Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
7. Marathons, mindset & movement building: Making positive change with Erchana Murray-Bartlett
63 Plays28 days ago
Coach, athlete, world record holder, change maker, and overall excellent human are just some ways we can describe today's guest, Erchana Murray-Bartlett. We first caught up with Erchana in November 2022, when she was 89 days into her 150-day, 150-marathon 'Tip to Toe' journey. Not only did Erchana smash the world record, but she also raised over $100k to support The Wilderness Society's efforts to end extincions in Australia.
We then checked in with Erchana, just over two years after she finished Tip to Toe. In this conversation, we chat about her recovery, the soon-to-be-released film 150, and her most recent project - running as an independent candidate in the upcoming Australian federal election.
You can follow Erchana's adventures and campaign for McPherson on Instagram, or find out more about her coaching business, Project Run. If you'd like to share the trails with Erchana, join us at the Pilliga Ultra this September.
To hear more from For Wild Places, subscribe to our newsletter or become a member.
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:09
Speaker
Bye.
Introduction and Podcast Origin
00:00:20
Speaker
Welcome to the For Wild Places podcast. This is a podcast that shares the stories of inspiring people and their adventures in running, adventure and advocacy. I'm your host, Hilary, and do we have a treat for you.
00:00:32
Speaker
Today, we're bringing you our most popular trail chat to date as we catch up with the record-breaking, enigmatic endurance athlete, Akana Murray Bartlett. Every week or fortnight or month, we catch up with athletes, leaders and activists to talk about past or future events, their favourite wild places and the connection between adventure and activism.
00:00:52
Speaker
These conversations started as a Zoom call during the depths of COVID and have evolved into the podcast you are now hearing in your ears. Despite everyone seeming to have a podcast, no one talks about the sheer amount of time taken to edit each episode.
00:01:06
Speaker
So as much as we try and bring you an ep every week, as our organization is volunteer powered, we simply do our best to get them out to you as regularly and consistently as we can.
Acknowledgment and Athlete's Shift to Politics
00:01:15
Speaker
But before I tell you more about today's guest, I would like to acknowledge the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years.
00:01:24
Speaker
We understand the wild places we love to explore on this continent have been cared for by First Nations people for millennia. We seek to learn from the world's oldest living culture so we too can care for country, as the Indigenous people of this continent have done since time immemorial.
00:01:38
Speaker
This podcast was recorded and edited on Gadigal Country, in so-called Australia, where sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, and will be, Aboriginal land. Akana is a woman of many talents.
00:01:49
Speaker
She's an experienced athlete, coach, world record breaker, and most importantly, a generous and kind-hearted person who is trying to make the world a better place. When we first caught up with Akana in November 2022, was days into journey.
00:02:06
Speaker
running from Cape York to Melbourne. Along the way, Akana became a media sensation as she visited schools, did TV interviews and joined local run clubs to complete her morning marathon every day.
00:02:18
Speaker
We then caught up with Akana in March 2025, when life is just as busy, but looking very different. As much as she loves running, Akana loves giving back and using her platform and her two feet to affect positive change.
00:02:30
Speaker
After raising over $100,000 for the Wilderness Society, she's now turned her talents to politics and is running as an independent candidate in the upcoming federal election for her home seat of McPherson on the Gold Coast. Let's join Akana on the road in this wide-ranging and occasionally scratchy conversation with Akana Murray-Butlett.
Marathon Journey Across Australia
00:02:50
Speaker
Thanks to everyone for coming along. This is Trail Chat number seven. i' am joining you from Wadarung Country with Akana Murray Bartlett joining us today. And where are you at the moment, Akana? You said you've just literally hot off the heels of today's marathon. What number are you up to today?
00:03:04
Speaker
Yes, today is day 89. So it's absolutely mind-boggling to think that I'm still in Queensland. Yeah. You've still got a few states to go. I do. I've got a few states. I'm on the very end of my Queensland journey. I ran from ah place called Mount Cootha into I finished essentially at the Story Bridge in Brisbane today. um So that was that was a phenomenal 40 kilometres. I've come from um a bit of a zigzag from the Cape inland to the coast. So I have been in Toowoomba over the weekend
00:03:38
Speaker
And then yeah rolling down to the Gold Coast, which is my um family home, and then down south through Nightcap National Park. Then I'll go towards the Blue Mountains and then down through to Melbourne. So I'm well over halfway now.
