27-05-2025
Scott ran from Newcastle to Singleton and back, raising $25k. Now he has an even bigger goal
Inspired by the likes of Nedd Brockmann, Novocastrian Scott Hingston will run from Melbourne to Newcastle next month, raising money for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The Merewether-based personal trainer is poised to depart Melbourne Storm's home ground on June 15, and venture through regional Victoria and NSW, before arriving at McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the Knights' home game against the Raiders on June 27.
For the 42-year-old, of Adamstown, the 1100-kilometre run is about raising money and awareness for brain cancer, but also inspiring the next generation.
Two years ago, Hingston ran from Merewether to Singleton and back to raise money for the Hunter Valley bus crash appeal. That 24-hour journey raised $25,000, but it also left Hingston with a desire to do more.
"When I got back from Singo, I felt like I could still do more," Hingston said.
"I've done heaps of half-marathons and marathons, but I'm just more motivated to do this sort of stuff.
"Especially working as a coach and a PT, I invest so much time into other people, where I find this is a challenge for myself.
"It also encourages - I've got a lot of young kids I coach, who have probably got potential to go and represent their country at their chosen sport, and I think it's good for them to watch us go and do things like this.
"What they thought was probably not possible, they can actually do as well."
Hingston's 12-day run, which concludes in the NRL's Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, will traverse country towns like Albury, Wagga, Young, Cowra and Lithgow. He will pass through the Blue Mountains into Sydney and up the coast via the Northern Beaches and Central Coast.
He will have a support crew following him in a motorhome, and other runners will join him for short sections along the way. Some former NRL players are expected to be among the participants.
"I'll be doing an average of about 86km a day, for 12 days," Hingston said.
"Every town we're going to is probably about 22km away from each other. So I'll have about a 20 or 30-minute break at each town, and we're hoping to get the community involved at each town. Some more so than others. We're looking to get some accommodation in the towns as well, but we'll be trying to get the local communities involved as much as possible."
All going well, the last day of the journey will be about 30km from Swansea to the stadium, when it's expected a larger contingent or runners would join in.
"No planned rest day, it's straight through," Hingston said. "Ideally I'd like to start at 5.15 [am] each morning and finish about 4 [pm], give or take. I think the longest day we have is about 98kms."
Hingston, whose training business is based out of the Merewether Greens' gym at Townson Oval, hopes to raise $100,000 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
"Mark has done a lot up here in Newcastle," Hingston said.
"At the Greens, we have a girl at our club who got diagnosed with brain cancer about two years ago. But it just seemed to have impacted a lot of people.
"It's been amazing how many people, since I started this, who have reached out and said my brother has brain cancer, my mum or someone close they know.
"If we can create some more funds and awareness of people who are going through it, it can only be a good thing. I lost my cousin to cancer when she was 35. It wasn't brain cancer, but she literally had it for 12 months and then we lost her after that."
Hingston has been training for months, mostly around Newcastle Harbour. But he reckons the hardest part of the campaign - to date - was actually committing to it.
"I just needed something to work towards. It gets you off the drink, you eat better, you sleep better. I'm probably the fittest in my life right now," he said.
"I remember writing a text message to 'Hughesy' with the initial idea. I deleted it a few times and wrote it again, and then finally bit the bullet and thought, 'Bugger it, I'm going to do this'.
"Once I had that set in stone, my training just took off from there.
"I've been trying to average around 150km a week for the last 10 months.
"It's gotten bigger the last six months, but ... it's been very repetitive."
Long-distance running is growing in popularity, especially in the social-media age. Aussie Nedd Brockmann has become a well-known identity after running from Perth to Sydney, a route Englishman William Goodge also completed in a reported record time last week.
"Ten, fifteen years ago, running a marathon was a massive deal. Now it's just another race," Hingston said.
"There's no fear factor of actually finishing the run. If I run a marathon, I wouldn't be worried about trying to finish the 42km, it's more about what time am I going to run. It's not so much a bucket-list anymore.
"Look at guys like Cliff Young, who was 61 when he ran that ultra [marathon] from Sydney to Melbourne. It makes people realise they can do a lot more than what they're capable of.
"What Will did was amazing, but Will has got years and years of experience on Nedd.
"Nedd just put his shoes on and started running, and I think Nedd has really encouraged and motivated a lot of people to do it, because he titled himself as a non-runner. He has become a runner because he started with that.
"I've done 23 half-marathons, six marathons, I've done the City to Surf 10 times. I loved running the events, and just getting quicker times ... that was my motivation.
"But my role as a coach, you often sit down and ask yourself, 'What am I doing to motivate and inspire everyone else?'."
