#8 Antarctic Marathons, Private Jets & Mental Resilience - Googzy Thorpe

Guest: Googzy Thorpe, an ultra-runner, mental health advocate, and adventure seeker who completed the unimaginable—7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days.

Host: Luke Biermann, Managing Director of Mechanical Seal Engineering Pty Ltd, Councillor of Pump Industry Australia, Forum Chair of Entrepreneurs Organisation Adelaide, and Founder of Hard Stuff Podcast

Support Googzy’s mission, he's fundraising for Black Dog Institute to help improve mental health support for those who need it most.

🔗 Donate here: https://tinyurl.com/4n7da8xd

In this episode of Hard Stuff Podcast, we sit down with Googzy Thorpe, an ultra-runner, mental health advocate, and adventure seeker who completed the unimaginable—7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. From battling extreme conditions in Antarctica to navigating unexpected challenges like visa issues in Istanbul, Googzy shares his raw, unfiltered journey of mental resilience, physical endurance, and the power of community.

We dive deep into what it’s like running marathons in sub-zero temperatures, sleeping on private jets, and dealing with the mental battles that come with pushing beyond your limits. This isn’t just a story about running; it’s a lesson in mental toughness, overcoming self-doubt, and finding purpose through struggle.

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ABOUT CURIOUS AF PODCAST

Curious AF is the evolution of what started as The Hard Stuff Podcast. Initially focused on guests who’d done hard things—ultra marathons, building businesses, overcoming personal challenges—it’s now becoming a broader platform to explore anything and everything I’m genuinely curious about.
The new direction is more personal and wide-ranging. I want it to feel like a space where I can follow my curiosity and have real conversations with people who inspire, challenge, or fascinate me.

For further information, contact:
Podcast Host - Luke Biermann
General Inquiries: hello@curiousaf.com.au
Instagram: @curiousaf.podcast

Transcript

0:04

Hello and welcome to the Hard Stuff Podcast. Today, my guest is Gugzi Thorpe. Gugzi is an ultrarunner. He's a mental health advocate. He's a really inspirational guy. I had so much fun recording this one. I couldn't stop smiling. His stories are just so epic. If you enjoy it, please follow the podcast so you can hear more cool stories moving forward. Thanks for listening.

Recording 15: 0:29

Gugsy Thorpe, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. No worries. Um, so we met a couple of years ago, 2022, where we did Triple Seven together, um, which pretty much broke me up. And I kind of thought, well, that's enough for me. And, but apparently that was just a stepping stone and you've done something that I'm bloody excited to talk about. So I'm going to just kind of describe what you did and then we can kind of dive into the journey a bit. Um, yeah, so I did the Great World Race, which is It's a very similar concept to Braveheart's 777, but it was next level by doing 7 marathons in 7 continents in 7 days. And it was amazing. It just excites me hearing those words, but when I saw, because I actually heard of it before, but when I saw you actually doing it. I don't know, I just got so excited, and I keep, uh, something else like that keeps popping up on my Facebook is the advertisement for next year's, and it's a picture of you running in Antarctica, just in the middle of the snow, it's such an awesome photo, so. I get tagged in it all the time. Yeah, I would imagine. So what does that look like? Where do you start? Where do you finish? And then let's kind of dive into the logistics. Because it sounds like, logistically, impossible. Oh, hats off to the run director. Yeah. He's amazing. Some of the stuff that he had to go through. Even during, like in Bravehearts, we had the baggage get lost on a few people. Yep. I was one of them, by the way. Oh, there you go. So, it was Like Not quite as bad as that, but were, Istanbul, for instance, um, I got to the counter out of, out of the 50 people, or 56 people, Is that 56 people doing it? Yeah. Oh, holy shit. 56 of us, they stopped me and said that I had to have a visa to get into the country, which nothing had ever said, like, we'd researched it all, gone through it all, I did the visa into America and everything, and so we're at the counter and I'm like, oh no. What do we do here? Yeah. So, but, um, but yeah, overall, we What did you do though? We, well, we had to get on Firstly, I googled it and I got into the system and I've told them It came up, I entered my details, it came up saying, Don't need a visa. And I showed the lady behind the counter. And then she's like, no, no, you've got to do it again. So I did the exact same process again and the same thing happened. Like, I didn't know what to do. What are we trying to get to here? And then I showed her the phone again. So she's taken the phone off me. I don't know what she did. Googled website. I don't know. But then now I'm entering in. I've got to do the whole visa system. I would imagine at every single stop, time would be off the essence as well. all this is happening, like, people are still filing past me and they're all like, Oh don't stress, don't stress. I'm the most chilled person getting around, so I was like, I'm not, like, I'm not stressing. I had no stress about it. In worst case, it was still at the airport. Worst thing, I was like, this is happening, I'll do it, whatever. Anyway, so then, by the time I ended in the details, it ended up costing me like dollars. And within seconds, an email come through that I had my visa and I showed them. And I was like, I felt like just saying to them, look, if you wanted the money, I could have just given you the money. That's what it's all about. Anyway, by the time I got through, got to the baggage area, all, all the bags were already there. You know how you normally have to wait for it to get to the carousel. And so I just grabbed my bags and went and sat down. And there was two people that went ahead of me that didn't have their bags yet. So it was, and I sort of didn't even make a big deal about it. I just wanted in, grabbed my bag and sat down. So by the time other people came there, it was, they were like, Oh, you're here. And I'm like, yeah, it's all good. No stress. So 56 people, I assumed it was like 15 people, so where are all these 56 people, are they from all over the world? Yeah, there was quite a few Americans, and all over America, um, there was a couple of guys from Ireland, um, one guy, Santosh, he was, I became really good mates with him, he lives in Chicago, but he's from Nepal, um, there was Um, who else was there? There was a guy from Latvia doing it. Um, yeah, there was, like, literally all over the world. I was the only Australian doing it. Um, yeah. Oh, I was sure there would be a couple more, because I've seen a lot of advertisement, and one of those things where it inspires you, but just actually thinking about getting it done as well. Yeah, and I don't think it's even the getting it done, it's the money factor. Yeah, that's the big one. And I was very fortunate, um, yeah. Like, with you, we start, back to your question, it was, we started, we all meet up in Capetown and we'd all run race briefing and go through all the logistics and especially going into Antarctica. So a whole separate, um, company took us in there called White Desert. So they run all the logistics into Wolfs Fang where we actually ran. That's race, that's race one Antarctica. That's race one Antarctica. So they set everything up. They. They literally do it as their job every year. Um, so they took us all through them logistics, then we went through the rest of the world. Um, then, yeah, so we jump on a plane, we're into Antarctica, um, at the race briefing they kind of, a spanner got thrown in the works because we were meant to meet up, have the briefing, and then the following day go out for a bit of a run, get to know each other. Then the next day, fly into Antarctica. But while we're in the briefing, they're like, there's a bit of wild weather that's looking to come in while we're planned to be there. But in the next 24 hours, it's perfect weather. So tomorrow morning we're running, so it was brought forward a whole 24 hours. How long was the flight from South Africa to Antarctica? Uh, it was, I think, five and a half hours in total. This is so crazy. So you fly from South Africa to Antarctica. Yeah. What's, is there a minimum, like, do they say you need to run all marathons in four hours? Like, is there a There was a eight hour window for all marathons. for Antarctica. Because it was Instead of 8 hours start line to finish line, it was 8 hours from plane door opening to plane door closing. Yep. Um, which was quite a daunting thing for a few people. Because, you know, as you know with Bravehearts, you don't have to be a fast runner to do a marathon. Or 7 marathons, it's more about getting them all