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A 35-year friendship, a cheap car and 2600km of some of the North Island’s most remote roads will come together when Doug Hanna and Frank Watson set off from Ōrewa in November.
The pair are Team Still Running in the inaugural Dunga Run, a seven-day charity road rally raising money for TimeOut, which provides free holiday accommodation for New Zealand families living with incurable illness.
The event begins at Ōrewa Beach Holiday Park on November 21, with 20 teams driving cars worth no more than $2000 through forests, farmland and coastal country before finishing at Turners Cars in Ōtāhuhu on November 28. The route includes isolated back roads and Ninety Mile Beach.
For Doug and Frank, it is another adventure in a friendship spanning more than three decades.
“Frank and I have been mates for over 35 years and this is yet another adventure we’re doing together,” Doug says.
In 2024, the pair spent two-and-a-half weeks travelling independently by 4WD through the South Island high country.
Their team name, Still Running, refers both to the semi-retired mates and to their “dunga”, which they hope will keep running for the entire journey.
Doug is a TimeOut board member and experienced rally organiser who has coordinated more than 50 car runs. He and his family have also made their own holiday home available through the charity to families affected by stage four cancer and other incurable illnesses.
TimeOut was established in 2017 by Ronda Amende following her own experience with cancer. After a stage four diagnosis in 2013, friends offered her family the use of holiday homes, giving them precious time together away from hospitals and treatment.
That experience inspired TimeOut, which now connects families facing incurable illness with owners who donate stays in holiday homes around New Zealand.
Ronda says the Dunga Run turns adventure and camaraderie into practical support for families going through some of the hardest periods of their lives.
“For families facing incurable illness, time together is incredibly precious,” she says.
Each team has pledged to raise at least $5000, giving the inaugural event the potential to raise more than $100,000 if all 20 teams reach their target.
Cars must be road legal and worth $2000 or less, making keeping the dungas running for the full 2600km part of the challenge.
Info: To support Team Still Running or learn more about the event, visit dungarun.co.nz. More info: timeoutnz.org.
