Running Paths Of History

New Plymouth-based ultra-distance runner Lisa Tamati and Australian travel journalist Chris Ord recently ran 140km from the desert outpost of Hermannsburg to Alice Springs — retracing the route taken by stockman Hezekial Malbunka when he saved the life of missionary administrator Carl Strehlow in 1922. Their run through the Red Centre is the first of 10 “superhuman feats of endurance” undertaken by indigenous people around the world that the pair is trying to emulate for a documentary series called Run the Planet. Tamati’s next run is through the Arizona desert, where the Hopi tribe of Native Americans once roamed. “As a Maori woman, the indigenous element of this story appeals to me strongly,” Tamati said. “Part of my message — that anyone can achieve great things, be that in running or other pursuits — is linked to the sedentary lifestyles modern society cultivates, especially for our indigenous communities.”