done. So, there were some people that had fully planned to run Walker and, you know, knowing that they were going to be at the tail end of that time frame. Um, so there was a bit of nerves for, for some people, more than the fact that we're running in Antarctica. Um, but look, we all got it done, so it was, it was an amazing experience. So, so, so talk us through all the locations, um, cause I want to, I want to do this journey in my head around the world. So Antarctica is number one. And we're, we're back to Cape Town where we did the race breathing for number two. Yep. Which is Africa. Yep. then we went to Perth, um, and we ran, it was quite a nice location there. That's a, hold on, you guys got a private plane, is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Cause how else do you get to Perth? It's like, it's like 48 hours. It was, it was a, um, private plane, business class plane. So every seat reclined and like, we were in comfort the whole time. And that's your sleeping? Yeah. Like, yeah. So we're assigned a seat. And you slept, ate, stretched, and everything. But this plane was like, world class. It was, it, the Rolling Stones used it on their last tour. So like, it was awesome. What's the, so it's a direct flight from Cape Town to Perth? Yeah. What's that, how long? Um, think it was, I think it was like, 14 hours or something. Did you sleep? I had a great sleep. Everywhere we had to go, I slept like I was in my own bed. Was that, did a lot of people do that or was that just you? Yeah, no, there was, well, I'm not too sure at the start how people were going because there was a lot of nerves and stuff, but towards, I guess, from, if not just before Perth, but from Perth onwards. You're that fatigued. Everyone is asleep. Like, you know, I remember Lucy in our year of Bravehearts. She could just curl up in a ball anywhere and fall asleep. I was like that at one. So, which I've got a bit of a one about that later. So, um, yeah, so we did Perth. And then we flew from there. We had to go to Istanbul for the Europe leg. and Asian League. So they were both there because you cross the river and it's an intercontinental city. Istanbul was intercontinental, is it? Yeah. So the way I explain it to people is like when you cross the Murray, you're from Victoria to New South Wales. Yeah. Yeah. But on a more grand scale. That's crazy. Yeah. So that gave us the two and that helps logistically as well because you're not having to know, get to another country, continent. Yeah, so it gives you a normal night's sleep, I would imagine. Yeah, yeah. Uh, well, it does and it doesn't, because we were all so used to this plane and it was so comfortable on the plane, and we were together. you need that togetherness and the bonding that you've just created. So, when we actually stayed there, we did have a hotel, but it was only for a few hours because it was a late night run, the first one, which was Europe leg. And then it was an early morning Asian leg. So, I think I was in the hotel for about three hours. Yeah. Maybe four, if I was lucky. You may as well have just done it straight away. A lot of us were saying that. Let's just get warm and get a good sleep after it. Yeah. But, um, it was, it was pretty cool. Um, but yeah, because we had hotel rooms, we were sharing rooms. So, there was two of us in each room. And then it got to a point where, um, you, just didn't have that bonding or you know, if you wanted to sit up and talk for five minutes or, you know, talk to someone or stretch with someone. Yeah. You sort of lost it and you felt a bit more isolated. Yeah. Um, so as much as it was good to have a bed, the whole grand scheme of it, I think we all would've just preferred jump back on a plane and let and maintain that sleep on the runway sort of thing. Mm-hmm Um, but then. Yeah, so then we left there, and we headed to Cartagena in Colombia, South America. Where's that? Um, so What is that? Carter? Cartagena. So it's, um, C A R T C A R T A G E N A. Something along those lines. So, testing my spelling. So that's a city. What country is That's in Colombia, South America. Oh, Colombia, okay. Yep. Yeah. So, and look, that was If that was a marathon in Australia I'm pretty sure they would have just called it off because it was so humid so hot like we got it done Yeah, they're like I was averaging not that times matter, but just as a comparison as I was averaging about three fifteen three twenty per marathon, which is wild and That one number six not because it was number six, but just because of the heat I did a five hour marathon. Yeah, okay. It was hard. So I would imagine there would have been some people that would have really pushed that eight hour mark. Yeah, so there was a guy, Willy, he's amazing. He's now got the world record for the fastest marathon in Antarctica. He, he was like next level. He, he was, he was there to like, he, I think after like marathon four, he was 40 something minutes ahead of the week record. Okay. Yeah, like he had it in the bag. But he actually couldn't finish Columbia because it, it got him, it knocked him, like, like what you see at the end of a marathon and they're, they're wheeling him off to the Ambo Bays and stuff. He, he didn't know where he was. How hot was it? Was it just the humidity? It was 30, from memory, it was 32, it was 31 degrees, 92 Okay. So just pouring sweat. One of the guys, we were all having the best laugh about him because we'd got to the start line. And we're talking about where we're going and everything, and we turn around and he's dripping sweat, and we hadn't even started. Like, it looked like he had just jumped out of the water to jump into this marathon. He was that drowning in sweat. So yeah, I was in Singapore race, like, when I was training for the Ironman race, and it did. And it was the same thing, like, I was like, it was so humid there, and I tried to get up at like 5. 30 because I had to get a run in. And literally you walk out of the hotel and instantly just pouring with sweat. I don't know how anybody could train for a marathon. Oh, I've got a mate that just did like a, I think 60k or so in Indonesia. Yeah, I think I've seen that. I don't know how he did it. Like, he also did it coming off having Bali Bali. So, it was Is that that Bali Ultra? Yeah, like from the bottom to the top or something? Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah, that's the one. He did that. And full credit to him, he got it done. Yeah, I've been This cut in your one, in Columbia, it was, like, I feel like it made Cairns feel like a winter's day. Like, it was so hard. Um, but in saying that, like, I got it done, I run walked towards the end, because I got to about 21km's and I started feeling a bit light headed. Um, and not that I was trying to bust it, I was trying to watch my heart rate and keep everything under control. it was just next level. So, is that 6 we're up to? That was 6, and then we finished up in Miami. Oh, awesome. Yeah, and we literally ran along, like, the bike path that runs along Miami Beach. Okay. Like, the views, and If it was any other circumstances, I would have really loved the place. But, like, I'm 7 in, or 6 in, and just dying. Like, it got to a point can't remember what, it was some silly hour, like 2, 3 o'clock in the morning back here in Melbourne and, but I rang my missus, I just rang, like I rang twice the second time she answered, because obviously I work her up, and I was just like, I don't, I don't know if I'm going to complete this one, like, How far in the bath have I been yet? I would have been, I was just on halfway, yeah, and, and just like. Trying to work out what I'm doing with my life. So, like, out of everything I've done, this is the one where I Well, that's what I was saying at the start of the, uh, when we started. I really hit my limit with the 777. And I was like, okay, you need to settle down a bit. But to use that as a kind of a stepping stone is fucking wild. Nah, it was, it was awesome. And I've been looking for that. Um, and Looking for something that could actually really push you to the limit, yeah. I wanted to find my limit, but then at the same time, it's a bit of a Goggins mentality, partly, but also just who I am because I'm very competitive, where now I've found that limit, I need to extend the limit. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna find something. This year I'm taking it off all, well, I say all craziness. But I have signed up to a Backyard Ultra, which I will go stupid in. Yep. Let me know when that is. I'd be very interested to follow it. I'll be doing July. Wild Dog. It's in, um, 20 minutes from where I live. It's called the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. So, are all Ultras, is it a 6 loop? It's a 6. 7km loop, on the hour, every hour, last man standing. Yeah. It was last woman standing last year with the Wild Dog. I went down and watched it and mm, yeah, it was their first year last year. Um, I think it's actually got something to do with the, the South Australian, um, ultra Running Club or Yeah, something along that lines. Yeah. Yeah. There's a essay one that they run heaps of events. