Latest / The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero / Callan Gates, Shooter, and Jess Peil - Blood Run x Running for Resilience

Transcript

Callan Gates, Shooter, and Jess Peil - Blood Run x Running for Resilience · The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero

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  At Lonsdale St Studio, we believe in the power of
• 0:02
  storytelling to connect people and create change.
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  That's why we're proud to be the production partner for this
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  Running for Resilience podcast. Well, pretty exciting to be in
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  the homeland of 2 Legends. Not only, I mean you're, you're
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  infamous, really both of you in a lot of ways.
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  You look concerned. You should.
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  I was. Gonna say hang on PG.
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  Yeah. No, we, we're, we're in the
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  heart of Canberra in the studios here and they're beautiful
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  studios. And this morning we've been
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  doing a bit of a run from the dock for Crusade for Connor,
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  right? Yeah, yeah.
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  So we had a sneaky little 10 Ki think it was just short, but
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  yeah, we did the east basin of the lake and yeah, yeah.
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  So we've got about 300 altogether.
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  So Crusade for Connor, it's it's third year now.
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  And yeah, really, I met the guys was it 3 years ago and they just
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  sort of did a physical challenge each.
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  Like it was a guy that played tennis for 24 hours.
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  Another guy was on his guitar like busking all day and night.
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  I I wanted to ask a question I didn't get the chance but how
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  many times did he do Kasan is what I want to know like how
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  many times are we doing that song during 12 hours of.
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  Bus horses. Maybe.
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  Yeah, yeah, we got to run. What have got to run?
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  Tracy Chapman, Yeah. So they they're raising money
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  for Nura, so schizophrenia research and yeah, sadly that
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  their friend Connor, he'd committed suicide and he'd
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  suffered from schizophrenia and yeah, I guess didn't quite know
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  how to deal with it. And their whole mission now is
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  just here creating awareness and some much needed funds.
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  And every year they get together, even though they've
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  sort of branched out out of Canberra, I think they're about
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  mid 20s or the lads. But yeah, they've really created
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  something. And yeah, you saw first hand
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  like 300 people rocked up, Bunch did a 5K walk, Bunch did a 10K
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  run, and then yeah, they stayed back at the dock for some food
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  after. So yeah.
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  So super cool and I think yeah, we'll dive more into that later,
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  but I think it's a true testament to the culture you
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  guys have been a part of down here where it's almost like
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  every week it feels like. And it might not be, but there's
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  people run for all types of reasons.
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  And you know, you guys really lean into we sort of touched on
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  this on the way I overshoot her and the fact that I've been
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  really blown away by the way that like clearly is a massive
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  like supporter of mental health, which is amazing and incredible
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  in and of itself. But that when other people have
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  other needs or support other things, that there's just as
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  much energy going to that, you know, which is super cool.
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  But anyway, so that was a lot of fun.
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  We sat around and had a bit of food.
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  The weather opened up and it was nice and sunny out there.
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  But look, today I really want to we got connected with you guys
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  about a year ago, maybe 18 months ago.
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  And it's, it's been awesome to connect with your community.
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  And, but I really want to go back a little bit from, you
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  know, the start of afar. And, you know, I've, I've been
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  enjoying the podcasts, you know, the, the couple that we've that
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  have been loaded up and hearing about why things start and then
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  how it evolves because there's, there's something that you start
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  something and then people go, hey, that's, that's really cool.
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  I'm going to lean into that. And then it starts to snowball.
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  And I'm really keen to like hear from you guys about your
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  perspective of RFR and how that started and then the docs
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  involvement in that. You know, that we had 300 people
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  today turn up outside the pub and that happens almost.
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  It's not every day, but. But all, all.
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  Yeah. And more, you know.
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  And so I guess it's an open question to both of you to go
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  tell me about your experience in the AFR community and how that
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  evolved in the way that you were ever part of that.
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  You know, Jess, what do you. I mean, I'm super keen to
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  understand more about it. I think I like I came into Afra.
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  Oh gosh. I think what, 3, maybe three
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  years ago or something was my first time I had a friend doing
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  the whole, you got to come down to this thing.
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  It's really cool, but it what like it is, it has been that
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  thing that has evolved from someone saying it's someone else
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  rather than us going out and advertising like crazy.
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  Like obviously we've got hats and stuff like that, but just
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  having a friend ask come on down, this is really cool.
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  It's really fun. It's really different and you
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  get a beer at the end. You know you've won me over, I.
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  Know. Yeah, yeah.
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  I know. Yeah, I know.
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  Yeah, yeah. But so.
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  So you so you like it was just invite.
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  It wasn't something you'd seen before.
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  It was like, hey, you should come check.
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  Yeah, OK, cool. No, no, So yeah, we just came
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  down for that. And then it's just, I was hit
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  and miss for a while. Like I didn't come along every
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  week and stuff. But then it's now just every
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  Wednesday I'm like, that's, that's my thing.
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  I've got to go down there and have a have a crack, talk to
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  people and see who's about. And I love it.
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  Yeah, it's really great. It's grown so much.
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  It's amazing. Well, even in the three years
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  that that you started coming, so when you started coming, like,
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  you know, it wasn't 700 people turned up on a Wednesday night.
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  Close to 100, maybe Long ago? Not quite.
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  Not quite, Not quite. I think, you know, it would have
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  been just just shy of 100 around then, yeah.
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  That's when the the old bar tab for the free beer after was a
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  bit cheaper a shirt. Yeah, they're really.
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  You know the beers after piling up 700 people.
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  Try and rally for a beer sponsor at that point, yeah.
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  Yeah, do. You know what you want.
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  Yeah, well. So.
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  Thanks Traveller. Yeah, 100%.
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  Thank you, Traveller, 100%. And I think that that that's
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  part of it though. Like we joke about it, but that
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  is part of it, right? You come and do something
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  together and then there's that like that community time after.
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  And so so you started coming more regularly.
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  Yeah, yeah. As a part of that after.
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  Yeah, just kept coming along and stuff.
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  And then it it's that whole. The food at the dock is amazing,
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  for starters. Like it's not your typical pub
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  food. Yeah, so really like that.
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  So you stick around, you talk to people afterwards, have your
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  drink, have something to eat. And it's, I think it's really
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  good for all the businesses along that front as well because
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  they're like people like different.
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  Sorts of people, so you know. It's amazing.
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  Yeah, it's really cool. And Judith, from your
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  perspective, I mean having the pub there and you had the pub
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  there before, a lot of those shops were you know what that is
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  now. Yep.
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  Tell me about like how far and then the dock and how that the
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  connection of all of that just on the early days?
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  Yes, early days. I remember Ben came to me as
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  like I've been talking to guy called Matt and he wants us to
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  do like this bit of a one off run for sort of like suicide
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  awareness. And he told me like his story
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  about his dad bring his dad and then his mum had been sick as
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  well. And yeah, so a bunch of us,
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  maybe like a dozen were there for the first round, maybe 15 or
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  20. And we yeah, ran around the
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  lake, came back and like, yeah, shout be beers and pizza.
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  So got the jugs out and pizza. Happy days.
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  There's like 15 of us and can't do.
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  Pizzas for free now. It was on a Wednesday as well at
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  6:00, So yeah. So at the same time as what it
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  is now And then, yeah, no pizzas for 340 now.
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  It's a cheap snitty. And yeah, it went really well.
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  And then we're like, oh, I think Brandy was like, oh, should we
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  do it again next week? Same time?
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  Like, yeah, happy days. And that's sort of just what
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  went on for a few months. And it's like a core of May
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  1520. And people had come, people
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  would go, but we never thought that was even.
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  We just like, yeah, let's just keep showing up because me and
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  Ben had the running bug back then as well.
