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REGINA — For nearly five hours, Mike Hanson and David Morin ran a 42.2km marathon in Regina, all for a good cause.

The pair are taking part in the 10in10in10 Marathon Challenge, running in every province over 10 days to raise $1 million towards the Autism Aspergers Friendship Society, KidSport, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“For me, [the reason I'm running is] about 13 years ago, my two oldest boys were diagnosed with autism. It really changed my perspective on what was really important for our family and future,” said Hanson.

From this, Hanson wanted to find ways of giving back to children left behind. He decided to team up with Morin for a large fundraiser, as the pair had a passion for running.

The two trained for 18 months, with Morin taking around the last two months off work to prepare for a 422km marathon.

Over the past week, the pair have run 344km across eight different locations, including St. John’s, N.L., Halifax, Charlottetown, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and now Regina.

The pair started their run at around 7 a.m. at the Conexus Arts Centre, following a path around Wascana Lake, heading over to Varsity Heights and eastern Regina to eventually end up back at Conexus Arts Centre around 12 p.m.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but we had a good reason to do it,” said Morin.

At the finish line, Hanson and Morin were greeted by their largest turnout of supporters and organizations so far.

As it stands, the pair have raised over $850,000, roughly $150,000 away from their mark.

“We’re thrilled about that. We’re blown away by the support we’ve received from our families, friends, charities and more,” said Morin.

The pair has two more stops over the weekend, heading to Vancouver on Saturday and ending in Calgary on Sunday.

Sunday’s event in Calgary will coincide with the city’s marathon. Morin said around 100 runners from the marathon will be joining the pair.

From their challenge, the pair hopes it will make a significant difference in children’s lives and inspire others to make a difference.

As for future marathons, Hanson and Morin weren’t sure about trying it again but left the door open for another cross-country challenge.