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ONE blister, six pairs of running shoes and 6500 kilometres later, Wagga’s Sarah Mycroft is almost halfway through her record setting run around Australia.
To date with an average of 75 kilometres per day, Sarah should reach the western coast town of Broome some time tomorrow. All along the way she has been raising funds and awareness for the charity Juvenile Diabeties.
In doing so, Sarah hopes to set the world record for being the first woman to run around Australia, and if all goes to plan she will run back into Sydney around November.
Sarah hits the road early in the morning for around 30+ kilometres before stopping during the day to escape the heat and catch up on rest, play with her kids or talk to the local school children if there is a school nearby, before lacing up the shoes once again for another 30 or more kilometres in the evening.
“The whole event has been really good, I’m remaining injury free and totally focused” she said.
“6500 kilometres and just the one blister, I’m onto my sixth pair of shoes now. Most of the time I run on the road following the white line, but sometimes, if the gravel at the side of the road only has small stones and is flat, I run on that.
“I cruise along at an easy pace, enjoying the amazing and ever changing landscapes, feeling lucky that I have a new and interesting place to go running every morning. Running is the easy part ... the biggest challenge is keeping the vehicles going and the show on the road. Some of the crew aren't confident with their english so it's still up to me to organise caravan parks ahead of time. This all adds to the effort of creating this journey.”
“The people we meet on the way are fantastic, generously assisting with donations to my charity The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and giving the crew a few dollars to help with fuel. I'm able to promote the excellent work of the Mindd Foundation. I give talks on the benefits of eating organic whole foods, cooking from scratch and avoiding processed and packaged food. I believe everyone needs to know what synthetic ingredients there are out there and how, with the help of the books that are available here on my online store (or any good bookstore), you can easily avoid these ingredients hidden in products on supermarket shelves and shop with confidence, keeping yourself and your family healthy on the inside."
"When this World Record Run is over, I will continue my educational talks on additives in food. I will also continue to run a moderate distance everyday, going back to my usual 10km morning run. Exercise is so vital to not only a healthy body, but a happy soul. If you are one of the millions of people who can't remember the last time you broke a sweat on purpose, exercising may seem like the last thing you need if you're feeling low or fat and sluggish, but once you get a grip of your own life, get up off the couch, pull on the old sandshoes and powerwalk/jog/dash around the block, you'll have the endorphins pumping, muscles toned, sweat glistening on your skin and I can garuntee, you'll wonder what you were scared of and why it took you so long to get the motivation to go do it!" |
Australia All Over, ABCs' Ian McNamara, interviewing Mycroft during a cool morning run between Raventhorpe and Esperance, South Coast, WA. Sunday 5th September 2010.
