While many Kiwis are sitting around enjoying their summer holiday, Ellie Williams is swimming 100 kilometres in 10 days - the water equivalent of a marathon a day.
Sunday’s effort was day four and took four and a half hours but Williams loved every minute.
“It was just a good time, in my happy place today,” she said smiling.
The 28-year-old is 40 kilometres into a 100 kilometre commitment, a commitment that you have to go back two years to understand.
“I went into the hospital, went into a room and the lady just said I’m going to cut to the chase. She had an envelope and she was like 'yeah, you've got it', so yeah I had a little cry in the room.”
Williams has Huntington's disease where “you lose your mind, your ability in your hands, your body movements, yeah, it's a good time”, jokes Williams.
It's taken two years for the 28-year-old to be able to laugh about it though.
While she has no symptoms now, they will come, although based on her family history she hopes she has a few more decades before then.
Swimming, and the people she's met through it, have been a huge help so she decided to get in the water to raise awareness and money for the disease.
Funds will go to the Huntington's Disease Youth Organisation of New Zealand.
When asked if it’s changed the way she lives her life Williams says it definitely has.
“I wouldn't be swimming like this, I wasn't swimming like this, really I did my first ever 10k just in march last year.”
Now she's doing 10 in a row at different locations around Auckland.
Windy conditions have made things tricky but if anyone knows a thing of two about dealing with adversity it’s Williams.
“Take each day as it comes, been thinking about cookies in that one, really hungry now so want to go get some cookies,” he said.
She’ll finish her 100 kilometres on Saturday, January 8.
You can donate to her cause here.
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