It's been one heck of a journey for Ryan Fulton. He left the Palm beach on the gold coast a month ago, and since then he's been paddling south to raise awareness of heart disease and how easy it is to prevent. Today he arrived at his destination in Melbourne, a mere 2087km from where he stated. 

35 days to be exact, so the paddle averages out to 60 kilometres per day which is an unbelievable feat. Ryan's raised over $6000 for the Heart Foundation through donations, and the amount is still slowly growing as the donations will be open until the end of January. To raise money Ryan also held a few prize draws, helped along by Jamie Mitchell SUP who donated a board and some other merchandise to the cause, plus a board to Ryan himself which has certainly got a workout! 

Paddling into a 25 knot headwind as he arrived in Melbourne, Ryan was relieved (to say the least!) that he'd made it all that way. Met by a crowd of enthusiastic paddlers for the final part of the journey, Ryan couldn't have been more appreciative, today saying on Facebook: 

"2087km & 35 days later.. it is all finally OVER.

Thank you to everyone who came out & paddled the final leg with me yesterday, it took us 5 hours to get from St Kilda beach to South Wharf..a tougher than expected journey. We had constant 50km/h winds pushing against us the whole way & a sweltering heat..everyone got a little taste of what the last 5 weeks of my life has been like, the paddle up the Yarra River felt extra special with you guys by my side. We all soldiered on and made it to the finish line.

I hope that this journey has helped peolpe realise that Heart Disease is preventable thru a healthy diet and excerise (8-12 hrs of paddle boarding each day is a little excessive, but you get my point, half an hr a day is perfect). I have almost reached $6000 in online donations, this will remain open until the end of January. Thank you again to everyone who has donated so far, as far as I'm concerned paddling the East Coast of Australia was the easy part, you guys did the hard work in donating. I have met some incredible people the last few weeks, some of whom will be friends for life. Now back to reality & looking forward to what life throws at me next"

What an amazing feat, jump online and donate to the cause if you can spare a few dollars. Ryan's got a page on Everydayhero.com.au which you can find here. 

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