In late 2011, I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I was overweight, unfit, and coasting through life without any real fire in the belly. Something had to change. So in early 2012, I decided to start running; slowly, awkwardly, one step at a time.

In June 2013, I completed my first marathon: the Perth Marathon.

It took 18 months of hard work.

Not just training, but showing up.

Persevering through setbacks.

Learning to stick with something far outside my comfort zone.

And somewhere along the way, everything changed.

They say, “I dare you to train for a marathon and not have it change your life.”

That was true for me.

It wasn’t just about running. It was about setting a huge goal – something that once felt impossible – and then proving to myself that I could do it. The self-belief, the quiet pride, the sense of transformation… it lit a fire in me.

A fire I wanted others to feel too.

Because what I discovered is this:

The road to those feelings isn’t exclusive. It’s simple. Ordinary people can feel extraordinary – if they give themselves permission to try.

So I started wondering: What else could I do?

What would happen if I aimed even higher? Not to prove something to others, but to inspire something in them.

After a few conversations, a few daydreams, and a joke post from a friend online, an idea took hold:

What if I ran across Australia?

From Perth to Brisbane.

Thousands of kilometres.

On foot.

For myself, but also for something bigger than that.

That question, half joke, half dare, soon became a plan.

And the plan became a promise.

The rest of the story?

Well, it happened, between May and September 2015.

You can find out how in the blog!