Massive crowd welcomes Perth to Sydney $1.4 million charity runner
After running nearly 4000km from Perth to Sydney, ultra marathoner Nedd Brockmann was given a hero’s welcome at Bondi Beach after raising $1.4 million to help fight homelessness
READING LEVEL: GREEN
After a mammoth* journey that took 46 days, almost 4000km, and raised over $1.4 million for charity, 23-year-old Nedd Brockmann successfully completed his Perth to Sydney run by staggering downhill to the golden sands of Bondi Beach at about 5:30pm on Monday evening.
Hundreds of spectators gathered at North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club to catch a glimpse of Brockmann crossing the finish line, after more than 20,000 people donated to his cause.
His quest began at Perth’s Cottesloe Beach on September 1 after he vowed to aid the plight* of Australia’s homeless by running across the country to raise money for charity Mobilise. He has since averaged more than 80km a day.
The ultra marathoner ran approximately 10 hours each day, starting at around 5am. Over the course of his 46-day journey, he has jogged the equivalent of more than 270 City2Surf* races.
Speaking to the press afterwards, Mr Brockmann said he knew lots of people were going to support him and that, “We’d get a lot – a lot of money. But I didn’t realise it would be like this.”
Mr Brockmann said that not breaking the record for being the fastest person to run across the country was “not that important”.
The epic challenge was more about “showing up and showing that people can do a whole lot more in their lives, and being an inspiration for people and raising a lot of money,” he said. “And yeah, just showing up when injured and when you know the times are tough.”
Asked what he planned to do to recover from such an amazing but exhausting feat*, Mr Brockmann said he would “refresh, look back on what’s going down, and actually take it all in”.
“I’m just taking time out and … (getting) back into my own ways,” he said. “Obviously no running. But (getting) the feet up.”
He also expressed surprise at just how many people gathered to watch him finish. After being given a traditional Indigenous ceremony to welcome him home, Mr Brockmann endured the torture of walking up some stairs to address the crowd, where he thanked everyone for their support.
“I’m just chopped, and the amount of people (that showed up), obviously it’s shown everyone’s inspired and excited,” he said.
“It’s good to have (that) through the last link today. It’s a massive effort to do that final stretch.”
Mr Brockmann’s epic running effort in the name of charity has been praised by Aussies everywhere, with some fans calling for him to be named the next Australian of the Year.
He has been accompanied by his parents, Kylie and Ian Brockmann, girlfriend Jemma Griffin, friend and photographer Bradley Farley, as well as his physio.
“He needs to get off his feet pretty quickly, because they’re pretty mashed,” his mum said.
“He’s holding up incredibly well. He’s very thin and I’d rather he was a bit chunkier, but he’s still running. I’m astounded*.”
Mr Brockmann was initially hoping to topple the all-time record, with German ultra marathon runner Achim Heukemes completing the journey across Australia in 43 days in 2005.
But after sustaining* an injury around day 12, Mr Brockmann needed to cut back on his mileage for recovery.
Additional reporting by Matthew Sullivan and Nic Savage
GLOSSARY
- mammoth: extremely large, very big, gigantic
- plight: a serious, sad, difficult condition, state or situation
- City2Surf: annual 14km race in Sydney from the CBD to Bondi Beach
- feat: achievement that needs a lot of skill, strength and courage
- astounded: amazed, surprised, shocked about something
- sustaining: experiencing, suffering, undergoing
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QUICK QUIZ
- How many days did it take Mr Brockmann to run from Perth to Sydney?
- He set off from which WA beach and finished at which NSW beach?
- How many kilometres did he cover?
- How much money did Mr Brockmann raise for homelessness charity Mobilise?
- The crossing was the equivalent of how many City2Surf races?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What’s your inspiration?
Nedd Brockmann’s effort to run from Perth to Sydney may have inspired you to do something out of the ordinary to help others too?
Mr Brockmann must have had a passion to help the homeless to raise such a massive amount of money and put his life and body on the line to do this extraordinary run across the country.
Reflect on your passions, who you’d like to help and some ideas to raise awareness and money for a cause close to your heart.
Brainstorm a list of ideas below that you could do now, or in the future when you are an adult:
Passions
Causes close to your heart
Fundraising ideas
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Personal and Social; Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
What would Mr Brockmann have to have done before and along the way to prepare his body to run 80km per day?
How do you think an injury would affect this?
What sort of recovery might Mr Brockmann need?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Health and Physical Education; Personal and Social; Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.
Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.
Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.