A team of cardiologists and health professionals arrived at Bluff this evening having cycled the length of New Zealand as part of the Great Ride for Heart, raising $1.1 million on the way.
Heart Foundation spokeswoman Elissa Downey said about 30 doctors crossed the line about 6pm - 25 of them having completed the entire two-week ride.
They exceeded the $1 million target to be put towards the Heart Foundation's planned $5 million Cardiovascular Research Fund which will install a chairperson to oversee research aimed at preventing heart disease.
Ms Downey said the ride had gone well with a lot of media coverage promoting awareness of heart disease, New Zealand's leading cause of death.
It had also been incident-free - something which was important to organisers after the death of North Shore's Dr Graham Robinson, who was killed by a hit and run driver while training for the event last October.
By the start of the ride donations in his name had reached nearly $24,000.