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  And like we were riding the park around and trying to beat each
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  other. So it was like a good sort of
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  midweek little blowout. And then actually, yeah, back in
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  when there was like 50 people, it was actually we had a bit of
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  a competition who could win. There's a bit more competitive.
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  What it is now, Yeah, yeah. I'd be worried, Ben, to try and
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  wrestle you down, yes. So like push it?
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  So like if you saw like the couple of speedsters, like we're
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  having this like a just a easy run, you'd be like, oh, I might
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  try and sneak out early days and I'm gonna.
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  Send it, yeah. Start to gap the field and then
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  when they're really quick guys, they're like, oh, like, yeah,
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  that you sort of you, you cross back and you've made enough
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  ground and you're just trying to hang on, at least for a a place
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  or something. Yeah, so, so I was glad.
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  Yeah, it was, it was good that and yeah, that just went, went
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  in for ages. And it's just slowly, slowly,
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  just like more people. COVID sort of stopped us and
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  then but we still had like a like a straw of a challenge.
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  And we were I think the doc was putting on like a free Shinity,
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  like if you completed so many KS like we could.
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  And yeah, like one thing led to another and obviously Rich and
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  Jess getting on board and, yeah, our frog creating like this
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  whole, like far right. We set up a charity.
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  It's not just like rocking up. And yeah, we'd never thought
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  that we'd be sitting around a table talking about in a podcast
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  and there's like a flew around for our hat and some bike from
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  bloody Central Coast and he's bloody missions here
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  interviewing me. Yeah.
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  That dragged me and Jess up in Mountain 18 times.
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  And. Yeah, yeah, the connections that
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  we've sort of built is pretty special and it just all happened
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  yeah very naturally and never thought like we didn't we
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  weren't building a brand at the start of our for our it was just
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  like group of like minded people.
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  And I actually do miss those days a little bit as well.
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  Like, it's quite stressful running at the pub every
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  Wednesday and like, you get like 3-4 hundred people and like they
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  need water and set up the microphone, get the heaters out,
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  get the signage. And there's so many volunteers.
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  So they do such a great job. It makes the doc's life a lot
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  easier. And appreciate all the all the
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  volleys out there. But yeah, like, I gonna miss
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  those days when you, like, you almost did know everyone as well
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  by name. And it'd be sort of nice to know
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  more names. It's just like you just sort of.
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  And everyone's still touch a good vibe.
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  But I don't miss those days because I could enjoy it a bit
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  more myself. But for the greater good, I'm
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  happy to like. Yeah, yeah.
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  You, you serve Ferrara. And yeah, it's, it's special.
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  Yeah, what it really is. Well, yeah, I mean, like what I
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  heard you just say is like it starts, I'm going to say out of
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  it, it's not a silly idea, but someone goes let's do this.
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  And then people go, it's a good idea and start it starts to
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  evolve this thing, even the competitive running, but it gets
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  to this spot where I think consistency is the thing, right?
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  And you know, running is all about consistency, right?
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  Like to be able to do, you know, races or things you want to
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  achieve, consistency is key. But it's the same about being a
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  community where you, you know that every Wednesday, it's a bit
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  like church, like really, if you know that every Saturday or
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  Sunday, whatever day you go, someone's going to be there and,
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  and to greet you or hang out or be a community.
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  And I think that's why it becomes meaningful to people is
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  I don't care what my day looks like or my week.
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  I know on a Wednesday night I'm going to be around like minded
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  people to do something that's so that's, it was cool when it was
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  10 people. And it's cool when it's, you
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  know, hundreds of people. Yeah.
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  It it means the same thing, which is super cool.
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  Yeah. Even like I feel like that's the
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  I was talking to you on the run earlier today, Like I've been in
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  hospitality for so long and you kind of like you do get a bit
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  Jack of the nights and dealing with people that have maybe had
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  a couple of too many beers and. I'm sorry mate, I'm sorry, but.
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  We've all been there every week. That's another podcast.
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  Yeah. So yeah.
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  Drinking for resilience. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Yeah, but to have like, I guess I've been super fortunate that
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  you do have a pub and you're like, oh, this is like an open
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  space. And so open arms to all walks of
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  life. It doesn't matter what religion
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  your buddy vote for or yeah, like everyone's welcome.
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  It's such AI guess it's a good spot to meet for a run,
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  especially if you come by yourself because like, I don't
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  know, there's there's already staff there.
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  It's well lit up and there's toilets and drinks and.
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  There's almost no reason to not go, you know what I mean?
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  Like. And even like, if you're not
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  drinking beer, like you can still socialise.
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  And I think that's something that yes, it's getting harder
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  and harder to socialise because of obviously technology and you
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  just entertain from your from your couch now with yeah, all
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  means. But yeah, to just get people
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  out. And yeah, you can still come to
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  a pub and have a fat time even if you don't have a an alcoholic
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  beverage. Yeah, but if, but if you do want
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  one and happy days. And it was always a little bit
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  once it started getting big because we always gave everyone
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  a free beer after it's just like, but then it's like far out
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  like trying to promote mental health here.
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  And alcohol clearly is a lot of problem for a lot of people.
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  So we yeah, we did question it. Should we like stop giving out
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  the freebie? Like we don't, we don't promote
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  it apart from just talking about it now, but like in terms of
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  like having one bid strength. Yeah.
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  And obviously if you if you're licenced, you can still drive or
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  we give a rose aid to the ladies a minute.
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  Don't like a beer? Awesome, awesome.
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  Raspberry lemonade that gets people flying a bit.
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  Yeah. Crush a Raspberry?
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  Yeah, Lemon. Yeah, post run, but yeah, it's
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  been nice to sort of still stick with the one beer after it
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  because it does, yeah. You get that sort of runners
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  high and then you have a super beer, a rose or or fire engine.
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  You just like you feel just so a bit more open to to chat.
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  Yeah, I, I was just going to say it's, I was going to say it's a
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  social lubricant it, but it's not about being the alcoholic
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  beverage. It's about like enabling a
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  moment together. It's like you stand there and
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  sort of like, oh, OK, this is cool.
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  But then there's sort of a reason to sit and chat.
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  And so look, I'm a massive fan of the community and we got
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  introduced, you know, for the the Blood Run film and through
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  Dan, who Dan was going to be here today, but sadly couldn't.
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  But he said, I, hey, listen, we've been talking with the guys
• 14:16
  for running for resilience. He works down here.
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  So he's run with you guys a few times and like met a few you
• 14:21
  guys and was like, hey, listen, we we're talking to these guys
• 14:24
  about showing the film down there and, you know, didn't know
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  you guys from a bar. So we just turn up and yeah, as
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  we're talking about today, we brought a couple of lads down
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  and had a good time and whatever.
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  But what I was blown away with was the authenticity of the
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  people involved. And I was first of all blown
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  away that the pub was full of people wanting to watch the
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  film. But even after and then post,
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  that was just a really genuine connection to people.
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  And you know, that's where, you know, we all met really at that
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  time. And for better or for worse, you
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  can't get rid of me. But the, the, IT is a credit to
• 15:01
  the community and the, I guess the way you guys roll, it's,
• 15:06
  it's authentic, it's real. There's no, there's no bullshit.
• 15:10
  It's, it's like if you, if you've had a crappy day, well,
• 15:13
  then that's OK. If, if we're having fun, we're
• 15:16
  having fun, you know, And I think that's really special.
• 15:18
  So Jess, you, you're now pretty, you know, you're pretty involved
• 15:23
  now with what gives you the joy? Like outside of the obvious of
• 15:29
  like having a a place for people to come and then maybe a place
• 15:32
  for yourself to be regular, what gives you the joy for it?
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  I still think like community 100% it's down, down to the
• 15:39
  community and stuff and seeing, seeing the different people that
• 15:43
  are coming in and being involved is really cool.
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  And yeah, just the things that we do like within it as well.