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So there's some pretty cool stuff in. Um, but yeah, so it was actually pretty awesome to see a female win it. you know, at the end of the day it's not about the speed or anything, it's about just going that one more lap. Yeah. And, um, do you know how long she. I believe she didn't hit her pb. Um, but it was something like 38 hours or 40 hours, something like that. How many Ks would that Um, I had, I'm not quick enough. Two 40. It'd be 240 or so Ks. Yeah. Wow. So you'd be doing 6.7 every, uh, so every 10 hours. Yeah. It 67. Oh, lemme know. I wanna follow you on that one. Yeah. I'll be, I've, I've posted it on my socials on what events I'm doing. Mm-hmm Um. But yeah, that is, that's almost the outlier, um, because I'm also this year training, more targeted training. I'm, I'm going to break the, the sub three this year, or I hope to break the sub three. Do you know where you're planning to do that? Uh, I got into Sydney. Nice. That'll be my first attempt. Yeah. Cool. Um, ideally break it and then. If I don't break it, or if I do, either way, I've got Melbourne a couple of months later. And if I break the three, Melbourne will be an all out to see how low I can get it. Um, and if I don't break the three in Sydney, I'll be a bit more strategic with how I approach Melbourne. Well, I remember, I think I had this chat with you when we were actually doing the 777, but I wonder how much, like, cumulative fatigue will be restricting you. You know what I mean? If you've run around, gone around the whole world doing seven marathons, like, how deep is that fatigue? And realistically, do you need to have like three years off before you can actually hit your Nah, definitely not. Not me personally, anyway. I know I'm there because I've attempted three hour marathons already and PB has gone from 3. 23 Down to 07, and then on, stupidly, on the fourth marathon in Istanbul I PB'd with a 3. 0, like high 3. 03, it was almost 3. 04. That's so crazy. It was ridiculous. I was, it was an awesome night. I wonder why Columbia was so hard. It was, it was an awesome night. I ran the next day really well. Yep. Um, it was like, all the stars aligned. It was It was a colder night, like it wasn't cold, I didn't find it cold. It was like Melbourne weather, really, and it had a bit of drizzle to start with. Um, logistically there was a heap of issues, so we were delayed by like, two hours nearly, um, and a lot of people struggled with the whole mental side of it, of, we turned up, our bags were there, quite a bit of chaos because there was fishermen on the edge of course, things like that, um, but it was, it was, and the, and the course had been shrunk from what it meant to be to, it was shrunk to one K out. One K back, which ends up to be like 20 lap laps. Lap. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. So, but as you'd know from the Bravehearts you don't worry about the next marathons. You don't even, like, I wasn't even worried about the next lapse at that point. My mindset for it was I was running outs and back. Yeah. And that was it.'cause the Out also had like. Minimal, but when you're four marathons in, or three marathons in, it had a slight incline. So, running out, I was sort of keeping an eye on, I wasn't really Every marathon I tried to watch my heart rate, myself ready. But that one I just watched a bit of my pace, and, and my heart rate at the same time. Where, I'd pull myself back, and run slightly slower going up. Knowing that I had that downhill on the way back. Yeah. So I was literally, and I had my watch set at 42 Ks. So, I didn't even have to know how far in I was. I was just like, watch hasn't buzzed yet, I'm doing another out. And I'll get to that turnaround point, I'm like. I'm doing another back. You watch that too? 42.2 K. So, so I get an alert once I hit the marathon distance, I got the alert saying, and you stop. Yeah. And I just stopped. Yeah. So that took a lot of the mental side out of it for me. Just run until the washer, it's one foot in front of the other. Yeah. Yeah. Almost like a footy, you know, played with a whistle. Yeah, it was, I mean, that's so crazy to, in the middle of a seven marathon, seven continents to hit a pb like, so I, I did a, i I was purposely running very slow. Uh, during the 777, I was doing, I don't know, four and a half to average, say. Yeah. Right? And then I did the Adelaide Marathon and I did a 337 last year at some stage. Yep. And I couldn't walk the next day. I don't know how you get them, why you would, you know, do that in the middle of a I just got used to running on fatigue legs. Yeah. Like, and that's all it was. My whole training all year, like I actually used events as training runs. Mm hmm. And I always So my, my idea going into the 777 wasn't really a target or a goal or anything as such, but it was just a baseline idea. When I did the Bravehearts one, I wanted to do roughly sub fours, or beyond the four hour mark. And then, I'm a lot fitter now than when I was, so. This time around it was, I want to do three and a half hours, average. Um, which I was well on track for until Columbia. There's a lot more going on. So much more. It was, the only thing with the Great World Race that I couldn't prepare myself for was the flying. Turned out, turned out to be the best part of the whole trip. Well that's exactly what I said. I think, like when I saw the 777 that we did together, which was, if we haven't explained, seven marathons in seven states in seven days in Australia. Um, that was the, like, I didn't think about that. I just thought about, oh, how, how bad it's going to be on my legs, how tired I'm going to be. But I think the flying was like a spanner in the works that I didn't expect. I just think I didn't recover throughout the week. Yeah. It sounds like that wasn't actually It wasn't, it's whole different circumstances as well. Like, we could lay back. So, rather than just getting on the plane, sitting with a seat that's, you know, right in your face, in front of you. Uh, it My seat was reclined 99 percent of the time, and if I wasn't there, I was sitting up having something to eat, then laying it back, or there was like this middle section. You know how when you go from like on a normal plane, let's say economy to business class, there's always that, that cabin there that they get all your food ready and whatnot? They, they had a cabin like that there, plus a section where there was like a bar. And it was as if it was just a bar in a hotel, you could walk up to it and lean on it, and they always had snacks and stuff on there, and water and stuff. But around that area was quite a big area as well, so you could have up to Five of us laying there stretching at any given time like it was so much room on this plane So yeah, it was how was the morale different scenario? I was great. It was good like Like Bravehearts and even with so with the Great War race like we met each other in Cape Town by By the time we flew out of Cape Town and we're flying around the world Like if someone had have said can I borrow your toothbrush? I probably would have gone. Yeah, no worries. Here you go We were that close like We were sharing, um, our, compression boots, we were sharing massage guns. Here, this will help you with that. We had a couple of people that kept it quiet, but they were like, their day job was like physio and masseuse, and like they had all this knowledge behind them. Like I was getting a bit sore in the, in the hamstrings, or not sore, but tight. Um, one of the ladies, lay down, and she just started digging in, like it was, and, and we all helped each other. We all used each other's knowledge, and like a lot of people pick my brain on the whole doing the seven before. Cause we've all done ultras, we've all done all this crazy stuff, know, doing it day after day. Well you're the only one who'd done that seven. Yeah, I'd done this format before, yeah. So, but like, there's people there, like one guy. Um, he's, he's done the, that run in America with, um, that Goggins became really famous for the, the Badwater. Yep. Yeah, so he, he did that and he actually beat Goggins time. So, like, he was, he's my new David Goggins. Like, he's come over here, he, he travels the world in Ultras. He's, they're, they're next level, there's two guys, um, Frank and Alex. They, they literally travel the world. They've done the, um, Costa Cosi. Over here, um, What's the coast to Kozi? So, you run from, I can't remember where it starts exactly, but there's a coastline, uh, on the east coast, you start there, and you run something like 200km to, um, Kozi Osco. Yeah, okay. So, it's, yeah, like full on, and you fully self, um, you gotta bring all your own gear and that, like I can't think of the wording yeah. Um. It's, it's pretty, they were amazing, their resume of running, it's like, yeah, and they, they just do it to get them done, like they were awesome, and one of