What HAA Became

On 23 May 2016, I was convinced HAA was about to become something much bigger.

Three weeks earlier, the WA Heart Foundation board had approved our proposal to direct HAA fundraising towards the purchase and installation of automated external defibrillators.

The idea had come from my friend Di Videky. After losing her husband to heart disease, Di had developed a passion for getting AEDs into more places where they could save lives. I take no credit for that idea. Her drive and fundraising made us see that AEDs could give HAA the tangible community focus we had been looking for.

The plan was straightforward: raise money for something definite, have the Heart Foundation select locations according to community need, and put lifesaving equipment into those communities.

We had approval for a twelve-month trial with a goal of funding six AEDs. The amount raised by the WA Heart Foundation runners in London was roughly enough to cover six devices and their installation, plus about two-thirds of a seventh.

The London Marathon team had shown me another part of what HAA could do. Five runners had represented HAA and the Heart Foundation, with a sixth Heart Foundation runner adopted as an honorary team member. They had raised money, chased a huge personal goal and all reached the finish line.

Now HAA and the WA Heart Foundation were working in partnership around running and active lifestyles. A dedicated fundraising page was being developed, with the idea that people could join HAA teams at events around Australia and overseas.

I could see the whole future opening up. Annual HAA running teams. A 101 Day Challenge. An annual celebration. A supporter programme. Fundraising for AEDs. HAA operating as a social enterprise and helping people reach events such as London, Paris, New York and other major marathons.

I had no doubt we would get there.

The first 101 Day Challenge had started on 16 May. The plan was to make it an annual event, with a medal and a community of people logging their kilometres together. I could also see an annual HAA celebration, a membership programme and a network of supporters helping more people become active.

Ordinary life had already started competing for time. Three days into the challenge I was probably its least active participant, thanks to a heavy week at work and a major project going live. That did not dent the belief behind any of this.

There was something else driving it too. Finishing the Perth-to-Brisbane adventure had left an enormous hole. For four months, HAA had been my life. I missed the simplicity of being out there, the constant forward movement and having one massive thing to focus on every day.

Making HAA into a permanent organisation felt like the answer.

If anyone was wondering what came next, this was it. The next adventure was to make HAA an actual organisation and, eventually, make that original $1 million target look like loose change.

I was excited. I believed in it completely.