Donation toward's Hingston's appeal can be made via the Mark Hughes Foundation's website.
Inspired by the likes of Nedd Brockmann, Novocastrian Scott Hingston will run from Melbourne to Newcastle next month, raising money for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The Merewether-based personal trainer is poised to depart Melbourne Storm's home ground on June 15, and venture through regional Victoria and NSW, before arriving at McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the Knights' home game against the Raiders on June 27.
For the 42-year-old, of Adamstown, the 1100-kilometre run is about raising money and awareness for brain cancer, but also inspiring the next generation.
Two years ago, Hingston ran from Merewether to Singleton and back to raise money for the Hunter Valley bus crash appeal. That 24-hour journey raised $25,000, but it also left Hingston with a desire to do more.
"When I got back from Singo, I felt like I could still do more," Hingston said.
"I've done heaps of half-marathons and marathons, but I'm just more motivated to do this sort of stuff.
"Especially working as a coach and a PT, I invest so much time into other people, where I find this is a challenge for myself.
"It also encourages - I've got a lot of young kids I coach, who have probably got potential to go and represent their country at their chosen sport, and I think it's good for them to watch us go and do things like this.
"What they thought was probably not possible, they can actually do as well."
Hingston's 12-day run, which concludes in the NRL's Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, will traverse country towns like Albury, Wagga, Young, Cowra and Lithgow. He will pass through the Blue Mountains into Sydney and up the coast via the Northern Beaches and Central Coast.
He will have a support crew following him in a motorhome, and other runners will join him for short sections along the way. Some former NRL players are expected to be among the participants.
"I'll be doing an average of about 86km a day, for 12 days," Hingston said.
"Every town we're going to is probably about 22km away from each other. So I'll have about a 20 or 30-minute break at each town, and we're hoping to get the community involved at each town. Some more so than others. We're looking to get some accommodation in the towns as well, but we'll be trying to get the local communities involved as much as possible."
All going well, the last day of the journey will be about 30km from Swansea to the stadium, when it's expected a larger contingent or runners would join in.
"No planned rest day, it's straight through," Hingston said. "Ideally I'd like to start at 5.15 [am] each morning and finish about 4 [pm], give or take. I think the longest day we have is about 98kms."
Hingston, whose training business is based out of the Merewether Greens' gym at Townson Oval, hopes to raise $100,000 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
"Mark has done a lot up here in Newcastle," Hingston said.
"At the Greens, we have a girl at our club who got diagnosed with brain cancer about two years ago. But it just seemed to have impacted a lot of people.
"It's been amazing how many people, since I started this, who have reached out and said my brother has brain cancer, my mum or someone close they know.
"If we can create some more funds and awareness of people who are going through it, it can only be a good thing. I lost my cousin to cancer when she was 35. It wasn't brain cancer, but she literally had it for 12 months and then we lost her after that."
Hingston has been training for months, mostly around Newcastle Harbour. But he reckons the hardest part of the campaign - to date - was actually committing to it.
"I just needed something to work towards. It gets you off the drink, you eat better, you sleep better. I'm probably the fittest in my life right now," he said.
"I remember writing a text message to 'Hughesy' with the initial idea. I deleted it a few times and wrote it again, and then finally bit the bullet and thought, 'Bugger it, I'm going to do this'.
"Once I had that set in stone, my training just took off from there.
"I've been trying to average around 150km a week for the last 10 months.
"It's gotten bigger the last six months, but ... it's been very repetitive."
Long-distance running is growing in popularity, especially in the social-media age. Aussie Nedd Brockmann has become a well-known identity after running from Perth to Sydney, a route Englishman William Goodge also completed in a reported record time last week.
"Ten, fifteen years ago, running a marathon was a massive deal. Now it's just another race," Hingston said.
"There's no fear factor of actually finishing the run. If I run a marathon, I wouldn't be worried about trying to finish the 42km, it's more about what time am I going to run. It's not so much a bucket-list anymore.
"Look at guys like Cliff Young, who was 61 when he ran that ultra [marathon] from Sydney to Melbourne. It makes people realise they can do a lot more than what they're capable of.
"What Will did was amazing, but Will has got years and years of experience on Nedd.
"Nedd just put his shoes on and started running, and I think Nedd has really encouraged and motivated a lot of people to do it, because he titled himself as a non-runner. He has become a runner because he started with that.
"I've done 23 half-marathons, six marathons, I've done the City to Surf 10 times. I loved running the events, and just getting quicker times ... that was my motivation.
"But my role as a coach, you often sit down and ask yourself, 'What am I doing to motivate and inspire everyone else?'."