them, Alex, was the one that was like sweating at the starting line of, yeah, they were, there's so many stories that come out of it, like, I don't, was, well, how did your body hold up, I mean, it sounds like pretty good. Body, all of my body. Except for my soles of my feet and my toes, was fine. Like, it was all mental game for muscles and stuff. Again, I said earlier, I know my body. The things, like, I finished off the, 1, 2, 5th marathon in Istanbul. Um, and I was sitting in the, we were, we had change rooms, like, um, a soccer pavilion change rooms. And I'm sitting in the hallway of this soccer changing room place and I asked our, um, one of our doctors that we had there, I'm like, Oh, have you got any like gauze and stuff so I can just, um, to fix up my toenails? So, and he had to rush up to someone else who was a bit more, they hadn't finished, they needed help, so I go for it and I asked them thinking they'd have a first aid kit somewhere. I'm like, I just need some gauze. They went and got the paramedic that was out front. They've come in with their full kit, ready to go, and they're like, what's up? I'm like, I just need some gauze because I need to remove this toenail. And then they've got these band aids out and they're about to tape my toenail. I'm like, no, no, no. You don't understand. I am removing this toenail and they're trying to tell me not to, you've got to do this. I'm like, leave the gauze and walk away. One way or another. The gauze and the pliers. And the only reason I wanted the gauze, to be honest. Was because I didn't want all the pus and blood and everything to just be all over the floor I was trying to do the right thing. Yeah in the end, I should have just ripped it out and dealt with it later Anyway, so I'm I clamped cramped on with it. I had My partner bought me this like Pedicure set basically it had everything you need to have the nails clippers scissors files everything ready to go So I've got these like scissors and I'm using them as a like a vice grip And I'm, I'm pulling on it, just gently pulling on it, like I'm not just ripping it out. And, um, and I'm using this other thing to just like pull the skin back while I pull the nail out. And, anyway, the, the paramedic, she had to turn away. And I'm like, what's going on, isn't this your job? Like, you should not be turning away, you should, like, I thought you guys enjoy this kind of stuff. I enjoyed it. There's something real icky about pulling on toe nails. It is, but once I pulled it out, all like pain and soreness was gone. Okay. It was instantly gone because the nail was just floating. Yeah. The only thing holding on was the skin and I just had to get that. That's why I was being gentle so I didn't like do damage. Yeah. But um, I lost a couple after the Ironman that are just going back now. So what was happening with me, like a bit of toe tap. And, cause that nail was floating, every time my toe would hit the end of the shoe, it would jab me. So, it was like just having a piece of plate in your shoe and just hitting your toe. So, um, so that was one that I pulled out. And then I was taping up blisters and everything like that. Like, Columbia. Because it was so hot, I had my Salomon vest on, um, just your normal vest, hydration vest. But what I was doing was actually filling the bag part with ice and running along. And it was melting, like, so fast. It was ridiculous. But it was the only way I could keep my core cool. And if I didn't have that, I would not have finished. I can guarantee that. So, the problem with it though, we're tipping, we're drowning ourselves trying to keep ourselves cool. But Gravity brings all the water down into your feet and having already got blisters and sore toes and stuff, then soaking it. My, my runners were like, squelching along. Yeah. So I asked the, the doctor, I was like, can you gimme some scissors?'cause my feet were getting swollen with six marathons in, and I cut the toe box outta my, like on the top, the net outta my shoe to try and relieve a bit of pressure. Yeah. Because it was hurting my toes every time. And I, this was about How many shoes did you have spares? Oh yeah, I took, I took four normal pairs with me. Yeah. And I brought a fifth pair that were one size too big. Yeah. In case I needed them for feet smiling and which I ended up using in Miami. Yeah. But yeah, so I've cut these shoes open. Must have cut them open about 23, 24Ks or so. Um, ran a couple more Ks. the pressure hadn't subsided at all. Yeah. So shoes came off and I'm running along in socks, so I ran like the last 17 Ks or so in socks. Oh. So it was, and it was actually great. What did you actually try to do? Did you just try to cut this little pocket here out? Yeah. Yeah. So then you, so I cut along the, the shoe line? Yeah. To, to take the whole nose of the shoe out because. That uplift was putting pressure on the top of my toes, which was where my pain was coming from. Yeah, okay. So, I tried to relieve that pain. Um, so yeah, those shoes are still in the hotel at Columbia. Like, there was so much stuff left at that hotel. I'm sure they were just like, what did these people do? Like, like it wasn't a party. There was no alcohol or anything involved. It was just, yeah, it was, oh, there was so much stuff. That's, uh, that's what gets me as well. a lot of what my running and all my nails just and start falling off. So I've learned that it's called toe tap and and you gotta almost then put your shoe up, shoe size up another half size. Okay. So you don't, because you cop it a lot when you're going downhill. Yeah definitely. So and and also when you're fatigued and you get more into the shuffle rather than the run your feet skid inside your shoe. Yeah that's what I think I changed the way I run and then all of a sudden every time I step you're just getting a bang in the front of you. So, but yeah, it was. Like, Columbia was next level. It took out a lot of pressure. So that was the hardest? Columbia? 100 percent hardest. Yeah. It was, and I actually said to the run director, I said, mate, if you do here again next year, do this one at night. Like, Istanbul, you can do during the day, do that one at night. It would have been so much better. Because like, the course was 2Ks out, 2Ks back, they had a drink station at the start Were all the courses like that? Because that's so, like, monotonous. They changed. Okay. So. So, uh, Antarctica was four 10k loops. Yeah. Um, Cape Town was about the six or seven k, very similar to Bravehearts. Wait, just before I forget, how was it running in the snow? Oh, amazing. Amazing? It didn't, I wore trail shoes, like proper trail shoes with Gore Tex material to keep my feet dry. Yeah. So they're not my normal shoe, but it was like running on Gravel, almost. Like, you could feel the crunch below. Like, they prepared it so well. There was a couple of spots, so they got their snow machines that prepared the runways and everything. Yeah, so, some of it was around the runway and then some of it was like, around the camp. So they had, they've got like six courses they can do. So, um, but the way it was, there was only Over the whole 10k's there may have been 300m in total in different sections where it was quite sloshy and it felt like you were running at the base of a sand dune where the sand moves under your feet but you just took it easy through that spot. It was our first marathon, it was in Antarctica, no one was going, well besides Willy who got the fastest marathon ever, none of the rest of us were going for PB's or anything. It was, um, Running along there, like, You hear about running through a desert, or just in sand, or in, you know, in the movies where they see mirages and stuff. You could be, we were running along, and I was looking out at the snow, and everything is white. You had to wear polarized glasses, you couldn't go, and I was like, I tried to do the old peek under, and you just get blinded. Really? Is that bad? Yeah, it was so bright, and then you're looking out, and even with the polarized glasses, It just looks like this big lake there. Yeah, and then as you get closer to it, it's just ice Like it looked like water. It was always such a cool experience. It was funny knowing you're in Antarctica a few times when when it was like say running up the runway and I knew it was dead straight and then turn around come back and The ground was perfectly conditioned You just look around and you kind of just forget where you are and you look around and go wow, I'm in Antarctica. And then all the thoughts were going through my mind like, there's only like thousands of people there. How many people have ran a marathon there? You're a part of a pretty small bunch. I'm now part of a group of I think, that have completed 7 marathons, 7 days, 7 continents. That's so awesome. It's the World Marathon Club, it's called. And is that all through the same organisation? Nah, there's a few different people that do it now. Um, so this was the first year that this, the Great World Race has happened. Oh, was it? Yeah, there's