• 15:49
  Like there were so many, as you said, like again, it comes down
• 15:52
  to community and but someone's doing, you know, this for
• 15:55
  leukaemia, someone's doing this for kids, someone's like all
• 15:59
  these different things. And we all support everybody's
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  stuff, as you know, within reason, of course.
• 16:05
  Yeah, even the like the more the merrier even the other run clubs
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  like you if they're they fight in the same fight, then yeah,
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  join them. Yeah, for sure.
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  And yeah that's it's been such a vehicle for our to host and to
• 16:18
  support and to promote other causes as well.
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  And that's probably been the one thing that like yeah, just I
• 16:26
  feel like why it's been probably so it's gained so much momentum
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  is because yeah, like we're in the AL for our communities this
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  very open arms in terms of yeah, like and it does even though
• 16:38
  we're suicide prevention, like leukaemia is still it's all very
• 16:42
  relatable as well in terms of what your mental well being.
• 16:45
  I think there's impacts across any people run for a bunch of
• 16:49
  different reasons, right, which is we sort of talked about
• 16:51
  before, but when there's, I'm going to say tragic or tragedy
• 16:56
  around the reason why people run, it can lead to very
• 17:00
  impactful mental health issues, right?
• 17:03
  And, and I'm not talking about for the individual, I'm talking
• 17:05
  about for the family that's connected to the situation.
• 17:07
  Like, you know, we, we've got our own story, you know,
• 17:10
  personally around blood cancer and my, my wife's mum and I see
• 17:17
  the impact of blood cancer now in that family.
• 17:20
  It's as raw as the day it happened for that family.
• 17:25
  But also for you, because I know you obviously came into the
• 17:29
  family a lot later, yet I've seen you in tears about it as
• 17:33
  well. So it obviously like it does
• 17:35
  impact the whole family, but you're a part of that.
• 17:38
  Yeah. And I think when you when you
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  observe the pain that people go through, like we put this film
• 17:45
  out right, which is a really personal story for us in the way
• 17:49
  that it's about Tara's family directly and Tara's father
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  couldn't watch it. Like the first time we watched
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  it was on Foxtel like a year later, like over a year later.
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  And so that's how raw it is. And I guess when we come back to
• 18:04
  the mental health thing, it comes in different forms, right?
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  In the way that people, it affects people.
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  So whether it's blood cancer, schizophrenia, like we, you
• 18:12
  know, we, we ran for, for today or any other battle that people
• 18:16
  are fighting, it's still connected.
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  And I think that's why it's so powerful that you guys have the
• 18:20
  community you are because you're learning to other people's
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  stuff, right? And so I, I left, we, we did 7
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  showings of that film and I can honestly say hand on heart that
• 18:30
  was the most real and community experience I had shown it.
• 18:37
  Sadly my brother who made the film couldn't make that.
• 18:40
  But I felt I left there feeling like I was a part of the AFRA
• 18:45
  community and I don't know if you fully get how special that
• 18:49
  is. Yeah, because I remember early
• 18:52
  days, like I think it was Adrian that put us in touch.
• 18:55
  Was it? Yeah, Yeah, I think I was
• 18:57
  talking to you all the over the phone and we're like, Oh yeah.
• 19:00
  Like movie night, we'll make it work at the pub.
• 19:02
  Like we'll figure out. And we did it on a night that we
• 19:05
  were closed and then it. Was a Monday night?
• 19:07
  Yeah. Yeah, and I was like, oh, never
• 19:10
  really hosted too many movie nights, but it's for a good
• 19:13
  cause. And you sounded like a really
• 19:14
  good bloke. I must have, I must have
• 19:16
  confused you over the phone mate AI.
• 19:20
  But yeah, so now we'll have this movie night, we'll promote it
• 19:23
  throughout for us so we could try selling off tickets to raise
• 19:26
  a Bitcoin. And it all went well.
• 19:28
  And then remember, you sent me like the film and I just had to
• 19:32
  make sure like it was going to go through the TV's fine and
• 19:35
  whatnot. And so I'm in the pub alone.
• 19:37
  I think I was I was cleaning or doing something and Domestic
• 19:41
  Goddess. Yeah, you're.
• 19:42
  Yeah, Look at you. It's nice to be in the pub by
• 19:44
  yourself. And I put this on the big screen
• 19:48
  and making sure the audio is all good and it's all sinking nice.
• 19:50
  Like, oh, this is a pretty like legit production here.
• 19:53
  And yeah, I didn't know you're from a bar of soap.
• 19:56
  But within like the first like 2 minutes, like, and I'm just by
• 20:00
  myself and I sort of, I was still like doing, keeping busy.
• 20:05
  Like I was keeping I wasn't totally locked into the film.
• 20:09
  Cleaning something and then. Clean the same Table 3.
• 20:12
  Times. Yeah, yeah, very clean.
• 20:14
  I'm starting to listen in. And then I was like, and I don't
• 20:18
  like if if a dog dies in a movie or something, I'm shocking, like
• 20:21
  I'll be waterworks. But yeah, so I do have, I do
• 20:25
  have a heart. But like after 2 minutes, like I
• 20:30
  was starting to tear up and go, Oh my God, like the whole pub is
• 20:33
  going to be in tears after a few minutes here.
• 20:35
  And I didn't even know the guy and his family.
• 20:37
  And like, I knew your story and but I was like, can't imagine
• 20:41
  what it must have been like for people that knew your family
• 20:44
  personally watching that film would be like, all the
• 20:46
  heartstrings would have been pulled in major.
• 20:48
  Like, did you tear up that all gesture in the I'm a big?
• 20:51
  Silk, yeah. Yeah, like the very start was
• 20:54
  this. Oh, this is.
• 20:55
  This is going deep. Yeah, it was.
• 20:57
  It went deep, hard, fast. Yeah, so if you haven't seen it
• 21:00
  already, Blood run. How can they?
• 21:03
  How can they watch it? Actually, excitingly, it's on It
• 21:06
  Goes Live, it's on Foxtel right now, so it's on KO and Binge, so
• 21:11
  you can get on there, but it starts on SBS On Demand this
• 21:14
  week coming so the 28th. You'll be able to watch that
• 21:16
  for. You can watch that for free on
• 21:18
  there Yeah. So yeah, check it out.
• 21:20
  But yeah, I'm. Awesome.
• 21:21
  Like motivated to like, well, you're gonna you can watch it on
• 21:24
  the couch, that's fine. But like after it you'd be like,
• 21:27
  I don't need to RIP in here and sign up for an ultra or do
• 21:29
  something crazy. Yeah.
• 21:31
  Which is, which is great, yeah. No matter how fast you are or
• 21:36
  like slow or like you just get it done.
• 21:38
  And yeah, it's not about beating Joe Bloggs.
• 21:41
  It's about improving yourself. And that's what correct
• 21:44
  consistency, rocking up, showing up.
• 21:46
  And that's that's the that's the the major battle.
• 21:48
  And if you can do that with the community, then far out.
• 21:51
  That's the secret sauce, I think.
• 21:52
  Yeah, A. 100% I think sometimes a lot of running can be about
• 21:58
  fast splits, you know, PBS, all of that sort of thing, which is
• 22:03
  cool. Like if that's your thing, then
• 22:06
  you know, fair enough. I think when you see people
• 22:11
  achieving something that I didn't think they could, I think
• 22:13
  that becomes really exciting. And you know, it's funny you say
• 22:16
  that. Oh, you know, you come up to me
• 22:19
  after the film, Jesse. You're like, hey, listen, like.
• 22:22
  You're in trouble. Yeah, yeah.
• 22:23
  Hey, like whatever you've you had planning next, like let me
• 22:26
  know whatever and you may have regretted saying that you know
• 22:31
  with with absolutely. No regrets.
• 22:33
  I did. I did say to you at the end,
• 22:35
  you're in so much trouble because I I want to do what
• 22:37
  you've. The the trail, yeah.
