AC/DC launch charity auction to help boost incredible fundraising efforts of British ultrarunner

Here’s some lovely news to kick off your year: following British ultrarunner Rob Pope’s incredible 1,200-mile run across Australia in 2025, in which he followed the route of AC/DC’s epic stadium tour, the band are also doing their bit to boost Rob’s fundraising efforts.

The Highway To Help run – in aid of the NSPCC, The Smith Family and the WWF – saw Rob don his best Angus Young attire and rack up an average of 45 miles per day down under between November 16 and December 14, kicking things off in Melbourne and completing this mammoth achievement at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Before he began, Rob met AC/DC backstage and found out that his heroes would be lending their support to the initiative, selling signed inflatable guitars at each date to help raise even more money. And now, with the tour all done, they’ve also put a bunch online which you can bid on between now and January 15.

“This was not my idea,” Rob writes on Instagram. “I did not ask for this. This is what the greatest rock’n’roll band are like, as human beings. They saw what was happening, in the middle of their most important run of shows for over 10 years and said: ‘We want to help.’ They wanted to help disadvantaged and abused children, living in poverty and fear and also the world we live in. I guess I always hoped my heroes would be just that, heroes in every sense. Turns out they are. As for me? I’m THUNDERSTRUCK.”

“We are all so proud of Rob for taking on this incredible running challenge in Australia,” said NSPCC Fundraising Manager, Janette Drew. “He’s not only a local hero in Liverpool, but right across the NSPCC. It was a serious undertaking any athlete would struggle with and he smashed it. We were with Rob for every step and can’t thank him enough.”

Bid on the inflatable guitars right here, and see Rob in action below:

You can also find Rob on Instagram.

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