00:03:53
Speaker
That's epic. And it's yeah, you certainly haven't taken the most direct route. Whenever I see your Strava maps, I'm like, she's running in a circle. What is she doing? Yeah. That is a question I've been asked a lot.
00:04:05
Speaker
You're meant to be going south. Absolutely. So it's the way the bird flies from Cape to Melbourne's 3,800 kilometres. And I'm planning to do 6,200 kilometres. And there was two reasons for that. One being my original plan was to follow the now National Trail. It's a 5,300 kilometre, yeah ah i it's not really a rail trail, it's a looping um connection of trails from Cooktown in Queensland to Hillsville.
00:04:31
Speaker
And then I was to finish it off to to Melbourne. But it was quickly, you know, when plans change on the fly and and with the setup that we had and there wasn't enough vehicle access um and the way we wanted to organise a lot of the extracurricular stuff I'm doing, a lot of school visits, a lot of other things. It just made it a little bit hard. So we use it as a backbone, but we come and go from it. um And because that number was sort of set up in our planning, the record that I'm trying to beat is the most consecutive marathons. And it's not fastest top to bottom. I am going in circles sometimes to make up some extra distance. I'm always heading south. Every next day we'll be south.
00:05:09
Speaker
But it's a really good way to showcase a lot of Australia's beautiful national parks, trails, and just spend a little bit of time in each one rather than just running straight down the bruce, which is something I definitely wanted to avoid.
00:05:20
Speaker
Yeah, totally. I was wondering that because the Centenary Trail also includes part of Australian Alpines Walking Track, which is extremely remote and difficult to access. Yeah. When you are trying to just stick to your 44K a day, it would be very hard to get access along there. And and it also but takes you away from townships. And it you had a good bunch of people join you in Toowoomba yesterday. And you really want to connect with schools and running clubs and people along the
Challenges and Adaptations
00:05:44
Speaker
way. So it certainly makes sense to be able to take your time. And when you find somewhere nice, do a bit of a loop and actually have a chance to see it rather than just pass straight through it.
00:05:54
Speaker
100%. And I think I'm such ah an ideas person. I had a million ideas when I started this and I wanted to achieve everything. And and ah now the more i I go down, you know, the cause is my ultimate goal here is protecting national parks and native animals. i thought I'm more...
00:06:09
Speaker
effective and I can have more impact talking to towns than I can just going straight through through those national parks. And absolutely, I'm running through a national park almost every day when I can or every second or third day.
00:06:21
Speaker
um But, yeah, being able to talk to communities, local wilderness society groups, grassroots volunteer groups, that's That's where I'm getting, I think, the most amount of, I guess, joy um as well as running.
00:06:33
Speaker
So, yeah, I think I finally found a good groove. And, um yeah, I still have obviously got the goal of breaking the the consecutive marathon Guinness World Record, which is, what, it'd be only 17 or 18 days away now. And like you said, you're over halfway, but you will, like, smash that record by a lot. If I don't stop, yeah, and that's the plan.
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah. It's hard for me mentally to conceptualize breaking out and then not taking your rest day. I was wondering that. At what point do you feel like the body kind of fell into the flow of of doing a marathon each morning? Because it is pretty amazing. i don't know. Anyone who's been hiking or done multi-day things, you do get that sense of, I guess, the body is starting to adjust after a few days. But how long did it take you to kind of, or have you found that, that like that flow and that the body feeling good and used to the your new normal? Yeah, that's a really good question and it's only runners that ever ask me that.
00:07:24
Speaker
Most people, sorry, that's awesome. Yeah, I asked a lot of people um for advice who have done similar events before and every single one of them said to me, do not quit in the first two weeks.
00:07:36
Speaker
The first two weeks will by far be the hardest. And I was like, oh, of course I'm not going to quit in the first two weeks. I'm doing 22 weeks. I mean, imagine that. They were all 100% right. The body, pretty much I had it a calf injury and then I had to change my running technique, which which then caused a tibant injury, which then caused a quad injury, all in the first two weeks. And considering I started in the Cape, I didn't factor that into being so remote when I'd have such...
