Warning: This story references mental health issues and suicide. Please take care. Endurance athlete Stefan Ozich, 29, has completed Ironman, half Ironman and 100-mile ultra-marathons over the past four years.
Next month, he will embark on his biggest challenge yet - running the length of Aotearoa on the Te Araroa Trail and back, a total of 6000km, to raise funds for men’s mental health charity the Last Chance Project. Here, he tells the Herald how two heartbreaking losses inspired him to attempt the record-breaking run. Auckland-based endurance runner Stefan Ozich is setting out to accomplish something that’s never been done before - running and hiking the length of New Zealand and back on the rugged Te Araroa trail.
He’s aiming to raise $1m on Givealittle for the charity the Last Chance Project for men’s mental health. It’s a cause that hits close to home for Ozich - his brother took his own life last year, and prior to that, Ozich also lost a good friend to suicide. “I started thinking about it around 2022 [when] one of my close friends actually took his life,” he tells the Herald .
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