• 22:38
  And and my husband's going to kill.
• 22:42
  You Rich, I'm sorry. Yeah, then you offered support
• 22:44
  though. Yeah, I'll come, Crew.
• 22:46
  I'll come crew no problems, but but it it was a an instant
• 22:51
  connector of community for us. Yeah, certainly for our crew and
• 22:55
  bloody mission, as you know, I don't think we've met a crew
• 22:59
  like Alpha. And that's not pissing in
• 23:01
  anyone's pocket because that's not what I do.
• 23:03
  But it's special, I guess. And so we're, we're stoked to be
• 23:08
  talking. Yeah.
• 23:09
  Or even just having a chat about the history of Alpha, the dock,
• 23:13
  you know, where it's at now, personal experiences from it,
• 23:17
  those sorts of things. Is there a highlight?
• 23:20
  And I know it's hard, but is there a highlight over the last
• 23:23
  few years before we keep going that's connected to our far and
• 23:27
  the dock that you could share? There's so many good things,
• 23:33
  isn't there? I know it's hard to pick one,
• 23:38
  but I guess what I'm saying is when you look back, there's
• 23:42
  often times you go, man, that was cool.
• 23:44
  Like, and it might have been the first time you got 100 people
• 23:47
  there or the first time, you know, you had to set up
• 23:51
  volunteers and you're like, wow, this is crazy.
• 23:53
  It's getting bigger than we thought.
• 23:54
  Like whatever. Yeah, probably to the point
• 23:56
  where like, OK, we need a microphone like instead of just
• 24:01
  like. Instead of you yelling.
• 24:03
  Oh, and yelling it's. Like having the first timers
• 24:06
  flag and all that sort of stuff. Like a water station and stuff.
• 24:09
  Yeah, we're gonna need a water station now because there's so
• 24:12
  many people. Because yeah, we had just, I
• 24:13
  think we just had a cooler and like it would just be like a
• 24:15
  single file. But we soon figured out you'd be
• 24:18
  waiting 3 hours for a drink of water if we didn't sort of pre
• 24:23
  pre fill the cups. Yeah.
• 24:26
  But but all of that is like like a stuff where we've got to start
• 24:29
  planning around like it's not just let's turn up.
• 24:31
  We really got to start thinking about this, right?
• 24:33
  Yeah, but. Even doing like the planning day
• 24:34
  when we went out to the farm. Yeah, I was overseas on the
• 24:37
  Saturday. That's right.
• 24:38
  See. I was having too much fun.
• 24:40
  I didn't even realise you weren't there.
• 24:41
  We get it mate, you're a seasoned traveller.
• 24:43
  Go on, it's all. About Shooter.
• 24:48
  Yeah, yeah, We picked yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:50
  So there was a planning set. What do you mean?
• 24:52
  Yeah, we had like a planning day that we went out to a farm, out
• 24:55
  to Benny's family farm, OK and just had this awesome day, just
• 24:58
  planning the whole next year and stuff and lunch together and
• 25:02
  breakfast and park run on the way.
• 25:04
  And yeah, it was really, it was cool.
• 25:06
  Yeah, it's really cool. Are you?
• 25:07
  Gonna be able to highlight for me was when Brainy got he got
• 25:10
  nominated for like Australian Australia.
• 25:13
  Yeah. Really.
• 25:14
  Australian. Really.
• 25:15
  Or was it, was it Australia or like community volunteer?
• 25:18
  Volunteer. Yeah.
• 25:19
  Yeah. That's huge.
• 25:20
  Yeah. So when he was like, so he won
• 25:22
  like he was like the ACT representative.
• 25:24
  So there's like 7 people that. And I remember like he went and
• 25:27
  got all suited up and he went with Benny and that was like,
• 25:31
  yeah, from what started is like just oh, let's just get together
• 25:34
  a dozen of us to holy hell. Like this guy is now potentially
• 25:39
  going to get like one of the Australian of the Year awards.
• 25:42
  It's a huge flex. And then like he's then he's
• 25:45
  doing a Ted Talk. And I don't know if you don't
• 25:47
  know Brittany personally, like he's not.
• 25:50
  He's not showy. No, no.
• 25:52
  And I think that's, yeah, I'm glad that we've sort of gone
• 25:55
  down this line because he's not the sort of guy that like, it's
• 25:59
  not like I'm going to start a run club and I'm going.
• 26:02
  To no, he's not he's not 0 arrogance about it, but the ego
• 26:06
  he's just not there he's just a. Yeah, and like he's, I wouldn't
• 26:10
  say he's Sean the mic, but like he's yeah, he's not like, well,
• 26:15
  it's greatest showman in terms of like, but what he does like,
• 26:19
  and he's actually developed, he's speaking like public
• 26:22
  speaking massively. And now listen to him like, oh,
• 26:24
  like, I don't know if you've done your research or what's,
• 26:26
  you know, what you've done. Because now when I hear you
• 26:28
  talk, it's like I'm locked in like he can.
• 26:30
  Deliver on another level, yeah. Yeah, but for such a person,
• 26:33
  it's like so humble and like, like at no point was he doing it
• 26:36
  to or any of that. Like you could just say.
• 26:41
  And that's, I think that's especially why AFRA is where it
• 26:45
  is today is because Matt Brain is just like, I don't know, like
• 26:49
  he's he's. So genuine.
• 26:50
  Yeah, he's such a genuine and grounded guy that never wanted
• 26:54
  any kind of like he still doesn't want like he he's, he's
• 26:58
  still like. Humble.
• 27:00
  Yeah, like, like a don't praise is the right word.
• 27:05
  But like, yeah, like he's so happy for other people to have
• 27:09
  the limelight as well and the success that it is.
• 27:12
  But yeah, it's. Yeah, I think that that's such a
• 27:16
  big contributor because. And as soon as you meet the guy,
• 27:20
  you're like, oh, he's not doing it for followers here.
• 27:23
  Like he's just. Yeah.
• 27:24
  It comes from like when it's real and it has this like, I
• 27:31
  don't, I don't care for the social media lights.
• 27:35
  I don't care for the, the kudos that you might give me.
• 27:38
  I'm, I'm like, I'm moved to do something like that.
• 27:42
  That's powerful, man. Like, and I think it 'cause I
• 27:45
  mean it causes what you guys are talking about and, and are
• 27:47
  involved right now, like, but to be humble about it and to that's
• 27:54
  why the community is the way that it is, because there's
• 27:57
  people that run this thing. And then there's so many, like,
• 28:01
  there's so many brainies, like wanted brainies that come to
• 28:04
  Afra and they're, they're all the ones that make it so
• 28:06
  special, like, yeah, you know, and, you know, like they're the
• 28:12
  ones rocking up each week and they, they've, they're the ones
• 28:15
  that have created Afra. Yeah.
• 28:18
  It's not one person. It might be one person's story
• 28:21
  that has started. It is, but it's not one person
• 28:24
  that builds a community. No like like.
• 28:26
  The singies of the world. Like, Oh my gosh, he's such a.
• 28:29
  Weapon you need to make this guy singing.
• 28:30
  He's like he he just does not stop running like he's part of
• 28:34
  every single run club in Canberra.
• 28:35
  He's on, he's on the well like the dragon, he's dragon by he's
• 28:40
  up some mountain like he's just run around.
• 28:42
  He keeps going out nice. I'm convinced he might be like a
• 28:45
  like there might be some kind of rope maybe?
• 28:47
  A few of them, but they just we just.
• 28:49
  Well, maybe he's, yeah, maybe he's like a triplet.
• 28:51
  Yeah. He's called his hidden, he's one
• 28:54
  of three, he's one of three, but you never realised.
• 28:56
  Yeah, there's all over. The place, there's plenty of
• 28:57
  things out there. Yeah, maybe he's a triplet.