00:08:05
Speaker
I guess they were quite debilitating pains. So the first two weeks was pretty, because you're also adjusting mentally and physically to the to the four and a half hours, back then I was going a bit quicker, about four hours a day. Once that two weeks rolled around, my body definitely adapted. And now I would say I'm on a schedule of having two good days and then a bad day. Two good day to get a bad day where on that third day I've probably ran too fast the last two and then I just have to and today was a slower day because I've had two good ones and I was like you just feel it you feel it in every part you get a headache from hitting the ground so much you get sore hips you get sore but it's not niggles so I know I can cut through it it's just that constant fatigue what is your I guess daily routine look like your new normal day My new normal days, they do change and I'm very lucky for this. um I'm trying to actually do a little bit less than I've been doing so far now that I am feeling the the accumulative fatigue a lot more.
00:08:58
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, i'm I'm up depending on the weather between four four and five. If it's a cool day, I'll allow myself to. sneak in just so I can maximize recovery but yeah um straight away i have a lot of food i have a big bowl of oats and a big coffee and I hit the hit the ground I'll run wherever I'm running with whoever I plan to run with tomorrow I've invited anyone down to the Brisbane River so hopefully we get a little bit of a ah group there and then Yeah, to the next one.
00:09:24
Speaker
pull up around between ten and eleven thirty depending on on the day and then been a mixture of afternoons of school visits or sometimes they the other day we went to a wildlife shelter and had a really good chat with trish has at a koalary rehabilitation centre collecting a lot of footage on i guess the local extinctions in the area and and what that specific extinction threat is. And so it could be that.
00:09:49
Speaker
By four o'clock, I'm absolutely done. So I try not to do anything after four. That's understandable. But then on top of that, I guess to say we have to set the camper up and so we have to find a spot we can camp.
00:10:01
Speaker
Your usual things, washing, cooking, trying to unwind for the next day. And and I will rarely stay awake later than about If I'm up at 9, I'm not having a good time. I'm grumpy, so...
00:10:12
Speaker
but Yeah, especially she with an early start. That's a plus of marathon for good measure. Like that's ah that's a solid day. What's your kind of body recovery? Like are stretching? do you have boots? Like what's your what works for you? Yeah, at the top.
00:10:26
Speaker
So my original plan when i envisioned this was to try and stretch for as much as I could. um This is the first time I've been inside in so long. And so the stretching faded when the mozzies came.
00:10:40
Speaker
Because it's really enlighten me that would be the worst it's really hard to be in in a pigeon pose and you just your legs are just being... yes like ah So um unfortunately, I'm not doing as much stretching as I would like. I've had three massages since I started, so that would be average out to about one a month.
00:10:58
Speaker
So the I guess not as much as I would do when I was road racing and competitive competitive racing. I definitely need to do more, but I think I'm sometimes prioritizing any moment that's free to just put my feet up and lie than than anything else.
00:11:13
Speaker
I do actually just got given a pair of recovery boots. So TBC, you'll probably see them in the next couple of days now that they have power. To be honest, it's hard to use them. that's true. Yeah, of course. You're off grid. Yeah.
00:11:25
Speaker
I couldn't believe how much food you ate on that day that you ate like Michael Phelps. Like that was just an obscene amount of food. What's your, you know, you have oats in the morning. um What's your, you know, big lunch, big dinner, or what do you kind of, what do you go to? Because as well, you are limited by what you can cook and what you can keep in the camper as well. I guess now you're around towns and you've got more access, but what are your kind of go-to meals? Now that we're around town, it's a real luxury to have things that aren't cooked on a little gas top.
00:11:52
Speaker
So anything that's not a curry or a stir fry is my favorite right now. Last night I had it some dips. That was luxury. um No, we're I'm eating so much. I'm eating that 10,000 calorie a day. I was intimidated going into it, but it was actually surprisingly scary how much I could consume.