other companies that do it. Um, but this one in particular, from what I hear, because other people have already done some of it, and they said the way this one was ran was next level. It was the first one. Yeah. But it was, like, crazy. Crazy. Crazy. So. Logistically, like I said, there were so many things that went wrong. There was people that, where were we? I think you have to expect that though. Yeah, we had some stop. I can't remember where we were exactly. It was, oh, it was Istanbul. And our bags were going from Istanbul, straight, we dropped them off at like a freight place. They were going from there, straight to Miami. And then we stopped at Columbia and then went to Miami. So yeah, something along them lines and anyway They were very clear to us Make sure you've got your passport your running gear everything because these bags once you've got them They're going and then one person slip of the mind. We got to the airport and they're like, oh, I don't my passports in My other bag. It's like oh no like so and David the run director He you could see the pain, but he was like, okay Let's go and like dealt with it and did he get in? They got it all they sorted it out, but it didn't affect like he just dealt with things Yeah, I think you couldn't see any stress on him. I think you have to put yourself in a different mindset To be able to deal with that. He just has to go into that expecting like this is gonna be a chaotic week Yeah, and you just have to be mindful to be able to deal with yeah, exactly And like I said when I went to Istanbul, they're like no, no, you can't come in without a visa and so I'm thinking like A visa takes, like, days. When I did the one from America, I did it, like, in an afternoon. It was two days later that it got approved and sent through to me. Yeah. Like, I didn't, I just, it worried me that, yeah. It did worry me, but I wasn't stressed about it as such. Well, I had this reaction when I first heard about it. Whenever I tell anybody about it, they have the same reaction. It's like It just seems logistically impossible to do something like that. Like, when you actually sit down and, you know, map out the course and like, it's pretty crazy. We were meant to get it done in 168 hours, one week. And we smashed that. Like, we had so much time up our sleeve. Because of the private jet, you can just leave whenever you want. So you don't have to wait to a certain specific time. No, and that helped a lot. There was small things that we, like, it was just awesome. So when we stopped, when we went from Perth to Istanbul, we had to do a fuel stop in Dubai. But, you know, when you're on a commercial plane, and you're coming in for a landing, you know, seats up, tray table away, blinds up, all that stuff. This reclined, dead to the world, fully asleep. Then we took off again. Casually pulled through the border. Yeah, like there was no, it was a lot more relaxed on this plane. Like, at one point we were like, do a heap of taping for my feet. And you're not allowed to go through security with scissors and stuff. So I just walked up to the flight attendant and I'm like, Hey, you got any scissors? Like, surely he's got scissors there. She pulled out, like, one of the biggest sets of scissors I've ever seen on a plane. I'm like, cool, that'll do. And I'm just wandering around cutting people's tape up, helping them out while I've got these scissors in my hand. Like, you'd never get away with that on a commercial flight. Like, it was, there were so many things. So, the one thing I do want to talk about is, is cost. I mean, I think I, when I heard you were doing it, I priced it up and stuff because I was like, this doesn't make any sense. And yeah, like I said, I think it worked out like 75, 000 or 80, 000. Yeah, 70, 000 Australian dollars in the end it cost me. Yeah, so how'd you swing that? So, um, I've been fortunate enough, I've got a lot of people that follow me, and also, in Melbourne, quite a big community that I'm part of, whether it's the running community, construction, or the Indigenous community down here. Yeah. I just put the feelers out. I put out, um Like a sponsorship package, I guess. I, I approached a lot of companies through construction and through people that I know, and, um, I put out these packages that people could purchase. Um, so for instance, like I had, um, BookBook Whelan, they're a childcare center down in, um, Thomastown in Melbourne. Um, they, they came back to me and they happily, um, sponsored me. So, I've done a few things. I had their top, their, their brand on my singlet. Um, I had, I've been down to their childcare centre, did some talks for the kids, things like that. So have you got quite a big social media following? Not, not on social media. Um, it could be better. And, and if anyone wants to follow, please do because that helps me fund more of these trips. Yeah. But, um, it was more about, um, what I could do in person. So, we're one of them. Um, Glarwack, the Gunai Kurndi Land and Waters, um, Corporation, up in near Lakes Entrance. Because my Aboriginal tribe is Gunai and Gunditjmara. But Gunai, for instance, they helped me out as well. Um, so I'm going to be, I'm going to do a talk with them. A mental health talk, and I'll talk about the run itself. Um, and then through my construction side of things, Rangedale, uh, Green Power Solutions, and Kali Electrical. So, dayo. Um, took another package as well. So I had different tiers of packaging. Um, and then, honestly, I had, um, really, really good friends of my wife. So not even like, not even really to do with me. It's to my wife, through my wife's work and friendships. Like, one lady, they donated from their own pocket 10, 000. Jesus. Like it was. Well it's just such a, an awesome, exciting thing. Like it's hard to get your, your, your wallet out when it's just somebody doing something kind of. Yeah. When you're going, you know, I'm going to be able to follow somebody running seven marathons. Yeah. Except like that's just such an awesome. Yeah. So. unlike Bravehearts, where we were doing it for that charity. Mm-hmm. This one is just an event on, its on its own. Yeah. Like it's, it's like signing up to the Melbourne Marathon or Adelaide Marathon. Yeah. So that they're, they're there to make money at the end of the day. Mm-hmm So, which, that's, I wouldn't take the experience like that experience. Loved it. I'd never do it again, because I don't wanna ruin. Yeah. Like, some of the things we did, like, it's unforgettable, you never, never be able to recreate it, and I don't want to chase that high, so, but, the way it, the way I did it in saying that was, I do a lot of stuff for mental health, so I actually teamed up with the Black Dog Institute to raise money for them, so. It was very hard and it still is hard at the moment because one, I was asking for sponsorship to get me there. Yeah, but then two, I'm now been asking people for fundraising for the Black Dog Institute, so I tried to go to companies and things like that for the actual get me there. And now I'm approaching people, yeah, everyday people to, to, you know, join up on the link and sponsor, or, uh, fundraise for the Black Dog Institute where, you know, if I can get a thousand people to donate ten bucks, you know, ten bucks these days, you know, I'm not asking for fifty bucks because the cost of living these days, it's, you know, there's people going through some hard times, but, and the last thing I want to do is preach mental health to people, and then, Deteriorate people's mental health by stressing about money. Yeah. So, you know, even a dollar. Yeah. If I can get 10,000 people to donate a dollar, that's, that's all money going to a good cause. Um, so I've, I've teamed up with them and I'm raising money for them. Um, my, my link will be open for the next probably six months, um, until I'm probably done doing all my talks. Yep. Um, because then I can approach those people as well in their workplace. Yeah. Awesome. And small things, like you'll throw the think I I'll put it in the podcast description. Yeah. Um, with the mental health stuff, I mean Yeah. I didn't really know that you, you, you were, you had that angle. It's something that I talk about a lot. It seems to be a theme of the podcast. Yeah. Um, where did that all kind of drive from? It's actually how I got into running. So is, yeah. In, in a way, it's how I got into running. So I was running my own company, um, doing ridiculous hours. Seven days a week. Yeah. 10, 10 hour days, 12 hour days, like, and. As much as I love doing what I do, I'm a carpenter by trade, and I loved the work, and I had 12 guys working for me, and we had the best culture. Like it was, you know, take the piss out of each other, get the work done at the same time, like, everyone loved it. what I didn't realise until I actually closed everything up, was how bad mentally I was. Like I was fully depressed, and just not in a good place. I was missing out on home life with the young kids, things like that. Um, so we closed up the