• 28:59
  I don't know how he does it because he yeah, he moves quite
• 29:02
  well for how many KS that he does this guy like he I don't
• 29:05
  know, he must do like 8090 KS a week and he's done that probably
• 29:07
  for us. Yeah, since I've known him, he's
• 29:10
  how good. But like, yeah, so guys like him
• 29:13
  and like, we've got like Tony Maria, like it's just like all
• 29:16
  the, the familiar faces that you keep seeing and they, they don't
• 29:19
  want any credit, any praise, but they're the ones that keep
• 29:21
  rocking up and they, they really feel like they've, yeah.
• 29:25
  Like they're, they're such a part of it.
• 29:27
  Yeah, yeah. They're a bit the building
• 29:28
  blocks of it. All yeah and I guess yeah since
• 29:31
  our frauds branched out now like it's at Denman, you see the
• 29:35
  jetties there and like each little 1 has like their own kind
• 29:38
  of little like it gets like their own little community and
• 29:40
  they feel like that's like it's they they so they kind of own.
• 29:44
  It's theirs Yeah, yeah, yeah. It it becomes something they
• 29:46
  take on and want to want to help evolve.
• 29:49
  Yeah, like the original 1, the OG you.
• 29:51
  Know yeah because and that yeah if if anyone's out there and a
• 29:54
  new one does pop up or some of the newer ones like you get
• 29:58
  around it at early days because they're they're that's like.
• 30:02
  Well, that's what you're telling us about before, you know, And
• 30:04
  that like, that was the stuff. That it's like I saw a little
• 30:06
  puppy today and he was Labrador. That Brown 10 that.
• 30:09
  Brown one's so cute. Connor crusade for Connor.
• 30:13
  And I'm telling the owners they're like, yeah, he's getting
• 30:15
  bigger every day. I'm like just, it's like
• 30:16
  cherish, Cherish. Remember, these days he's.
• 30:20
  Gonna be like 40 kilos. Yeah.
• 30:22
  It's like unstoppable. More just like, and yeah, that's
• 30:27
  sort of like what the early days are for hours.
• 30:29
  And it's not, it's not the bigger the better.
• 30:31
  It's great that we get 300 on a Wednesday, but the special ones
• 30:34
  are like the smaller ones. Yeah.
• 30:36
  And even if there's five people that keep going like it's.
• 30:39
  Yeah, yeah, it's. And I feel like our fraud
• 30:42
  doesn't so much measure the successive numbers either.
• 30:45
  It's just more so as long as like one person can be
• 30:49
  positively affected, then it's done its job.
• 30:52
  And yeah, it's true. It's definitely proven that.
• 30:54
  Yeah, it's, it's helped so many people now especially like get
• 30:58
  out of dark place. Just the consistency of rocking
• 31:00
  up and and the community and the bit of exercise and the chat
• 31:03
  afterwards and. That's success, you know what I
• 31:06
  mean? That's success not, not anything
• 31:09
  else. As well as the, the trending,
• 31:12
  the downward trend of suicide in, in the ICT, which is epic.
• 31:15
  You know, I want to switch gears a little bit and go to, I guess
• 31:22
  post our interaction and us meeting and then inviting you
• 31:26
  guys to the vertical 5K challenge.
• 31:30
  So the bloody mission, vertical, vertical 5K, you know, our
• 31:35
  events aren't the normal sort of events are normally bit weird or
• 31:39
  a bit different in some form of fashion.
• 31:41
  And when I messaged you guys and said, hey, listen, it's not
• 31:45
  about how long you go, it's about how far you go up.
• 31:47
  You both were like, yeah, I mean, like straight away I was
• 31:50
  like, you know, you know, I don't really know what I'm
• 31:53
  signing up for, but I mean, tell me about when I, when I first
• 31:58
  asked you and I know you're both pretty keen to like at least
• 32:01
  give it a challenge. What was going through your head
• 32:03
  when I first mentioned that? I hate girls.
• 32:11
  I was just, yeah, straight away just that just sounded like the
• 32:15
  bee's knees. And how grateful to be invited
• 32:17
  to come along and do it as well because, you know, half the time
• 32:21
  I sit there and go, jeez, I suck at running.
• 32:24
  But it wasn't about that. Again, it like it just still
• 32:27
  felt community and all that as well.
• 32:29
  I loved it. Yeah, I think for for people
• 32:32
  that don't know about it, there's 15 participants that go
• 32:36
  up a that repeat on a climb 16 times.
• 32:42
  It's 340 metres in elevation and it's about 60 kilometres.
• 32:46
  It's about that. But it's not a race on the
• 32:50
  distance. It's a race on the up and the
• 32:53
  vertical park run. I guess it is, you know, in some
• 32:56
  ways, yeah. But but it's it's not for the
• 32:58
  faint hearted as far as not everyone could probably do that,
• 33:02
  you know? Correct.
• 33:02
  And I know knew you guys were up for a challenge.
• 33:05
  And so, you know, I like that you said I'm not a good runner.
• 33:10
  That's hilarious in and of itself.
• 33:12
  But. There were there were some very
• 33:14
  good runners there as well, but it's definitely out of out of
• 33:17
  their league. Oh, no.
• 33:19
  And so just from like from your perspective, like tell me, tell
• 33:24
  me what's going through your head.
• 33:25
  Like when you turn up and yeah, I remember you rocking up,
• 33:29
  bringing the, bringing the SUV up, the up the muddy track there
• 33:34
  is it. The the Beamer or Mercedes?
• 33:35
  What'd you have the? Porsche, OH.
• 33:37
  Poor and yeah, we. Did.
• 33:40
  Yeah, the Porsche had a fair bit of mud on it, you know, by the
• 33:45
  end of that. But tell me what was going
• 33:46
  through. Your it wasn't sprayed on either
• 33:48
  that. Was none of that.
• 33:49
  That's a real deal. And I and.
• 33:51
  I did say I was going to drive all the way up until I saw that
• 33:55
  that hole in the road. I was like, please don't, I'm
• 33:58
  going to get in trouble somehow. Please don't drive in.
• 34:00
  But. Thank goodness for Matt and he's
• 34:03
  Bush batter. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 34:05
  Yeah, 100%. Tell me what was going through
• 34:08
  your head when you got there and then, like, what was ahead of
• 34:12
  you, 'cause you know, up until this point, the prerequisite was
• 34:16
  raising 500 bucks for LF, Yeah, for the Leukaemia Foundation.
• 34:20
  So you'd raise the money. You're there, you're in the
• 34:23
  moment. We're looking off that peak,
• 34:26
  looking down. What's going through your head?
• 34:28
  I just love that we rocked off and stuff and we walked down to
• 34:31
  the start and then there's this fire going and everyone's
• 34:34
  hanging out and it was just, it was relaxed.
• 34:37
  Everyone was just like, did you find that too?
• 34:40
  Like it was just really kind of. Yeah, it's very chilled.
• 34:42
  Very chilled and yeah, just fun like, and it was, I guess I
• 34:47
  didn't have any nerves about it at all like it was because
• 34:51
  again, you made it so comfortable for everyone to come
• 34:53
  along and just have a fun day out.
• 34:55
  And then watching people like Matt run down the hill with a
• 34:58
  bloody Bundy in his hand stacking because he's looking
• 35:01
  for koala. I was going to say Kangaroos on
• 35:03
  the trees, Koala's up in the trees and stuff.
• 35:06
  And but didn't spill a drop. Like it was just, it's just a
• 35:09
  whole heap of crazy cutsnake kind of people and stuff having
• 35:13
  a really good day out. It was funny in that someone
• 35:18
  who's been in the community down here with Elevate, correct?
• 35:21
  And a good mate of mine since I was so probably nine years old
• 35:26
  and I was down when we showed the film, actually, I saw it up
• 35:28
  next to Cherie and she had the elevate and I didn't know who
• 35:31
  Cherie. Yeah.