00:12:09
Speaker
I ran that marathon so full and because it was all, the beauty of that challenge was he eats quite refined carbohydrates because he's competing and it actually works perfectly with what I was doing too. i would never do that in a day-to-day diet, but yeah, I'm, so I'm surviving on four big meals a day and then maybe three or four large kind of snacks around that. I'm, I'm dairy free. So um yeah, a coconut or vegan ice cream has been my, has been my savior. I've had,
00:12:38
Speaker
on average two scoops a day since the top. I had four yesterday. So I'm surviving on ice cream and then and good food. oh that's awesome. And what's your crew set up? We've seen a few faces pop up on social media, but who's supporting you? And are they there the whole time? Because it's a huge commitment for you, but then for the people driving the camper and all that sort of things. What's your crew consist of? It's a very low-key crew. It consists of um myself and my partner who, if you are following on socials, does everything on socials. What a legend. Yeah. i't I didn't know what a reel was. Like I keep trying to people say, hey, let's collaborate with me. i literally don't know how to accept a collaboration. So I'm learning a lot.
00:13:18
Speaker
He does a lot. of He does all of that. He has a filmmaking background. So um it's definitely ah a very good partnership there. I always tell everyone he has the hardest job because – He has obviously...
00:13:29
Speaker
It's 22 weeks of his life too, but he sets up the camper every morning. He packs it down. He moves it. He drives. He then ah cooks, but he also deals with me when I'm emotional, which is 98% of the time at the moment. but So so he's he's here too. In the Cape, i i actually had the pleasure of having my mum and dad do the first from the Cape to Cooktown.
00:13:51
Speaker
Mum wanted to, she's she's a bit of an adventurer as well, and she wanted to say she'd cycled it. So she got an e-bike. Yeah. And she's 60 and she cycled the um the entire corrugated cape and um it works well for me because she could, and there was no supplies there. So we had to so carry everything on our backs. And so she could manage to put them in the bike front. So we'd have four litres of water on between her back, my back and the bike, you know, bars and and and gels and and and sunscreen and everything. So
00:14:25
Speaker
That was a really beautiful experience because I moved out of home quite early and I hadn't really, and I'm 32, so reconnecting with mum in the middle of the Cape on a bike, challenged by dust and wind, and it was really beautiful. But they're gone now, so it's now rotating support crew. I've got friends flying up from Melbourne for weeks at a time because would never expect anyone to take 22. And they're all volunteers. It's a fundraising. There's no paid support. Yeah. What a great experience to have with your parents.
00:14:56
Speaker
What did they think when you had this idea to to run from tip to toe? And for them to see you struggling through those two weeks would have been quite a difficult experience for them and for you. They were funny because they just expected me to come up with something like this at one point. I think they were not surprised at all. They're like, dad essentially just said, oh, I'll take my annual leave. I'll come with, so the car will break down, i'll help the car.
00:15:18
Speaker
so they they were all, they were very supportive from the start. It was my grandparents were like, you're quitting your job? What about your career? They were very conservative of the idea, but it's been really heartwarming that since I've come so far, you can tell they've completely changed their tune. And now Paul will call me and say, oh, I've contacted the ABC. He's getting on board and he's sharing the message himself. And like, oh, can you please take that? the videos because I would love to yeah share them between my my my own colleagues and friends so surprisingly I didn't get as much pushback on the idea as I thought and I don't know if that's a testament to who I was before this or if if it's just I've got a good group of supportive friends and family but yeah it's it's mostly just been how can we help you not why you're doing this which I think is very very important
00:16:07
Speaker
You've seen a lot of landscapes. What have stood out? The good ones in terms of places that have made you feel really positive and inspired versus the ones that give you concern and reiterate the reason that you're doing this, the light and the dark amongst it all.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, I guess the light, there was there's been many lights. I mean, the the national parks that I've run through a relatively untouched and and glorious. like great sand I think it's called Great Sandy National Park, north of Noosa and all through the Cape were pristine. And I guess running down the telegraph,
00:16:37
Speaker
track. It's 99% four-wheel drive enthusiast and just me just running. So what I did like about that, because I was a bit skeptical how much damage would be done, but it was so clean. Everybody is very respectful, which I appreciated. Even the really popular places like Fruitbat Falls, they were all pristine. You look like no one had been there. And That gave me a lot of hope that people are, even though their, I guess, recreational activities might sound a bit damaging, but they're not. They're very much respecting the environment around them. That gave me a lot of hope.
