APD sergeant completes 80+ mile run fundraising for animal rescue

APD Sergeant Ben Mewis has now transformed this project into a way to fundraise for charities he and his family are passionate about.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Sergeant Ben Mewis has done it again.

"Fourth time," he said with a smile as he touched the Capitol building.

This is now the fourth community-engagement running endeavor he's completed since 2021. He started by running all of the streets in his sector to better connect with the people who live there, and he's now transformed this project into a way to fundraise for charities he and his family are passionate about.

His latest trek began at Enchanted Rock and ended on the Capitol steps. It took about 24 hours, Mewis said.

"One of the hardest runs I've had in recent memory," he said. "There were so many times I had to mentally push myself to keep going."

He had some support from other departments along the way. The Austin Police Association posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Pedernales Fire Department Station 802 and Austin-Travis County EMS Medic 26 offered words of encouragement as he passed by the station.

Mewis ran this route for the Austin Boxer Rescue and hit his fundraising goal.

His run prior to this benefited the Central Texas Pig Rescue. He has another big run planned for later this year.