• 35:32
  And I looked at her across and I said, hey, what's that shirt?
• 35:34
  And she goes, oh, it's my business.
• 35:36
  Whatever. I said, you don't know Matt
• 35:39
  Robbie, do you? And she's like, yeah, I know
• 35:41
  Matt. Like it's just anyway, his
• 35:43
  world's colliding. But yeah, Matt definitely
• 35:46
  brought a unique energy to the event.
• 35:48
  It was wild. The kid can run, right?
• 35:51
  But. But yeah, mate, when he started
• 35:53
  to yeah, most people use an Endura gel he was using sinking
• 35:59
  the Bundys, Bundy and Cokes. But but yeah, well, and look, it
• 36:04
  was a cool. Then I tried to have dope people
• 36:08
  come, you know, like, and you guys were sort of a part of
• 36:11
  that, of course, but you know, the up and backs and like,
• 36:16
  because there's a bunch of people that you didn't know
• 36:18
  right, Like I. Only knew you guys, Yeah.
• 36:21
  And obviously Cherie and Matt and that's it.
• 36:25
  Yeah, yeah. So you're going up and down, you
• 36:28
  sort of I'm, I'm gonna say, you know, seeing new faces or
• 36:33
  whatever and then probably not new faces, you know, by the time
• 36:36
  you keep going up and down past each other, I.
• 36:38
  Don't know, we're getting pretty delusional by then.
• 36:40
  So they they were all new faces. By the end of maybe, maybe you
• 36:42
  were seeing the Kangaroos up in the tree, but but in in in all
• 36:47
  of that, like, have you ever done anything like that before?
• 36:50
  Not. Like that one?
• 36:51
  Yeah, no. And so where like, where's your
• 36:54
  head at when you you start this thing?
• 36:56
  You go down because we start at the top.
• 36:58
  Yeah, you go down. Like where's your head at?
• 37:02
  You know, you go down and stuff and then you're like, geez,
• 37:04
  that's like lured us into a false sense of security.
• 37:06
  And then you turn around and go, oh Christ, look at that thing.
• 37:11
  But you had to get away from the creepy server as quick as
• 37:13
  possible. It is a creepy server.
• 37:14
  A creepy survey, but yeah, it's again, like I just, I hung out
• 37:19
  with Sheree the whole time. Obviously she smoked me up on
• 37:21
  the hill, but I was just, you know, chatting and jogging and
• 37:27
  fun. Were you jogging up the hill?
• 37:30
  No, I was gonna say you're sick. You're sick.
• 37:33
  I kept pretending, yeah. Yeah, 100%.
• 37:38
  The the OR should this for you at the time you were probably a
• 37:43
  bit worried about this. That's my take on it.
• 37:47
  Would that be? Fair.
• 37:47
  You didn't give me too much time to prep and I think I was in, I
• 37:50
  don't know, I was overseas at Vietnam and Sri Lanka having a
• 37:55
  good time. Yeah, me out of and you know,
• 37:57
  signed up. My God, it's only like 6 or
• 37:59
  seven weeks away. I got to get some KS in the
• 38:02
  legs. So then I probably got too many
• 38:04
  KS and legs too early and got a couple of injuries.
• 38:06
  But yeah, one thing I took out of was like power hiking sticks.
• 38:11
  Your your. Best friend the wizard sticks,
• 38:14
  Yeah. There's no way I could have done
• 38:16
  it without the hiking sticks. So that's how they'll they'll
• 38:20
  MVP for me, especially going like even down just because like
• 38:25
  after a while your legs are like your feet are cooked.
• 38:28
  And my feet were Yeah. It's like if for the Canberrans
• 38:32
  out there, it's like doing Ainsley 25 times, Yeah, up and
• 38:36
  down the road. But it was a lot more like
• 38:38
  rugged, not so much. Just like your path, yeah?
• 38:41
  It gets pretty technical in certain parts up there, yeah.
• 38:45
  So that's Heaton's gap, which is up sort of between Central Coast
• 38:51
  and Newcastle. Yeah, and there was some
• 38:52
  absolute weapons running down. Like I was quite slow going
• 38:55
  down. I was all right going up because
• 38:57
  the, the power hacking sticks were getting me back up, but
• 39:00
  going down I was pretty slow. But yeah, I, I was pretty like
• 39:04
  watching me time and we sort of had a cut off was like 8:00 PM
• 39:08
  and I was like, oh, if I can keep tracking at this time,
• 39:11
  I'll, I'll probably get get in there with an hour to go.
• 39:13
  But I was getting slower and slower to the point where I
• 39:16
  didn't get to stop once. Apart from the creepy servo
• 39:20
  which. Or did you go into the server?
• 39:23
  The caffeine was starting to be able to, so I sat down.
• 39:27
  It was a pretty quick stop, might have been like maybe 5060
• 39:31
  seconds that I got to sit at the servo.
• 39:34
  Get rid of the caffeine. Or the gel?
• 39:36
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was back into it and
• 39:39
  yeah, I didn't sit down that whole time because I knew if I
• 39:41
  sat down and I was just like, I probably wasn't going to get
• 39:43
  back up. But yeah, at the end there, and
• 39:46
  I think I might have. I don't think I had headphones
• 39:49
  either. Did you have headphones?
• 39:50
  No. I don't wear headphones ever.
• 39:51
  Yeah. And I.
• 39:52
  Didn't have any headphones. A lot of people didn't like he'd
• 39:54
  say hi to people as they're crossing, you know, they're like
• 39:57
  they're in their zone. Like listen, you know, see me or
• 39:59
  something a bit messed. Up.
• 40:01
  But yeah, so, yeah, so we were both just going, just roared up
• 40:05
  just like our thoughts and yeah, sort of like 3/4 in.
• 40:09
  Like you're starting to really think about like your life
• 40:11
  because you got just you on the mountain and you're thinking
• 40:15
  about like the last like, yeah, like what have I done?
• 40:19
  What I done with my wife and now I'm on a mountain trying to get
• 40:22
  5 KS for I made the right. What have I done with my life?
• 40:26
  And then you sort of then you get back up again because you
• 40:28
  reached the top and you see everyone and they're like, the
• 40:30
  cowbells are going and you have a couple of snakes and like, oh,
• 40:34
  no, life's all right again. And then you back down and it's
• 40:36
  just like, I don't know, it's just sort of like it was almost
• 40:40
  just like so much was condensed in just that one day.
• 40:42
  It's just your emotions are just like.
• 40:46
  Oh, it's all you go all over the place.
• 40:47
  Yeah, like it's like it's real. Everything is so enhanced and
• 40:50
  it's just you there and you've got so much time to think and
• 40:53
  your body's like suffering as well, but it's more so your
• 40:56
  brain. It's just like, yeah, I've.
• 40:57
  Got to do that again. It's going.
• 40:58
  In some dark spots, but I don't know, it's sort of the dark
• 41:01
  spots that you need to kind of listen for as well.
• 41:05
  Yeah. And.
• 41:06
  And then after that, yeah, like when you finally finish it,
• 41:08
  you're like, it's done. Like, thank God.
• 41:10
  And yeah, that was that was pretty special.
• 41:13
  And I remember, remember, like, and it was getting on dark and I
• 41:16
  think like half a dozen was had had finished it already.
• 41:20
  I was born. Yeah.
• 41:23
  You, you were out there. I pulled out early.
• 41:25
  You're out off the mountain. It's just like me.
• 41:27
  And I think there was another guy behind me that was still
• 41:30
  doing. It Levi was behind you.
• 41:31
  Yeah, so I wasn't the last one on the mountain, but yeah, just
• 41:35
  like, and you got all these people wait, waiting for them,
• 41:38
  and they're like, oh, when's he probably going to get off here?