Donation toward's Hingston's appeal can be made via the Mark Hughes Foundation's website.
Inspired by the likes of Nedd Brockmann, Novocastrian Scott Hingston will run from Melbourne to Newcastle next month, raising money for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The Merewether-based personal trainer is poised to depart Melbourne Storm's home ground on June 15, and venture through regional Victoria and NSW, before arriving at McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the Knights' home game against the Raiders on June 27.
For the 42-year-old, of Adamstown, the 1100-kilometre run is about raising money and awareness for brain cancer, but also inspiring the next generation.
Two years ago, Hingston ran from Merewether to Singleton and back to raise money for the Hunter Valley bus crash appeal. That 24-hour journey raised $25,000, but it also left Hingston with a desire to do more.
"When I got back from Singo, I felt like I could still do more," Hingston said.
"I've done heaps of half-marathons and marathons, but I'm just more motivated to do this sort of stuff.
"Especially working as a coach and a PT, I invest so much time into other people, where I find this is a challenge for myself.
"It also encourages - I've got a lot of young kids I coach, who have probably got potential to go and represent their country at their chosen sport, and I think it's good for them to watch us go and do things like this.
"What they thought was probably not possible, they can actually do as well."
Hingston's 12-day run, which concludes in the NRL's Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, will traverse country towns like Albury, Wagga, Young, Cowra and Lithgow. He will pass through the Blue Mountains into Sydney and up the coast via the Northern Beaches and Central Coast.
He will have a support crew following him in a motorhome, and other runners will join him for short sections along the way. Some former NRL players are expected to be among the participants.
"I'll be doing an average of about 86km a day, for 12 days," Hingston said.
"Every town we're going to is probably about 22km away from each other. So I'll have about a 20 or 30-minute break at each town, and we're hoping to get the community involved at each town. Some more so than others. We're looking to get some accommodation in the towns as well, but we'll be trying to get the local communities involved as much as possible."
All going well, the last day of the journey will be about 30km from Swansea to the stadium, when it's expected a larger contingent or runners would join in.
"No planned rest day, it's straight through," Hingston said. "Ideally I'd like to start at 5.15 [am] each morning and finish about 4 [pm], give or take. I think the longest day we have is about 98kms."
Hingston, whose training business is based out of the Merewether Greens' gym at Townson Oval, hopes to raise $100,000 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
"Mark has done a lot up here in Newcastle," Hingston said.
"At the Greens, we have a girl at our club who got diagnosed with brain cancer about two years ago. But it just seemed to have impacted a lot of people.
"It's been amazing how many people, since I started this, who have reached out and said my brother has brain cancer, my mum or someone close they know.
"If we can create some more funds and awareness of people who are going through it, it can only be a good thing. I lost my cousin to cancer when she was 35. It wasn't brain cancer, but she literally had it for 12 months and then we lost her after that."
Hingston has been training for months, mostly around Newcastle Harbour. But he reckons the hardest part of the campaign - to date - was actually committing to it.
"I just needed something to work towards. It gets you off the drink, you eat better, you sleep better. I'm probably the fittest in my life right now," he said.
"I remember writing a text message to 'Hughesy' with the initial idea. I deleted it a few times and wrote it again, and then finally bit the bullet and thought, 'Bugger it, I'm going to do this'.
"Once I had that set in stone, my training just took off from there.
"I've been trying to average around 150km a week for the last 10 months.
"It's gotten bigger the last six months, but ... it's been very repetitive."
Long-distance running is growing in popularity, especially in the social-media age. Aussie Nedd Brockmann has become a well-known identity after running from Perth to Sydney, a route Englishman William Goodge also completed in a reported record time last week.
"Ten, fifteen years ago, running a marathon was a massive deal. Now it's just another race," Hingston said.
"There's no fear factor of actually finishing the run. If I run a marathon, I wouldn't be worried about trying to finish the 42km, it's more about what time am I going to run. It's not so much a bucket-list anymore.
"Look at guys like Cliff Young, who was 61 when he ran that ultra [marathon] from Sydney to Melbourne. It makes people realise they can do a lot more than what they're capable of.
"What Will did was amazing, but Will has got years and years of experience on Nedd.
"Nedd just put his shoes on and started running, and I think Nedd has really encouraged and motivated a lot of people to do it, because he titled himself as a non-runner. He has become a runner because he started with that.
"I've done 23 half-marathons, six marathons, I've done the City to Surf 10 times. I loved running the events, and just getting quicker times ... that was my motivation.
"But my role as a coach, you often sit down and ask yourself, 'What am I doing to motivate and inspire everyone else?'."
Donation toward's Hingston's appeal can be made via the Mark Hughes Foundation's website.