company and then I've got new jobs, I've got all my guys jobs, things like, and everything, everything worked out well. Did you close up the company because of stress and depression or? Quite a few things. So it all led to me, so I had being in construction, it happens to a lot of people unfortunately, but like I had builders that didn't pay, which created financial stress, which creates personal stress and mental health. Um, I had. Always, obviously, worrying about work to get for the guys, and paying their bills, because at the day, everyone turns up to get paid. Um, all the, all the stress, but, but the financial was the main thing, because I had 20, 000 worth of tools were stolen on grand final weekend, just gone. Yeah. Um, on top of that, the insurance company, because I was fully insured, didn't pay out. So, I had to then fight back for, to get the money, to earn the money back that was not paid to me, plus buy more tools, so it really cost me 40, 000 in tools, because the 20, 000's gone and I've got to spend another 20, 000 to get them all back, um, then, yeah, so, quite a number of reasons, then, It was Boxing Day, um, 2019, and I was up at the in laws and me, my wife, Jackie, just turned to me and she goes, we were going through a bit of a health kick at the time, she goes, I want to, um, I'm going to go for a bit of a run. And I was like, kids were asleep, in laws were awake, and I was like, whoa. If you're running, I'm running too, because I don't want to be stuck here by myself, I've got to talk to the in laws, I've got to do this, I've got to do that, so I just, and I bailed as well, but instead of running together and doing a nice couples run and enjoying it, she went left and I went right and off we went, and because I hadn't been playing football for quite a while, because I stopped playing football when I started my company, I hadn't really done fitness at all, I had my On the, on the tools job that kept me reasonably fit as a person, but it wasn't a fitness. Um, so anyway, I finished up this 5K run and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing footy and everything like that. I was sitting down having breakfast after it and I just felt the endorphins and I felt really good. Like I was sitting up high and, you know, me chest out proud of this run that I did. And then the father in law said, Oh, you know, if you enjoyed that and you think that was good, like come down to Parkrun on New Year's Day. I was like, oh, you know, what's Parkrun? And so, got the whole story, and now I believe Parkrun's a cult, because, and I'm fully involved in it. I'm, I call myself a leader, because I suck people into the cult myself, but um, It is brilliant. I love Parkrun, because what I loved about it was, I turned up to these Parkruns, not being a, I didn't consider myself a runner at the time, not being It just turned up in normal shorts and stuff. No one cared. Everyone was so welcoming. Yep. Come in. Do this. This is where we go. Get your first timer's brief. Get your token. Yeah. And for me, I'm a bit more, a bit competitive. So, you know, you've always got someone to race against, even though it's not a race. But then you've got people that are just there for their morning stroll and they love it. And you all go for coffee or in my case, hot chocolate, you know, you just. It's so welcoming. It's awesome, yeah. And then getting into the running community helped my mental health amazingly. Yeah. Look, I'll just dive into my story because it's crazy, like, thanks for telling us. It's crazy how similar it is to mine. And anybody who's listened to this podcast knows, but, um, you know, I've been in business for, for eight years now. And. Um, probably about four or five years ago, the same thing. I was working ridiculous hours. I was, you know, my wife was at home feeling lonely. I was barely seeing the kids. Um, again, like I'm also a tradesman and I started a business, Fitter and Turner, uh, and yeah, it just, it got to the point where I started the business to try to, cause I wanted a good life for my family. Yeah. But the same thing, I was depressed, miserable, so stressed out and then I started having these panic attacks, right? Um, anyway, I've told this story hundreds of times on the podcast, so I'll leave it at that. But, um, it's funny because 777 was my attempt to kind of diversify my life. Because all my life was, was business, business, business. And it was just slowly killing me. So it's funny, yeah, running was the same sort of thing for me. Yeah, I actually started falling into bad habits, or old habits I should say. Because I'm still in construction now. Um, And I've been doing the level crossing removals around Melbourne. Um, and, Constructions, It's, Very, there's a good culture there when, when you've set it up properly. Which means, Like, I love what I do, like I said, I love building with my hands, I'm supervising now, I'm still writing all the action, but I can get sucked into doing the massive hours because I enjoy it. Yeah. And, and then for me, sometimes, you know, staying and doing a 12 hour day or more is quite easy for me and, and there's no problem at work. Yeah. Like it might take a day, it might take a week, it might need to actually get extra help in, whatever it is, but I can be there to work it out. Whereas then at home when it's all on me, that's when I feel the pressure and I'm trying to do something. And so my bailout can sometimes be, I've got to go to work and I'm going to go do a big day at work. Yeah. Because it's, it's not that you, I don't know, I don't even know what the word is because I, I'm acknowledged at home, they appreciate what I do at home and they, and it's the same at work. But I guess being in the career so long, there's just, it's less personal at work. And I can get it done, whereas at home, it's all on me, it affects me, or it might be about me and that's where I can then put myself into a little cave and struggle. Well, I think it comes more naturally for me. Like, my dad was always at work, and I think that was because He really couldn't deal with the, like, kind of emotional side of having a family. I'm interested, seeing that you're quite passionate about mental health and in construction, do you think there's a taboo about mental health in construction, or do you think that that's kind of going away? It's changing. Yeah. There definitely was. Um, depending on your workplace, there probably still can be. So I can't talk for all workplaces. I know the workplaces that I'm part of now, um, if it's not already changing, I'm pushing to change it, um, even small things of getting up at the pre start and talking in front of 300 guys, I make sure I bring up something. Whether it's coming up to a weekend, a long weekend, you know, I bring up, coming up to the Christmas break for instance. Some of these guys are single guys, or, you know, they've been through bad divorces, bad relationships, whatever it might be. So I'm always saying to people, you know, check in on your mates, check in on your family, because, you know, some of these guys have turned to alcohol, drugs, they gamble their stuff away. Yeah. So, coming to work is their release. Like I was just saying, it's, they know that they can do their job. They know they're appreciated. They do. So they look forward to coming back every day, but they don't want to go home every day So to go on to a Christmas break where you're about to be shut down for three, four, six weeks. It can very quickly, especially if you're using alcoholism to kind of tame some of those negative issues in your life. I mean, you can spiral very quickly. And that's where, so I talk about it and not, and, and. My workplaces are pretty good, so we bring in third parties, whether it's your Incolinks or, um, Beyond Blues or, you know, whoever's available and interested, we bring them in and we talk about alcohol, drugs, gambling, all of it. Yeah. And, and, like, I, I'm A few people have said to me how brutally honest I've been and they're like, Oh, I don't know, I don't know if you can say that. And I'm like, well, no, why? Because, for instance, this job that I just finished up, Packingham train station. It was a three year job and people have been working there for, you know, three years. Some of them have been working there for 12 months. It's coming up to the Christmas break, we've finished the job. So not only are you going away on your Christmas break, but you're not coming back to us next year. Yeah. So, and I said to him, like in November, I was like, righto guys, like, you know, I'm, it was actually before I went away, I'm like, I'm going away. Some of you, I won't see you again, you know, good luck. I hope you've got other jobs to go do, but not many people hire, you know. Macca's, Safeway, all of them need it during the Christmas break, we're not construction workers. They don't normally hire until February because we've also got the Australia Day weekend coming up. So, they don't want to pay public holidays, all that sort of stuff, so they wait. I was, I said, you know, some of you guys might not have a job to go to, and that's fine, but you need to think about that now. And for everyone else that does have a job, because they might be with a subbie or whatever, you need to check in, because we've been working together for 12 months. And, you know, you've been best mates and you help each other out. Different companies, different jobs, different everything, but we're on the same build, same project. So it was, and people were like, I can't believe you just told them that they were gonna get sacked. It's like, well, look, if they couldn't work it out by now on their own, they needed me to tell them that. Yeah. Because it's, it's the writing's on the wall. Yeah. Well look, everything's better out in the open, you know? