After the respected electrician died in August, Justin decided to pay tribute by running.

On March 31 he ran five kilometres in the Multiple Sclerosis Half Marathon event. From that day forward he has been committed to running 610km - the same as the round trip to Melbourne - before the end of the year, and to raise $10,000 for charity in doing so.

As of last Monday, the 32-year-old had run 158km, more than a quarter of the total distance.

"Even before Dad got crook I wanted to do something to try and raise some money, and running's never been one of my strongest suits," he said.

"I worked it out and it's about 2.2 kilometres per day, which didn't seem like much, but when you've got life coming in it can add up. I try to run at night time sometimes and I do a fair few laps before footy training if I can.

"I've got a couple of different tracks I do: one down along the Wimmera River which is five kilometres, and another from my house to O'Connors on the highway which is nine. I try to change it up so I'm not doing the same thing each time.

Mesothelioma, the cancer that killed Mr Chilver's father, is a cancer on the lining of the lungs and other membranes often caused by asbestos. Mr Chilver said his father contracted the disease through his line of work.

"There's no cure, there is treatment with chemotherapy but that's just to prolong life and ease the pain," Mr Chilver said.

"I was an electrician before my career change too. I want to donate some of the money to the Bernie Banton Foundation which is there to support people with the disease and their families."

Now a teacher at Dimboola Memorial Secondary College, Mr Chilver said he also planned to donate to good causes addressing other issues that have touched his friends and family, including Cancer Council Victoria, Beyond Blue and the Royal Children's and Women's Hospital.

"I haven't shaved since Dad passed away, so it's starting to get a bit longer, but eventually I also want to do a 'Shave for a Cure': I'm going to let whoever makes the highest donation shave the beard off," he said.

A former Toohey's Medal winner with the Dimboola Roos in the Wimmera Football League, Mr Chilver said his family and friends had gotten around his campaign.

"I'm currently at $1540 but I've got a fair bit of time. I've had a batch of running singlets made up and the first batch sold out in a couple of days, all proceeds from them will go towards charity as well," he said.

"Hutchy (John Hutchins) at Dimboola Mensland got the singlets for me and Greg at Wimmera Trophies and Gifts was able to do the printing for me at a discount, which means more money can go to charity. I also got a close friend from school Naomi Hawker to do the logo design."

The logo on the singlets is a tribute to the logo of David Chilver's electrician businesses, which was, somewhat fittingly, nicknamed "The Running Man".

Mr Chilver said he had also been contacted by Wimmera residents with their own running goals.

"A couple of friends have challenge me to do Run Melbourne in a few weeks' time, so I'm doing that with Josh Rentsch and Maddy Bruce," he said.

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