00:17:09
Speaker
The other thing that gave me a lot of hope and it was beautiful is A lot of the schools, the the the kids that I talk to, they're really,
Wildlife Conservation and Fundraising
00:17:17
Speaker
i guess, cognizant of the of the current issues that we're trying to talk about. They're very much aware that, you know, the koala isn't around as much as it was when I was their age. And they really are. they They're filled with optimism that they can change it and hope. And they they're really passionate about but just protecting wild places, which but To be honest, I didn't think they would even understand that it's an issue. And so that was really amazing. i didn't see a cassowary in the cassowary coast and I was devastated because they are a very endangered animal and you might not want to see one. I know they can be a little bit dangerous. Yeah, they look a bit they look pretty intimidating. So that would have been nice to see. um
00:17:55
Speaker
The Toowoomba Wilderness Society did take me around on the weekend and unfortunately showed me a lot of areas that have been illegally felled or like construction sites that have been carried on without a spot or catch up.
00:18:07
Speaker
So they did point out a lot of the ugly that I think a normal a normal citizen wouldn't see or or be, I guess, aware of. And i think the more and more I see these things, it's so obvious how much it's happening.
00:18:19
Speaker
So I guess I'm seeing both sides of the coins here. But as an optimist, I really like to focus on all the good that and the people that are trying to change things. I think that's the approach I want to take is just reinforcing the good. i'm not sure if that answers your question, but it's been a mixed bag.
00:18:33
Speaker
Definitely, I would say. Yeah, well, I guess you it is good to be an optimist, I think, and seeing the good and meeting all these good people that might not be actively involved, but at least they're aware. And then once they are aware, they have areas of hope, especially when it is the next generation who think are more yeah aware of things than past generations and even um myself. Like it's great to see these things to being taught in schools and having inspiring people like yourself coming along and and speaking to them and hopefully getting a few more trail runners out in the younger.
00:19:04
Speaker
The younger audiences. Yeah, because I'm a strong believer that, you know, running, having a respectful environment and what I'm doing is synonymous for trail running. I mean, isn't it just self selfish in a way that I want to protect national parks because I love running through them, you know?
00:19:18
Speaker
And I guess a lot of trail runners would be in that same category as me. But I met some really selfless people too. I mean, the lady I met on Saturday, she's in 30 years, hasn't slept more than two hours because she gets up every two hours to feed the whatever, you animal. So there echidnas, joeys, bats, two wedged tail eagles in her care and you know everything else.
00:19:39
Speaker
And she she just doesn't, she has no government funding. She has no funding. She just does it out of the goodness of her own heart. And you know people like that put me to absolute shame. you know I'm just like, wow, this is where the funding needs to be going as well. you know These people need to have a bit more help. So yeah, I've seen definitely both sides of the spectrum and it's been very eyeopening. And I guess now my my goal is to channel this learnings that I've got and make sure I'm putting my energy in what I can do in the right direction to to make sure I'm impacting the most change. Yeah, definitely. they' Using your voice and platform to amplify the voices and the the amazing work that others are doing who are doing it in a very, yes, healthless way and not trying to get reward or notoriety or anything for it. They're just doing it because whether they're love of animals or wild places. And what
00:20:25
Speaker
ah other wildlife have you come across on your travels? Have you seen more or less than you expected? Yeah, what have you what have you come across? Yeah, I've seen more than expected because, yeah, as much as I'm on roads, 90% of the roads I'm on are back roads or farm roads or roads where I'm not sure if they're private land. like you know So I'm seeing...
00:20:42
Speaker
What have I seen? I saw in Bamagas. That was incredible. Off the coast, we were just walking along and we're actually just, my partner and I were just making a video for some family back home.
00:20:53
Speaker
And in the background of the shot, because the ocean was behind us, but we were looking at the screen, we saw two huge fins go past. We turned and there was these two huge bull sharks. I didn't even know. wow. I thought they might be territorial, but there was two of them.
