A Zoo Visit And A Half Marathon
The day after the final parkrun, I spent time with my son at Australia Zoo and ran the Twilight Bay Run half marathon at Wynnum.
What happened after the finish line, including the later pieces that look back on HAA.
Entries
15 entries
Goodbye, Ben
After lunch at the Pig & Whistle, Ben collected his backpack and the three HAAmigos said goodbye.
And Then There Was One
I sorted the shoes that had carried me across Australia, had one last lunch with Ols, and said goodbye to the other half of my support crew.
Good Pain And A Small World
Ols shared his thoughts after leaving, Body Leadership donated a treatment, another small-world connection appeared, and Michelle took me out for dinner and the thickest hot chocolate I had ever seen.
The Eye Of The Storm
I sat on Michelle's balcony and tried to make sense of what we had achieved, while a new suitcase, Andrea's thoughtful gift and a pile of shoes brought the flight home closer.
A Big Bag Of Shoes
I added up the final HAA numbers, returned to Body Leadership Australia with a bag of shoes for donation, and looked forward to a relatively normal parkrun morning.
A Normal parkrun Morning
I took a slow walk along the Brisbane River to Rocks Riverside parkrun, caught up with friends and followed the 5k with breakfast.
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.
Relative Normality
The morning after Briswich, a new marathon plan promised some structure and routine while an old set of HAA notes brought me back to why I had started.
I Walked And Ran Across All Of That
After 125 days on the road and almost two weeks in Brisbane, I finally boarded a plane home and saw the scale of the whole adventure on the in-flight map.
Walking Was The Starting Point
Three days after flying home, I took a 2 km walk with my son Kian to Sutherlands Park for a Comment News photo shoot about the Heart Foundation's Walk Over October campaign.
So Much Inspiration In One Room
Seven weeks after flying home, the first HAA celebration brought speakers, music, supporters and a very large collection of donated prizes together at East Fremantle Yacht Club.
What HAA Became
In May 2016 I could see an annual HAA programme taking shape around running, fundraising, active lifestyles and community defibrillators. I had no doubt we could make it happen.
Carrying The Queen's Baton
Renee Russell had filmed the end of my walk into Brisbane. Eighteen months later she nominated me for the Queen's Baton Relay, leading to an unforgettable day in South Perth.
Ten Years To Process It
Replaying HAA ten years later helped me understand the sadness that followed it, the life I returned to and why none of that diminished what we achieved.