Bermuda was a quick stop yesterday for American ultra runner Alex Stoy.

He literally hit the ground running within hours of his flight here from the East Coast of the United States.

The 33-year-old has travelled from country to country in the past few weeks, running hundreds of miles to benefit charity.

In Bermuda he joined members of the national gymnastics team and ran 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the team's St. David's training centre to Cooper's Island Nature Reserve and the unfinished church in St. George's.

It marked leg 23 of a non-stop charity drive which has taken him all over the United States and to the Dominican Republic and Haiti in hopes of raising money for the Dreamchaser Foundation and Valley Mental Health in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Mr. Foy was born.

He's covered 660 kilometres (413 miles) in a matter of weeks.

The funds are to be targeted for underprivileged children.

The ultra runner dubbed the effort 30 cubed: running with a purpose.

If he is successful he will have travelled to 30 different locations, running 30 kilometres and performing 30 sun salutations in each, between September 4 and October 7.

The Bermuda stopover came about through his friendship with Wendy Garrett of the Bermuda Gymnastics Association.

The pair met while at Utah State University.

"Alex was always like this," said Ms Garrett. "He's into marathons, advanced running, mountain biking and kayaking. I wasn't surprised when he decided to come here, but it was a very last-minute thing it was decided very quickly at the beginning of the month."

Bermuda has a personal connection for the athlete.

His father, Henry Stoj, worked at the Coral Island Club in 1969, playing the piano and organ under the name Stefanski.

He intends to spend the morning sightseeing before he jets off to Boston at lunchtime.

"I've been into running for 20 years," Mr. Stoy said. "About ten years ago I began ultrarunning for fun and for goal-setting purposes.

"About five years ago yoga found me and I immediately saw the connection between the two."

A friend's charity running inspired him to complete this most recent challenge.

He bought a JetBlue travel pass, closed his landscaping business for a month and left on the first weekend of September for his first run in Black Rock City in Nevada.

Yesterday's efforts began with a 30 kilometre-run in both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington DC.

Mr. Stoy leaves here for Massachusetts, where he intends to run a further 30 kilometres in Boston's Fenway Park.

Bermuda's humidity was a challenge and the ocean's blue waters made him want to jump in, Mr. Stoy said.

Even with those challenges, Bermuda wouldn't rank as his most difficult route.

"The toughest run so far was the Hoover Dam outside Las Vegas. I'd had three hours' sleep, 13 hours of travel and it was 103 degrees," Mr. Stoy explained.

His fund-raising challenge ends a week from today, at Park City in Utah.

Through it all, he has enjoyed empowering others who've run with him even if only for kilometre.

"I had a friend in Vegas run the whole 30 with me," he said.

Ms Garrett joined 30 cubed for the run in Astoria, Oregon.

She likened her friend's quest to the spiritual run in the film 'Forrest Gump'.

Mr. Stoy's run has already acquainted him with a supremely dedicated wanderer: "In Vegas I met a guy who said he'd been walking and wandering the US for 43 years. I showed him an iPhone and he didn't have any idea what it was."

Mr. Stoy's whirlwind tour can be followed on www.30cubed.org, as well as Facebook and Twitter.