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, I mean, I've had my own issue. I'm, I'm sober now for six months. Yeah. I've had my own issues with alcoholism and stuff like that. Um, and just, there's just a weird level, like deep level of shame. Where, you know, you don't want to be the party pooper and tell people that, no, this is actually getting out of control and severely negatively impacting my life. And there was like a period there where I just felt I couldn't tell anybody because, you know, I just felt weak and I wish I had somebody like that to kind of let me know that that could, that was a conversation that could be had. Yeah. Um, cause yeah, I think I just. Kept a lot. I, I, I internalized a lot of it, and I think I just suffered for a lot longer than I potentially could have. Yeah. Yeah. And, and that's the hard thing. Like, see for me, you, I said before my community, I've got that many different communities I'm a part of. Yeah. The construction, running the aboriginal community, just the general community in at all. Bravehearts community, now the Great War, like I know people literally all over the world and yet when I talk to my wife I'm I'm kind of saying to her because the way I've been brought up and and you know, that's a whole different side That's a whole different part of trauma. Yeah, the way I've been brought up is I've had people come and go in my life so much that I Don't necessarily say like considering someone a friend Is like almost also at the same level as considering my, my partner to be my wife. Yeah, like it's a lifelong thing and if I think you're gonna leave You're more of a colleague or an acquaintance. There's a level of detachment. Yeah, so I'm always like you're I'll tell you certain things, but I'm also happy like if you were to leave my life That's okay, no worries. I've already protected myself internally that you're going to leave eventually, so I'm not too phased, you know. Do you think that's stopped you from, you know, connecting with people though, or getting close to people? Certainly, yes, definitely, yeah. And also, like the extra connections. So like my sister for instance, she lives with me at the moment, she's um, has partners. And all she wants, according to my wife, all she wants me to do is accept a partner. But, in my experience, partners leave. So, I'm not gonna waste my energy. And it's, and it's definitely all me. It's got nothing to do with them. Like, I don't like to waste my energy on getting to know you, and then two weeks, two months, two years down the track, you're gone. It could, it could be lifelong partnership. And maybe 12 months in or longer, then I'm like, You don't want to invest because you're fit, yeah. Yeah, and it's, it's just the way I've dealt with that kind of stuff growing up. I've always, like I said, I've had people come and go in my life that much that Yeah. I'd rather, I'd just treat you like you're going. So, in saying that, we can be really good mates, and then if I see you again, if I see you down the street, I don't treat you like you don't exist, but I can also treat you like you don't exist. Yep. If, if I'm not messaging you, it's not because I don't like you. It's because you're not in the front of my mind right now, there's a lot going on. Um, if I see ya, and I'm going to say, let's catch up. It's not just a throwaway comment, I generally want to catch up with ya. But if we don't message each other, I also don't take the hard feelings of it. Like it's a, it's, it's hard. So, yeah, trying to have friends as such. I know, I've got friends, but actually acknowledging them as friends, or more I'd be like, oh yeah he's part of my running group, not he's a mate. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, and it's like I'm learning, and I'm able to explain this because my wife's really helping me learn these kind of things. Yeah, okay. And I'm trying to understand where I'm going wrong when I'm having conversations. Because I don't, I struggle with asking, because If you ask me a direct question, I'll give you an answer, but if you, if it's not direct or if it's a roundabout, I'm not going to give you all the information, I'll just give you what you want to know, and then you walk off and that conversation's over, but because I'm like that. I kind of, my mind says that you're like that, so I don't want to ask you too many questions because you want to be a private person, even though you want to tell me all the exciting news. Yeah. And you might be waiting for me to ask you about the exciting news, but it's not coming from me. And it's not because I don't want to know, I just. Treat people as if they're private, and they will tell me what they want to tell me. But that's interesting, right? Because, you know, I understand what you're saying, but it sounds like when you're talking about mental health on a work site, you're quite the opposite, you know, making sure you're checking in on people and stuff like that. So you're aware that that kind of thing is obviously healthy. Yeah, and what I'm, what I do explain a lot, and I say it to Bill, like, I can ask you how you're going, but I'm your supervisor, and I'm, you see me as a bit of a leadership role. So, you know, you're maybe not going to tell me that you've got an alcohol problem. Because, you might think that that's going to affect your work and I don't want you to work for me if you're on out drinking and, you know, I've got a drunk working for me so see you later. Yeah. So, but, what I, I explain that and I say it would not be the case ever, I'm always available. But what I also do know is, for me, my wife is the person I talk to. Yeah. So you need to go home or you need to go somewhere and find your person. Yeah. And you need to talk to them. Because that's where You, you get the true, um, meaningful stuff where, like I said, I've just explained what I'm trying to learn. If it wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't even know there was a I know that I've got problems. I wouldn't have known that it wasn't normal. Yeah. So, because that's how I see things is that's my normal. And if I talk to you about your normal, I'd think, Oh no, that's, that's weird. What you're doing is weird. Or, you know, that's not right, what you're doing. So, but we all have our own little bubble of normal that we walk around with until someone bursts it. And, and I can't burst it for you because I'm not inside with that, I'm not, you know, leaning on that bubble every day. It's, you gotta find that person where you truly appreciate what they've got to say, whether it's good or bad. Because it's, it's How you react to them saying that that's not right is when you realize that they're your person. And that's your wife for you? Yeah. She'll tell me, and look, sometimes I'll shut down. You know, I might shut down for an evening. Yeah. But I'm, I'm shut down because I'm thinking about it and I'm going, oh no, she's right. Like, damn. Yeah. And don't get me wrong, she's been telling me certain things for years about, she knew I was depressed well before I did. Yeah. But I wasn't ready to hear it at the time. And I wasn't ready to acknowledge because I'm high functioning. People don't know that I suffer from certain things. Like I'll go home after a big week and just stay in bed. And don't even acknowledge half my family for that time. Like, but when you're That resonates with me as well. Like a lot of the times when my wife does bring stuff like that up with me, I'll have a very negative reaction and kind of react negatively. But then over the next few days I'll just go, Yeah, she's alright. Yeah. She's absolutely spot on there. Then you're able to kind of unpack what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. But then, in the same token, like I said, for me, there'll be someone else that'll tell me that, and I'll either be like, Oh, nah, mate, you're just saying that because you want my job, or you're saying that because you don't like me, or whatever. I have a problem with that as well. I rationalise every, if anybody says anything nice to me, I rationalise it as, Sympathy. Yeah. They think I'm a loser and they're saying this to actually make me feel better. Yeah. Oh, I, me, me and my 10 year old