By Stephanie Muir

FORMER National Surf Malibu board champion Mal Butterfield yesterday compared the Pink Lads Challenge to the gruelling sport that made him a household Australian name.

Butterfield is one member of the seven-strong contingent of runners who are tackling the 1000-kilometre journey from the MCG to the SCG to raise money for the McGrath Foundation.

Butterfield admitted the task had been physically and mentally challenging, revealing it paralleled with the tough competition he endured as a professional board champion.

"Paddleboard is quite a strenuous activity; it takes a lot of endurance and you have to get used to sitting in an unnatural position," he said.

"Funnily enough, a lot of ultra-marathon runners come from a board background because of the high level of fitness."

Even after 15 years of retirement, Butterfield was eager for the challenge the relay run presented.

The distance of the run, unimaginable to the majority of people, was not an overwhelming task for Butterfield.

The former champion regularly undertakes long-distance runs for training and fitness, including a jog from Sydney to the Mt Kosciuszko snow fields.

Butterfield was finding the climatic conditions difficult, with the country heat a world away from his usual training weather in Cronulla.

"The 32 degrees is more like 50 degrees on the bitumen so that has been quite challenging," he said.

"Most of the running I do is around the beaches at night or early morning."

Butterfield has tasted a variety of conditions during his time at the top of sport, venturing to all corners of the globe for competition.

"The Baltic Sea, Japan, Canada and even in lakes; I have experienced a lot of different conditions."

Butterfield admitted a bout of dehydration had also "knocked him around" and made the task of the continuous run even larger.

"I got a bit dehydrated and with the heat that was hard," he said.

"Living out of the bus has been a challenge; we pull over for a sleep and we are just lying on the ground.

"We fight over the softest piece of ground and you don't even think about the spiders or snakes because you're just exhausted.

"They can crawl over me but just don't bite me."