About the rescue run

6 years ago, event organiser Mark Cathro lost his mother. She collapsed after having trouble breathing and in that instance the St Johns ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive. It had to go from Cambridge via Waikato Hospital to drop off another patient. Then onto Te Awamutu, and finally to his mother. She pulled through, but a few months later, during an operation she wasn’t so lucky.

Mark was approached by the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, asking if he could help them in their constant battle to raise money.  Mark had a personal experience of just how important their service is & was in a unique position to make a difference. 8 months later, he presented the Rescue Run concept, offering to produce the whole thing off his own back. After a couple of false starts - The Rescue Run was finally born.  The 2016 inaugural event was a smashing success - raising over $185,000 - the equivalent of saving 35 lives (35 Chopper missions)!  

We look forward to helping even more charities in this year, and years to come.  Every integral charity involved in the Rescue Run saves lives in a unique way.  We are raising funds for St John, New Zealand Surf Life Saving, Land Search and Rescue, Fire & Emergency NZ, and the CoastGuard.  (Read more about each charity on their page.)
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There’s something amazing about helping people; here’s your chance to get behind the people who do it every day. That’s why we’re asking every team to fundraise for the run - you too can help save a life!
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What are you waiting for? Check out the course and your team pages, get excited and get involved.