Inspired by the likes of Nedd Brockmann, Novocastrian Scott Hingston will run from Melbourne to Newcastle next month, raising money for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The Merewether-based personal trainer is poised to depart Melbourne Storm's home ground on June 15, and venture through regional Victoria and NSW, before arriving at McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the Knights' home game against the Raiders on June 27.
For the 42-year-old, of Adamstown, the 1100-kilometre run is about raising money and awareness for brain cancer, but also inspiring the next generation.
Two years ago, Hingston ran from Merewether to Singleton and back to raise money for the Hunter Valley bus crash appeal. That 24-hour journey raised $25,000, but it also left Hingston with a desire to do more.
"When I got back from Singo, I felt like I could still do more," Hingston said.
"I've done heaps of half-marathons and marathons, but I'm just more motivated to do this sort of stuff.
"Especially working as a coach and a PT, I invest so much time into other people, where I find this is a challenge for myself.
"It also encourages - I've got a lot of young kids I coach, who have probably got potential to go and represent their country at their chosen sport, and I think it's good for them to watch us go and do things like this.
"What they thought was probably not possible, they can actually do as well."
Hingston's 12-day run, which concludes in the NRL's Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, will traverse country towns like Albury, Wagga, Young, Cowra and Lithgow. He will pass through the Blue Mountains into Sydney and up the coast via the Northern Beaches and Central Coast.
He will have a support crew following him in a motorhome, and other runners will join him for short sections along the way. Some former NRL players are expected to be among the participants.
"I'll be doing an average of about 86km a day, for 12 days," Hingston said.
"Every town we're going to is probably about 22km away from each other. So I'll have about a 20 or 30-minute break at each town, and we're hoping to get the community involved at each town. Some more so than others. We're looking to get some accommodation in the towns as well, but we'll be trying to get the local communities involved as much as possible."
All going well, the last day of the journey will be about 30km from Swansea to the stadium, when it's expected a larger contingent or runners would join in.
"No planned rest day, it's straight through," Hingston said. "Ideally I'd like to start at 5.15 [am] each morning and finish about 4 [pm], give or take. I think the longest day we have is about 98kms."
Hingston, whose training business is based out of the Merewether Greens' gym at Townson Oval, hopes to raise $100,000 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.
"Mark has done a lot up here in Newcastle," Hingston said.
"At the Greens, we have a girl at our club who got diagnosed with brain cancer about two years ago. But it just seemed to have impacted a lot of people.
"It's been amazing how many people, since I started this, who have reached out and said my brother has brain cancer, my mum or someone close they know.
"If we can create some more funds and awareness of people who are going through it, it can only be a good thing. I lost my cousin to cancer when she was 35. It wasn't brain cancer, but she literally had it for 12 months and then we lost her after that."
Hingston has been training for months, mostly around Newcastle Harbour. But he reckons the hardest part of the campaign - to date - was actually committing to it.
"I just needed something to work towards. It gets you off the drink, you eat better, you sleep better. I'm probably the fittest in my life right now," he said.
"I remember writing a text message to 'Hughesy' with the initial idea. I deleted it a few times and wrote it again, and then finally bit the bullet and thought, 'Bugger it, I'm going to do this'.
"Once I had that set in stone, my training just took off from there.
"I've been trying to average around 150km a week for the last 10 months.
"It's gotten bigger the last six months, but ... it's been very repetitive."
Long-distance running is growing in popularity, especially in the social-media age. Aussie Nedd Brockmann has become a well-known identity after running from Perth to Sydney, a route Englishman William Goodge also completed in a reported record time last week.
"Ten, fifteen years ago, running a marathon was a massive deal. Now it's just another race," Hingston said.
"There's no fear factor of actually finishing the run. If I run a marathon, I wouldn't be worried about trying to finish the 42km, it's more about what time am I going to run. It's not so much a bucket-list anymore.
"Look at guys like Cliff Young, who was 61 when he ran that ultra [marathon] from Sydney to Melbourne. It makes people realise they can do a lot more than what they're capable of.
"What Will did was amazing, but Will has got years and years of experience on Nedd.
"Nedd just put his shoes on and started running, and I think Nedd has really encouraged and motivated a lot of people to do it, because he titled himself as a non-runner. He has become a runner because he started with that.
"I've done 23 half-marathons, six marathons, I've done the City to Surf 10 times. I loved running the events, and just getting quicker times ... that was my motivation.
"But my role as a coach, you often sit down and ask yourself, 'What am I doing to motivate and inspire everyone else?'."
Donation toward's Hingston's appeal can be made via the Mark Hughes Foundation's website.
