Kahira Rata-Olley would rather live through the pain of running 250km with injured feet than live another five seconds of her old life of being sexually and physically abused.

The Ngati Rongomai/Ngati Pikiao descendant is running the distance from Rotorua to Flaxmere, Hastings over five days.

Kahira Rata-Olley (right) and her daughter Vervena Anderson getting ready for a run. Photo: Supplied.

It's all in aid of the campaign 'Running to Stop It, Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse”.

Kahira will begin the gruelling run at Puketawhero Park, Rotorua on Wednesday morning at 7am and hopes to complete the run by 1pm on Sunday She says the run is to help raise awareness of sexual and physical abuse within the home.

'This is an awareness run to stop, stand up and speak out against domestic violence and sexual abuse,” she says.

'This is not just for women, this is not just for children, because there are men that are also abused. They're battered and are in domestic violence relationships. This is for both gender and all races.”

Kahira says she isn't doing the run as a protest to what happened to her.

'I'm not out there protesting. I'm not angry about what's happened in my life. This is what happened, I've healed from it all. I've accepted what has happened to me and I've forgiven those who have hurt me.

'This is a celebration of my survival because, unfortunately, there are too many people that have either been murdered through domestic violence or have taken their own life.”

She chose the route because she has travelled the road a lot. She grew up in Flaxmere, but now lives in Rotorua.

Preparing for the journey has taken 11 months, and has come with some setbacks.

The mother of four and grandmother of five has arthritis in her back and just three weeks ago was told she will need to wear orthotics for a foot injury she has sustained from all the running.

The orthotics haven't turned up in time for the 45-year-old's run, but she says five days of pain is nothing compared with the lifetime of abuse she had to put up with.

'Mentally, I have to be prepared for what's ahead of me and I'm that type of person anyway.

'I don't get into the hype of things that could possibly happen. I don't focus on that. I just know what's ahead of me.

'But in saying that, I'd rather do five days of the type of pain I'm going to experience, than live another five seconds of the life that I did.”

Kahira was the victim of sexual abuse as a seven-year-old. The abuser was a family member and she's not afraid to tell her story.

'I'm an open book mate,” she says. 'I don't hold anything back.

'I am a survivor of both domestic violence and sexual abuse.

'I was sexually abused at the age of seven for three years and this was a family member. This was over 30 years ago. We weren't allowed to speak of it and it was just known that you don't talk about it.”

At 14, Kahira met her ex-husband and she says the abuse started not long after they met.

'I was in that relationship for almost 15 years and for over 13 of them, it was violent.”

Kahira got the name suppression lifted on her sexual abuse case so she is able to tell her story.

Her story has inspired many people and organisations, including Rotorua Police, who will also take part in her run.

She says a lot of the time police are given a bad rap when it comes to domestic violence, but Kahira calls them her angels.

'One time, I thought my ex-husband was going to kill me.

'There was no-one in sight, it was in the early hours of the morning and out of nowhere they turned up. I've often told [the police] ‘you were my angles when there was no-one else around'.”