• 41:40
  Like hurry. Up Do you know what?
• 41:42
  It wasn't like that at all from my perspective.
• 41:44
  And so like I was. Because it was getting on dark
• 41:46
  and like we were a bit of a. And the weather was coming in,
• 41:48
  remember, remember, like it was it was really starting to come
• 41:51
  in. Like I can honestly say should
• 41:54
  out of anyone that day, that was you and Levi who very early on
• 41:58
  were like, I could tell that like this is hard, you know,
• 42:01
  like you're copping. And fair enough too because it
• 42:03
  is bloody hard, but I couldn't believe the amount of like grit
• 42:10
  you had all day to finish that thing.
• 42:12
  I think I even took a couple of videos and sent it to the RFR
• 42:14
  crews like set of you guys or whatever.
• 42:17
  But man, you were suffering like a dog from like the 4th lap.
• 42:20
  Early on, yeah. Yeah, And there's like 12 laps
• 42:23
  to go and you just ground that out, man.
• 42:26
  I was so like, guys that didn't even know you were like, man,
• 42:29
  that dude. Like you like put it in.
• 42:31
  I'm like, yeah, like it was a it was a big day out for you, man.
• 42:35
  Yeah. You were going to have to peel
• 42:36
  me off that now because. It was a 14 hour cut off, and I
• 42:42
  think Levi had come behind you, like, made it within like 15
• 42:46
  minutes. Oh yeah.
• 42:48
  So yeah, like there was an end to it.
• 42:52
  But yeah, there was no way you were stopping, that's for sure.
• 42:56
  Yeah, Right. And how was the camaraderie
• 42:58
  like? Because the feedback I've had
• 43:00
  from others was that, like, it was cool to like, sort of cross
• 43:04
  paths with people and, you know, tell me about the experience of
• 43:08
  that. Like, even the people you didn't
• 43:09
  know. Yeah, like.
• 43:11
  It, it, it was top notch. It was really top notch and
• 43:14
  stuff. And I think is again, 'cause as
• 43:16
  we were saying, like you were in the, like you're in the hurt
• 43:19
  locker, so to speak. And we, we know that we're all
• 43:22
  in that yeah, as well. So it's not like we're not
• 43:24
  sitting there going, I'm going to be you like at all.
• 43:27
  It's just, let's just get through this.
• 43:29
  Yeah, let's make it happen. Let's make magic.
• 43:32
  Everyone's feeling. Everyone's.
• 43:33
  Playing compared just to like because I've never done I've
• 43:35
  done like a couple of big days, but more just like myself or one
• 43:39
  or two other people. I've never entered into an ultra
• 43:41
  and I I get it and why people do and hats off if you can finish
• 43:45
  50 or 40 or 100 ever, however long you want to go and yeah I
• 43:50
  feel like you're getting that you're in the hurt locker.
• 43:52
  Yeah. How did it compare to like a
• 43:55
  Ultra where there's just like hundreds and hundreds of people
• 43:57
  and oh it? It's different.
• 44:00
  It's really different because everyone's out there for their
• 44:03
  own, you know, they've got that distance that they want to go
• 44:05
  for and they've got a time that they want to go for.
• 44:07
  And you don't see people as much because I know when I was, when
• 44:12
  I did the, the Taraware 100 mile last year through the night, I,
• 44:19
  you know, went to, got to one aid station and then there was
• 44:21
  like, I don't know, 20. I think we actually was only
• 44:25
  about 18 KS, but it was in the dark.
• 44:28
  I was by myself completely. My head went to some bad places
• 44:32
  then and it was, it was, it felt like it was about 6 hours that I
• 44:36
  got through that part and it just ground me down and I would
• 44:41
  sit there the whole time going OK, two hours.
• 44:43
  I can, I've, I've got my, I've got my Nodos.
• 44:46
  And then I knew in two hours time I could have another Nodo.
• 44:48
  So I just kept looking out for that.
• 44:49
  Or, you know, you just have to trick yourself into things.
• 44:52
  You don't have anyone. It's all you, it's all in your
• 44:55
  head and it's, it's hard. It's a grind.
• 44:59
  Whereas that was just, you know, you knew you were constantly
• 45:01
  going to see people the whole time.
• 45:02
  So it's nice getting back up top of the mountain, seeing you guys
• 45:06
  carrying on once you sort of, yeah, take another lap over,
• 45:11
  yeah, another summit. Yeah, I think, I think the joint
• 45:14
  suffering is something that you that you really come together
• 45:17
  on, you know, and like even when you do those other events like,
• 45:20
  you know, Taraware or whatever, like even at the end, like
• 45:23
  people you don't know or you might have run with for some of
• 45:25
  it, there's a there's a joint like, hey, we got through that
• 45:28
  together. You know, there's, there's a
• 45:30
  special moment. It it was an absolute pleasure
• 45:34
  to have both of you there. Like from the perspective of
• 45:37
  like you're good humans, you'd like to suffer and suffer for a
• 45:41
  cause. And you know, like we said, we
• 45:43
  raised money for LF and I think the goal was 500 bucks per
• 45:46
  person and there was 15 participants.
• 45:50
  So 7 1/2 grand. We ended up raising 27 1/2
• 45:53
  grand. And you know, Anytime Fitness
• 45:57
  definitely, you know, contributed to that and we were
• 46:00
  very appreciative of that. But the, the whole reason we do
• 46:04
  stuff, I think there's a, the reason why we do stuff is to do
• 46:09
  hard things because our life's easy, right?
• 46:12
  And it's not because, you know, to downplay people go through
• 46:16
  hard times. But our life in Australia is
• 46:18
  largely easy. And the fact that if I want a
• 46:21
  drink, I can get a drink pretty quick.
• 46:23
  If I'm hungry, I can eat. And maybe I've eaten too much.
• 46:26
  There's there's no way in the 40s people were signing up and
• 46:31
  paying. You pay like 800 sheets for an
• 46:33
  ultra or 900. Yeah, imagine, imagine that like
• 46:36
  7080 years ago, you would tell, you'd tell people, OK, so
• 46:39
  they're so we say we were at like 1940, right.
• 46:42
  You're like, OK. Hello.
• 46:44
  Isn't that how they talk about it?
• 46:45
  Hello. So in. 85 years time, there's
• 46:50
  going to be all these people that rock up, they pay all this
• 46:53
  money and they run for 100. 100 miles, yeah.
• 46:56
  Exactly what they're paying. They're joking.
• 46:58
  They're paying to do this. They're kidding me, right?
• 47:02
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 47:02
  But that that's what we have to. Do That's what we do now that's
• 47:04
  what. People do so we can suffer and
• 47:06
  yeah, yeah. Because, yeah, it's a life of
• 47:09
  that's death by comfort, yeah, man, which is it's probably it's
• 47:12
  not unfortunate. It's yeah.
• 47:13
  But I think we're to be alive, right these minutes like we
• 47:18
  we've got it better than what we know anyway.
• 47:21
  Yeah, man. Yeah.
• 47:22
  And I think that's when you do that sort of stuff though.
• 47:25
  Instead of dying for starvation more, you know, I think rich for
• 47:27
  some more people are dying because they're in too much
• 47:30
  sense. Yeah, that's what like.
• 47:31
  Too century. So yeah, that's why we, like I
• 47:36
  said, that's why we're, you know, suckers for punishment,
• 47:39
  Yeah. We are.
• 47:40
  Yeah, whether whether it's like a physical activity or even
• 47:44
  people that I guess challenge themselves mentally, like to
• 47:47
  learn more, to read, like it's whatever, whatever.
