,000 in the process.
His voice was hoarse and his body was barely functional, but he was able to drag himself across his self-imposed finish line around 6am.
The pain and exhaustion he endured had raised more than $51,000 from more than 250 local donors.
The funds will go to the Murray Bridge Regional Collaboration on Violence Against Women and Children, and will be transferred to a charity being established by Mr Martin.
His aim: to end domestic violence in the community.
“I want to see a world free form abuse and violence,” he said before he started.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe, to feel loved, and to be happy, especially in their own homes.”
Hundreds of community members supported Mr Martin during his trek: not just with donations, but by accompanying him on laps of the riverfront reserve, cheering him on as he passed, or putting up signs out the front of their houses.
Over the course of the week he was visited by community sector organisations, car enthusiasts, the band Midnight Radio and more.
Finishing his run took Kai Martin through the night and right to the limits of human endurance. Photos: Peri Strathearn, Kai Martin/Instagram.
In return, Mr Martin said he hoped he could act as a positive role model to local kids.
“They’ll see this and go ‘oh, maybe that’s what life is supposed to be about’,” he told Murray Bridge News.
“My fulfilment comes from giving.
“It ends up meaning you put yourself last, but I get fulfilment and joy out of that.”
In years to come – implying that he might consider doing this again someday – Mr Martin suggested he would like to attract sponsorship from sports shoe or supplement brands.
Taking time off work to complete a 500km run, and recover afterwards, meant that he suffered financially as well as physically – not that that mattered much to him.
Mr Martin announced his second Run for DV in November, only months after completing another seemingly impossible challenge: running the 324km length of the Lavender Federation Trail in less than three days.
His original Run for DV wound up raising more than $67,000 for domestic violence prevention and support initiatives.
He was named Murray Bridge’s citizen of the year in January.
- Donate: www.mycause.com.au.
- Get help: Visit the Haven at Murray Bridge Community Centre between 9am and 4pm on weekdays, or the DVINA Centre at 1 Standen Street, Murray Bridge; call the Domestic Violence Crisis Line on 1800 737 732, or Murray Mallee Adelaide Hills Domestic Violence Service on 8228 8960; or, in an emergency, dial 000.
Disclosure: Murray Bridge News was a sponsor of Mr Martin’s run.