daughter can not take compliments, at least, like. It's so awkward. Yeah, it's so funny. Like we gave I I didn't see it until my wife pointed out to me But someone gave my daughter a compliment and she just stared at him and walked away It was the most no. Thank you. No, nothing. There wasn't even a word. It was just like, oh, this is weird Do you have lights? I'm gonna walk over here. Yeah, and and my wife turns to me and goes you do that, too Not that bad No, no. It's that bad. I'm like, wow. speaking about wives, I mean, so Jess is very supportive and I'm very thankful for that. That's my wife, Jess. Um, cause I'm always just doing crazy things where I just disappear for a week. Was your wife fairly supportive over this triple seven? Yeah, it was probably the hardest one for her as well because she couldn't And she knew I was in pain a few times, you know, your wife knows, you know, they're the closest person. She's my best friend. So she knows when something's right and wrong and when I'm hurting and not. And like Braveheart, she wanted to pull me out in Melbourne. This one, she's like, you can't go, blah, blah. Anyway. So it's not the fact that you're disappearing for a week. It's the fact that you're, what you're putting yourself through. If she was beside me. Yeah. She could have gone two ways. She would have been, again, as always, my biggest supporter, and let's get through this. Or, she would have been like, no, no, no, you've got to quit now. And then there would have been arguments. But, she, everything I do, she does, she's right behind me. I couldn't do the stuff that I do if it wasn't for her. Because she is always supporting me. But also, like right now, I'm doing a I'm getting ready to do like a debrief day and I'm going to have people come to an event where I talk about this run and show photos and stuff that I took GoPro footage and everything so no one else has seen that yet. I've barely looked at it myself because I've been trying to process this run. Yeah, is that going to be recorded? Um, not sure yet, not sure. Still trying to work through that. But like, she's been organising, helping with people doing donations for raffles Heaps of stuff behind the scenes that sometimes I don't even know if she's doing it and you know, she'll come up. She'll go, Oh, I've got this for you. I'm like, what? Like, when was that? Oh, I've been talking about it for three months. Oh, okay. Yeah. You haven't told me. So she's, she's my biggest supporter and the biggest help that I have nothing crazy for you. I think I heard you say except for a backyard. Except for the backyard. Yeah. Okay. What's next? Um, Funnily enough, the day after I arrived back in Melbourne, it's like that Facebook algorithm now knows that I'm crazy and I want to do stupid stuff. Not that hard to figure out, mate. So, um, a bit of a story to this, so with Columbia, with the heat, it's not, it's the worst heat I've ever been in, but it's also not the first time the heat has zapped me. Do you think there's a heat or a humidity? Bit of both. Bit of both. Bit of both. Yeah. Sorry. Bit of both. So I did a trail run quite a few years ago before I did Bravehearts, um, and the heat got me. Like, I still completed it, and what, heat's easier than what I did with Columbia, but the heat got me. And then certain runs I've done, like I've done a run in Queensland, not the Gold Coast Marathon, but I did from, like, SeaWorld to Koolangatta. That's 30 k's, it was a training run. And that's where I got the idea originally to put the ice in the back, in the vest, because that's the first time I did it. Um, sometimes you can't do that, for other reasons. So, I've known that the heat zapped me, so I watch my heart rate. So now, because of Columbia, I've, um, approached some people with Monash Uni and I'm going to do a heat stress test to work out what actually happens and how I can mitigate. All the effects of the heat when I'm running. Um, so I'm going to be doing that towards the end of the month. If all of that, if I get some good information out of that. I think my next big one will be, what are we now, 2026, I will, I'm looking at doing Marathon des Sables, which is a 260km run over 6 days across the Sahara Desert. Yeah, my brother in law keeps going on about that one. So, if I can, if I can't manage the heat and if I can't work it out on what I need to do to do it. What's the average temp in the I'm not sure, I haven't looked. I know that it gets ridiculously hot during the day and ridiculously cold during the night. Yeah, my brother in law keeps talking, like my brother in law, he's mad for ultras. But yeah, he was telling me That apparently the cutoff is a camel. There's a guy on a camel that goes from the start to the end, and if you fall behind the camel, that's a cutoff. Yeah, well this, this is, like, I haven't done a huge amount of research into it. I've just done that day after I got back into Melbourne, and I was relaxing in bed. Most of the stupid stuff I sign up to, I'm relaxing in bed, mind you. Like, in the comfort of my own bed. But it came up, and I sent it to my wife, who was out in the kitchen, and I'm like, I think this is my next one. And the first response was, not next year. And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm taking next year off, because she's told me, like, lucky that I can go to Sydney Marathon this year, and I think a bit of a convincing factor was that we're going to drive up as a family. But yeah, there's no, no events where I can't take the family this year, because it's just, last year was full on. Like, I travelled so much last year, so. Yeah, so you, so I did, I just did Busselton Ironman in December. Yeah. And we took the family up and it was an awesome trip. I think there's a better way to do it. We're looking at doing, my brother in law was trying to convince me to do Ironman Taupo in New Zealand in 2026. Yeah, nice. And bring the family up, go for a couple of weeks. Nice. Um, I just, you know, I don't know if I can slog out like another 777 event or anything like that. Yeah, yeah. Nah, I'm, I'm looking at, still looking at them and like. Like, Marathon to Saabs is a lot cheaper as well, so Well, anything's a lot cheaper there. Yeah, so when it comes to those ones, I'm still hoping that at some point I can know, either one of the existing sponsors or a new sponsor on board. And I'm more than happy to wear all the gear that shows who the sponsor is. Yeah. But more importantly, if I can get someone that just, I think Marathon to Saabs might be 10 grand or something along them lines. Um, if I can get someone to come forward, or two people to come forward and say, Hey, we'll cover your costs, that means that I can turn around and go 100%, all the money I raise goes directly to mental health. Whether it's the Black Dog Institute or something else, as long as it goes towards mental health, that's what I'm up for. So this one was quite hard, as I said, because I had to get a sponsorship to get me there. to then start the sponsorship for the mental health. Okay, so you did a sponsorship for mental health on top of Yeah, so right now I'm in the fundraising period. So the idea was, for the 70, 000, I put an actual 100, 000, um Proposal out there so that I get the 70 grand and then 30 grand went to the Black Dog Institute. So, but Towards the the end as it got, say again, closer It was getting a lot harder to get people sort of putting money towards it Which is understandable like things happen in people's lives and everything Again, I don't want to take anything away from I don't want to create more stress on people's lives to help me. Yep So, at the moment I think I'm just over five or six thousand dollars that I've raised for Black Dog Institute. That's awesome. Um, after I do my event, I'm aiming for about five thousand dollars from the event. So I've got an entry fee, I've got, um, you know, raffles, silent auctions, I've got all this stuff to raise the money, um, which I believe I should be able to raise about five thousand dollars, maybe more. But, yeah, about that. And then, um, If I can get up to, say, the 15, 000 mark for Black Dog Institute, that's, you know, that's 15, 000 more than what they had before. So, every dollar counts. And it all goes, it's all tax deductible, it all goes to a great cause. Um, yeah, I was trying to even get people, you know, if you forgot someone for Christmas, donate to this, and you get your little letter, and you can say, yeah, this is what, you know, I got you a present by helping someone else. Um, so, yeah. Yeah, make sure you send me the link and I'll put it in the, uh, podcast notes for sure. Yeah, yeah, I will. Yeah, so it's, um, but that, yeah, that's where the cheaper events, I guess, but still world coverage are going to help because more and more. Like, I'm not in it to make money, I'm in it to create awareness and advocacy for mental health. Yeah. Yeah, bloody inspiring bloke. Good. Goodsy. Thanks for coming on. No worries. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it