Wally: I'll go it alone

It's a 24-hour relay that relies on teams of people getting together to share the load. But one man is going to put his body, and possibly sanity, on the line and do the lot himself.

David Leishman, captain of 10-year-veteran team A Bunch of Wallys has bravely, some may say recklessly, pledged to walk the track for the full 24 hours.

"It's something I feel I have to do for myself and I've been thinking about it for a while.

"As this is the tenth year of the relay it seems like a good time."

He's been training to get fit for the marathon effort by walking and cycling, but he knows that there is going to be pain involved.

"I'm pretty fit normally but it will certainly take a toll on the body."

Mr Leishman has done this sort of thing before.

In 2006 he attempted a double lap of Lake Taupo on a Raleigh chopper but unfortunately found he had to give up a little way into the second lap.

"Riding a chopper for that distance was possibly not the best idea I had had and I felt as though I let down myself and a lot of other people by not finishing what I set out to do.

"So this time I have a little bit of a point to prove to myself."

Mr Leishman lost both parents to cancer and so this is a very personal journey for him.

"Doing the relay each year is good for me. It's a good time to remember and it helps me deal with it," he said.

He hopes to raise over $1000.

- © Fairfax NZ News