Advocates just don’t come any tougher than this
Local
A young Murray Bridge community advocate has been making some quite extraordinary efforts to help shine a light on domestic violence by putting his feet on the ground and running, and running, and running.
Kai Martin, a 27-year-old endurance athlete, has made it his mission to combine his love for long distance running with his passion for creating positive change in his community. Over the last 12 months, Kai has run more than 800 kilometres with the goal of raising money and awareness for people impacted by domestic violence.
And Catholic charity Centacare has been an immediate beneficiary with Kai donating $10,000 to Centacare’s Murray Mallee & Adelaide Hills DV Service last year and a further $10,000 already in 2026.
“I grew up with a dad that was a GP specialising in mental health and a mum who was a family therapist who specialised in domestic violence and also a member of the Murray Bridge Regional Collaboration of Violence against Women and Children,” Kai told The Southern Cross.
“I was very lucky to be educated on things like social justice, racism and domestic violence from a very young age. I was 15-years-old when I first joined the local domestic violence volunteer group and I always knew I wanted to do something bigger around the issue.
“I found my love for running around 2022 and then one day I had a lightbulb moment. I realised that I could run a ridiculous number of kilometres to raise money and to help my community of Murray Bridge with the issue of domestic violence.”
Kai made his idea a reality over the last 12 months, completing Kai’s Run for DV in May 2025, a gruelling challenge in which he ran the 325km Lavender Federation Trail in just 72 hours, raising $67,000.
He then returned in February this year for Kai’s Run for DV 2, in which he increased the stakes, completing a 500km race around the Sturt Reserve in Murray Bridge in just five days, raising a further $60,000 for his charity.
The last 24 hours of his recent 500km challenge was beyond tough he said.
“I was so depleted and over it but I still had 130km to get through, which was very difficult. Sleep deprivation plays tricks with your mind and your body just wants to give up, but you have to find the courage to push through the pain.
“I would just think about the reason I was doing it and how much it meant to the community. So many people came out to support and thank me, which gave me the strength to keep going. I was also never alone, I had my support crew or a member of the Murray Bridge community with me for every lap.”
As well as raising the money through his runs, Kai is devoted to distributing the money in a way that maximises its impact within his community.
“It was important to me that all the money went to Murray Bridge based services and that the locals could see the results,” he said.
And his efforts in raising the money have not gone unrewarded with Kai recognised as the 2026 Murray Bridge Citizen of the Year in January.
“I don’t do it for the recognition but winning something like that shows that what I’m doing does matter to people and does affect people” Kai said.
“I really hope to shine a spotlight on domestic violence and to start a conversation about it. Domestic violence is something that happens behind closed doors and that isn’t really talked about, and I believe that’s part of the reason that why it’s able to keep going. So, I’m trying to be direct in the approach to ending it, instead of tip toeing around it.”
Looking to the future, Kai aims to keep raising money and awareness through his endurance challenges.
“I’ve done two runs already, but I’d love to get all the way to run number 10,” he said.
“I want to do a bunch of them and even set a world record for something to do with running. This is something I’m passionate about and absolutely something I want to continue doing in the future.”