00:21:07
Speaker
um Yeah, just kind of circling around us. I saw two again. Well, my mum and a baby giant groper in Bamaga 2. Oh, wow. that were incredible. I've seen k crocs galore. In the case as well, I was riding along down the main development road with mum and we saw this wild bull. And we've seen um heaps of cows, but yeah, this particular bull took a, I guess, bit of a hating towards us and actually started to charge. And the only reason it stopped running is because at the same time, thankfully, a car coming opposite way cut off its path.
00:21:39
Speaker
Wow. Oh my goodness. Oh, it was terrifying. But here's mum on the electric bike, puts it into turbo and nicks off into the distance, leaves me on the road on my own going to mum. So yeah, we had a little word over that. Yeah, that's great. You're like, good to see you. You're really there to protect me in these times of need.
00:21:56
Speaker
I think at the end of the day she was not having a bar of it. So she refused to go back past this particular herd of cows. So in the end we had to fly because I can't get in the car because I don't want to risk my garden going to two-minute K pace.
00:22:11
Speaker
and And the record going, absolutely, that's that's not okay. So I'm like, what do I do? So then we got the car to shepherd us slowly. So it went 12K an hour next to us and stopped this bull from charging.
00:22:24
Speaker
That was interesting. I've seen a lot of snakes, a lot of deathbedders in and around Cam, a lot more pythons down this way. I'm just trying to think. Oh, yes, a lot of camels and emus when we went inland to the gem fields. Yeah, that would be the interesting stuff I would say.
00:22:40
Speaker
Unfortunately, you see the cane toad issue in Queensland. There's not as many of those bigger lizards that you would usually see, um frill the neck lizards. that That was something that you don't see down in Victoria that's a bit saddening. Yes, because you are doing this to raise funds for the Wilderness Society. How is the fundraising side of things going? And I think you're over halfway. Are you over halfway in your goal? Absolutely. Yeah. i'm just yeah yeah I'm just looking now, I've raised $37,273, which is amazing. The goal is $62,000. $62,000. Yeah, that's right.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, you're making great videos, which are a great way to keep people up to date, trying to get them on board on your journey. And you're trying to raise money money for the Wilderness Society and their mission is to help fight the extinction crisis in Australia. And has actually going out there changed...
00:23:24
Speaker
how you feel about it or made it feel like it's more dire or that there is once again, hope now that you've actually been out on the trails and, you know, basically covered Queensland from top to bottom on foot. You've really been out there and seen a lot more than a lot of people would see in their lifetime.
00:23:39
Speaker
I think it's actually made me realize how dire it is, which is, yeah, definite definitely more dire. And also I think I've learned if I had a million dollars where I would divert the money. i think it's made me realize how dire it is to be honest, because I've you know everyone said oh you have to go to this for example I really want to see a palm copper suit and all the locals said hey you know absolutely you'll see a palm copper too you just have to drive seven hours through this whole drive track to get to this one national park where it's you you probably will see one in this tiny little national park up here i was like oh they used to be all over the cape you know you shouldn't have to drive an entire day to potentially see them in a national park so yeah little things like that and even because having dad
00:24:20
Speaker
up in the very north who grew up um north as well. So he saw a bit more of a contrast than I did because you know this was my first trip up there and he's 60 something. So he's got that like timeframe to see the see the decline. But yeah, it's definitely made me realize we all need to do something. I i know there's a million causes out there, so it's hard to constantly be trying to fundraise for for every different thing. But if I can just at least be a voice and have people talking about the fact that you know, once these animals are extinct, that's that's it. we can't We can't bring them back.
00:24:53
Speaker
You know, we're not Jurassic Park. Then maybe, you know, but'll we'll be able to work together or at least get people interested and active in this space. I mean, the koala is not just Australian significant, it's globally significant. It's up there with panda and, you know, rhinos. And so, yeah, it's just, it's about people knowing it's going on before we can do anything else.
00:25:15
Speaker
Totally. It's just raising awareness. And I think also putting an animal face behind the name in terms of, we hear of animals that we don't necessarily know what they look like because they're not in children's books. We haven't necessarily grown up with them. And Yeah, and then actually seeing it, and what it looks like and learning about it, we then, I guess, are able to do more to actually protect it. And that comes to habitat destruction as well in terms of making sure we keep these places for those critters and and birds and and all of that to live.