• 47:51
  You can do. Yeah, it's horses for courses or
• 47:53
  whatever sort of is your tick and you know that you've put in
• 47:56
  the hard work because yeah, you get once you work hard, like
• 48:00
  yeah, the satisfaction you get from after it and like you've
• 48:04
  learnt or you're fair or you're stronger or just like you've got
• 48:07
  better mindset. Yeah, that's, and it comes down
• 48:10
  to one thing and that's just yeah, consistency and showing up
• 48:14
  and yeah. It's, yeah, at its core, it's
• 48:17
  really basic. I like, it really is.
• 48:20
  But I think when you do those things and you do it for other
• 48:23
  reasons, it becomes even more juicy, you know?
• 48:26
  And it's, I reckon it puts another gear in you.
• 48:32
  You're like. 100%, yeah. Yeah, anyway, like it's a funny
• 48:36
  sort of thing to talk about, but when when you go and some some
• 48:41
  people might have said to you, and I'm sure they did 100 mile,
• 48:43
  that's crazy, right? That's stupid.
• 48:45
  Whatever. How do you run 7 marathons in a
• 48:47
  week? Yeah, yeah, all of that, right?
• 48:49
  Yeah. But but people can't see
• 48:50
  themselves training or putting in the time and effort to to.
• 48:55
  So people think it's kind of wrong or bad.
• 48:57
  But I think when you do those things and you do it for a
• 49:00
  reason that's beyond yourself, you have the ability to go, OK,
• 49:03
  get up and go again, right. Get up and go again and you
• 49:06
  know, for the vertical 5 for us to raise, you know, 2728 grand,
• 49:11
  whatever it was that makes a big difference to to people, you
• 49:16
  know, and you from a blood cancer perspective of the stuff
• 49:19
  we do, 53 people a day get blood cancer.
• 49:22
  It's too fucking many. Like I'm sorry for swearing, but
• 49:26
  it's too many. And I think for everyone and
• 49:30
  every 'cause there's a statistic like that that that's not,
• 49:33
  that's unsettling, right? And I think the biggest thing
• 49:37
  out of this for myself is like to challenge people and go, hey,
• 49:40
  listen, go and do hard stuff and do it for a reason that's beyond
• 49:45
  yourself. It's and you guys are certainly
• 49:48
  like you guys live this in, in what you do with your community,
• 49:52
  which is inspirational to me. But it's something about being
• 49:58
  consistent, being exact and being focused that that allows
• 50:04
  good things to happen. It's pretty cool and it really
• 50:09
  is, and it happens for you guys on a weekly basis.
• 50:12
  Yeah, it's cool to think that there's that.
• 50:15
  And he runs at like 7. 4 hours a week.
• 50:17
  Yeah, about that, it's. A7 hour.
• 50:20
  Wow. That's three.
• 50:21
  There's three from top of the foreshore.
• 50:24
  How many from Denman? Is there 2 now or one?
• 50:26
  One from Denman so. It's 4.
• 50:29
  UC has 2, so that's 7 Jetty. I've got the Jetty in my fears
• 50:33
  already, yeah. Spirit fingers.
• 50:36
  And yeah, watch this space because, yeah, Tigers and gun
• 50:39
  Garland, Yeah. Well, what's happening, we have
• 50:44
  toyed with the fact of potentially doing a vertical 5
• 50:47
  down here shoot up, yeah, with the Afar community and we yeah,
• 50:52
  certainly came to do that. And maybe it's set up.
• 50:55
  Yeah, Yeah. We, we've got our first
• 50:56
  participant perfect, you know, we are a bloody mission and how
• 51:02
  far we came to keep connecting with you guys and I don't know,
• 51:06
  it's cool to do cool shit with good people, you know, and we
• 51:10
  just want to keep doing that. But you know, I, I think as over
• 51:13
  the next 12 months, I think there's a plan to sort of pull
• 51:16
  that together with you guys down here and would love that the
• 51:20
  community leans into that however they want to do it.
• 51:22
  Or maybe maybe we've scared them off with the, the, you know,
• 51:26
  what we talked about today, but with what you guys were just
• 51:31
  talking about with the opening of more sites, you know, for how
• 51:34
  far, where does that finish? Do you know what I mean?
• 51:39
  And not that there's a finite done, but where does that end up
• 51:43
  do you think? Do you mean into?
• 51:45
  State. It'd be great to go into state,
• 51:47
  Yeah, but I think it is it's and correct me if you think this
• 51:52
  isn't, this isn't right to have places contact us to say we want
• 51:58
  to we want to host this here gives again, gives them that
• 52:02
  sense of ownership. And I think that keeps the
• 52:05
  momentum in that place going. Obviously, like first I'm going
• 52:10
  to call us oldies going in and helping out in the first couple
• 52:15
  of months or something, you know, just to get them really on
• 52:18
  their feet and then for them to really take over and take
• 52:21
  ownership of it. Absolutely.
• 52:23
  Like give them the blueprint, you mean?
• 52:24
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 52:26
  And then who knows? I mean, let's go to Queanbeyan
• 52:30
  because it's Interstate, but it's kind of close.
• 52:32
  And then just branch out from there.
• 52:36
  Yeah, you. Yeah, it's exciting because
• 52:39
  yeah, I feel like in like I was saying earlier, it's not so much
• 52:44
  about getting 100 people. Like even if you can get a
• 52:46
  consistent 10/5, like yeah, it does make a difference to the
• 52:52
  lives. And yeah, the smaller ones that
• 52:54
  like the booty, like that's where it's at because you get to
• 52:56
  know everyone. It's like then you are a little
• 52:58
  bit accountable to rock up the big ones.
• 53:01
  Like no one really knows if you rock up or not.
• 53:03
  It's just like a mass people. But like the little ones,
• 53:05
  especially if it does turn into something big, it's like that's
• 53:08
  especially if you're one of the one of the founders.
• 53:11
  Yeah, yeah. So.
• 53:13
  Well, well, it's, it's inspirational.
• 53:18
  It's a pleasure to have you guys and to talk to you guys.
• 53:22
  And I know this won't be the last time we talk about running
• 53:25
  and stupid events and unique things, but just the work you
• 53:30
  do, you know, with Bravehearts, you know, and even just general
• 53:36
  community work is fucking awesome.
• 53:40
  And you should be really proud of that.
• 53:41
  And I know that comes from a a big heart.
• 53:44
  You know, you and Rich do have big hearts and keep up the good
• 53:48
  work because it's cool to watch and it's cool to know people
• 53:53
  like yourself, you know, that are leaning into other people.
• 53:56
  And I think shoot it for yourself.
• 53:59
  You enable people you don't know the the impact you have on
• 54:05
  people by the way that you provide what you do.
• 54:09
  And when we, you know, you come to my place after the vertical 5
• 54:12
  and we had a spa and a few beers, whatever.
• 54:15
  And I, I was just blown away with what you do personally for
• 54:20
  the community there. But then how it impacts you, you
• 54:25
  know, like from the, you know, you're cooked, you're tired, but
• 54:28
  you're still there turning up and rocking up.
• 54:30
  And I think congratulations for hosting or providing a home for
• 54:35
  people that feel safe and comfortable to do that.
• 54:37
  And you know, I know it's not just you, but you're a part of
• 54:41
  that. So, so congratulations on what
• 54:44
  you're building and it's been a bloody good time talking to you
• 54:47
  guys and can't can't wait to do it again.
• 54:50
  So. Thanks, Cal, as well.
• 54:53
  Like you've been an exceptional host.
• 54:55
  You've actually, you've obviously done this a couple of
• 54:57
  times. Yeah, season pro.
• 54:59
  But yeah, it's been, yeah, we're, we're super pumped that
• 55:04
  we've had the challenge to do the Vert 5.
• 55:07
  And also, you know that we're sitting in a potty room with
• 55:10
  you. Yeah, Yeah, it's a bit real
• 55:13
  actually. Yeah.
• 55:15
  But yeah, it's been been great chat.
• 55:16
  Thanks, Jeff. Awesome.
• 55:17
  Thank you. Thanks, Judah.