Hit and run victim completes 48 hour running challenge - Nick Ashill

‘The Miracle Marathon Man’ has lived up to his nickname by running for 48 hours around a small university field to raise money and awareness of respiratory disease.

Wellington ultra-distance runner Nick Ashill raised over $11,500 for Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ by running 680 laps of Boyd-Wilson field in Kelburn in early September.

Ashill ran the equivalent of Wellington to Mt Ruapehu, running 272km over two days.

He is grateful for all of the support he received, Ashill says.

“An event like this brings people together and it was awesome to run with so many inspiring people.”

The run - dubbed ‘Laps for Lungs’ - comes nearly six years after Ashill was left for dead in a ditch following an incident during a charity run across the United States.

It was on day 81 of a charity run across America in 2017, when Ashill was struck by a vehicle in what appeared to be a deliberate hit and run.

After a long and arduous recovery, Ashill tested his marathon capabilities again six years later by running 24 hours to raise funds for Breathe Better September. Then mid-2022, Ashill returned to the scene of the hit-and-run in the US to finish the almost 5000km run that ended so abruptly in 2017.

Ashill lost his mum to the rare respiratory disease Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2015.

Ms Letitia Harding, Chief Executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ, says, "We are in awe of Nick's tremendous achievement. The money Nick has raised through his run will undoubtedly help us further support and educate hundreds of thousands of Kiwis facing respiratory health challenges."

Ashill’s 48-hour challenge this year was a warm up for his next adventure –running from Perth to Bondi Beach, starting in April 2024.

A special thanks to Friends of the Foundation Silver Partner, Comfortech, for supporting Nick's run this year.