Brooke McIntosh eyes running record as she laps Australia for Blue Tree Project
"Just one more breath, just one more day and just one more conversation" is the mantra Brooke McIntosh repeats to herself as she edges closer to becoming the fastest woman to run continuously around Australia.
The 29-year-old entrepreneur has been running at least 80 kilometres a day — the equivalent of about two marathons — since she left her home town of Perth on March 3.
She is on a mission to complete a 14,080km lap of the country in 180 days while raising $1.4 million for mental health charity the Blue Tree Project.
Ms McIntosh has already crossed the Nullarbor, been through Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and is weaving through the Illawarra until she reaches Sydney's Coogee Beach by late Wednesday.
"It's beautiful out here," Ms McIntosh told ABC Illawarra Breakfast while running through Wollongong on Tuesday.
Deborah De Williams was the first woman to complete a non-stop run of Australia, finishing the 18,026km journey in 408 days.
Ms McIntosh is hoping to crush that record, as well as a Guinness World Record, by completing the feat with no full rest days.
She will have run for almost 70 consecutive days by the time she reaches Sydney but says her body is well-adjusted.
"The first four weeks was like, 'What are you doing to me?'" Ms McIntosh said.
"[Now] it's like, 'This is what we're doing — running around Australia to raise awareness about mental health every day.'"
In 2022, Nedd Brockmann burst into the public consciousness by running the width of Australia from Perth to Bondi.
He clocked up 3,800km in 47 days and raised $2.5 million for homelessness charity Mobilise.
What Ms McIntosh has set out to achieve is another level of endurance at almost five times the distance and duration.
But like Brockmann she finds great pride in pushing her body to the limit.
"It's insane, but for me, it's all just one more step or conversation," Ms McIntosh said.
Ms McIntosh has grappled with mental health challenges from a young age and chose to become an advocate following a near-fatal truck accident three years ago.
"I just don't want anyone to experience the depths of darkness alone," she said.
"I believe if we have courage to have just one more conversation, we realise that a problem shared is a problem halved and that the world is a beautiful place."
The Blue Tree Project is an initiative that aims to encourage people to have tough conversations about mental health.
The charity has painted more than 1,300 trees bright blue as a symbol for change.
Ms McIntosh said she had received a great response during the run.
"Some people just pull over on the highway for a quick yarn … the community [support] is insane," she said.
After she rests her feet overnight in Sydney, Ms McIntosh will continue her journey into Queensland and the Northern Territory before arriving back in Perth by late August.
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