AfterwardsBrisbane to Ipswich for Blaise
The Last Briswich Marathon
I swapped the HAA red for my Rogue Runners shirt and ran the inaugural Briswich Marathon from Brisbane to Ipswich, honouring an early commitment to Blaise and his family.
Sunday morning I swapped the HAA red for my Rogue Runners shirt and headed into Brisbane for the inaugural Briswich Marathon for Believe in Blaise.
The earliest version of HAA had grown out of a joke weekend route posted in the Rogue Runners group by my friend Pete. There were Rogues in Perth and Brisbane, and I had talked about making it a Rogue Run from Perth to Ipswich while raising money for Believe in Blaise, the club’s charity focus at the time.
The idea grew well beyond that original plan and became a Heart Foundation fundraiser, but I wasn’t comfortable simply walking away from the commitment I had made to Blaise and his family.
The solution was another 42.2 kilometres: a marathon from Brisbane to Ipswich.
My friend Graham Whittaker took that semi-crazy thought and turned it into an actual event. The Briswich Marathon was free and unofficial, but Ipswich City Council came on board with support, Run 4 Kids provided free registration and timing, and Brothers Leagues Club Ipswich helped with return transport and somewhere to meet afterwards.
Graham had put an enormous amount of work into making it happen. He is an incredibly passionate runner with a generous spirit and far too much energy, which made him exactly the right person for the job.
At Roma Street Parkland I wandered into the start area and found a cluster of crazy people gathered around a colourful inflatable. After so long wearing HAA red, it felt good to be back in the Rogue shirt for a run that connected directly to where the whole idea had begun.
I had posted that I was looking forward to a nice run through to Ipswich, following Graham’s course maps, catching up with friends and enjoying the event-day feeling.
By 35 kilometres, the update was slightly different:
35k. with no rest stops and support crew this is harder than walking across Australia lol
I had spent four months walking all day with regular access to Ben, Ols and the campervan. Running a marathon without those familiar breaks was a very different challenge.
Daniel provided some welcome company and helped keep my spirits up through what became a long, hard slog. The chalk markings along the route helped too. Every arrow, heart and message was another reminder that Graham and a lot of other people had been out there making sure this strange little event actually worked.
Eventually the finish was close enough for one more update: almost there, about one kilometre to go. I followed the final markings into Ipswich and reached the people waiting at the end.
The best moment was finally meeting Blaise.
This was my last big event before travelling home to Perth. The walk across Australia had finished several days earlier, but this was the perfect way to finish the wider adventure: honouring an early commitment, wearing the Rogue shirt, surrounded by people who had turned a thought into something real.
It was the inaugural Briswich Marathon and, as it turned out, the last one too. Or, borrowing Lazarus Lake’s Vol State naming convention, the Last Briswich Marathon.
Graham, I am still so grateful that you pulled it together. It started as a semi-crazy thought and ended as a set of wonderful memories. Thanks mate.
Images From The Day