00:25:47
Speaker
So you're heading into Brisbane and then have you got an ETA for when you'll be in Sydney and then finally Melbourne? What's planned for the finish line? Like I'm based down in Victoria, so I guess I'm a bit biased as to want to get involved down there. But what's the second half of ah this adventure looking like? Yeah, I don't have a Sydney date off the my head. I do have the 4th of December because that is when we'll break the record.
00:26:08
Speaker
So that's Newcastle. And I've been chasing that date for a little while. So yeah, that will be in Newcastle. ah From there, I'm sure Sydney won't be too far beyond that because it's just north.
00:26:20
Speaker
Christmas will be in Canberra because, yeah, we're going to stay on the road for Christmas, which I'm sure my partner loves me for. um whole less than yeah But we'll weeks away from or four yeah three weeks away from finishing then. So Canberra to Melbourne isn't a long distance, but we are going to go over the over the Victorian height like Alps to get there in through Bright. So I'm really looking forward to that, actually. I love that area. um That Ridgeline run from Gotham to Feathertop is one of my favourite runs of all time. So I really want to include that in. And then we should be landing back in Melbourne mid-January. Awesome. Yeah. It depends on on essentially the days. if i If I do take a rest day later on, i don't like i don't think I will, but if so happens, something, you know, I'm not going to stop. I'm still going to get to Melbourne.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah. So it would be around the 12th of January at this point, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I am envision it that there's a pier, you'll know, because you're from Melbourne on the end of Kerriford Road. that you pretty much go straight past Albert Park yeah and there's a little tiny pier and there's a little kiosk on it. And that's kind of where I want to i want to touch the ocean.
Journey Updates and Community Support
00:27:25
Speaker
You have got a lot of time to think when you're doing your 44K a day. And I think if you're anything like me, most of that time is thinking about food and then food and probably the finish line. Yeah. You definitely remember what is a basic um basic necessity when you're out on the road every day. you you you have such a joy for shelter and just the sit down and just eating food. you know You're not stressing over what type of food it is so long as it's sustenance and it's got some nutrition in it.
00:27:55
Speaker
um And, yeah, just having a tent over your head or a camp trailer and real at a shower. the Yeah. What is your shower situation? I remember saying you've got like one on the cap on the camp trailer.
00:28:07
Speaker
We have one on the camp trailer, but I try not to use it too much because we only have a certain liter capacity for water. and And I try and save that for for drinking because each day I fill up the the bottles from that tap. And it's okay when you're in suburbs, you can just, you can fill up. So if we're not camping, um if we're camping ah remote, which we try and do as much as possible, it's often just a creek.
00:28:30
Speaker
Or um up north it was a waterfall. Or if we're lucky, we've had amazing people who said, hey, can you can come and shower at my place. Because you get so, so disgusting after four hours and or even more, five hours. And to up at the Cape in particular, everyone said to me or, you know, and the people I reached out to, they said, wear sunscreen.
00:28:51
Speaker
thick and don't rub it in. And then the dust, what the dust does is it will stick to it and it will act as almost like a second, like a physical barrier to the sun. So I would finish those runs and I would be covered in in in in just ah such thick dust and then also the occasional bug and fly. And that was actually my sun protection. It was impossible to avoid it.
00:29:11
Speaker
That's insane. Yeah. I was wanting to ask about the heat because you said it's about 27 degrees. I guess you're kind of chasing the summit down in terms of when, by the time you get to Melbourne, it might be who knows in Melbourne, but around 25 or so. And being from Victoria, you're probably not used to that kind of heat. And how has that played into your day-to-day preparations and how you're recovering? I had to start in the Cape to come down because the Cape has a wet season and it actually closes. It would have closed at the end of October. So I had a time limit to get off the Cape before it got too wet. I've had some astronomical heat. It was 38 degrees in Rockhampton and I would be having a drink.
00:29:49
Speaker
Yeah. I've had all the heat in the world and feel like now I'm so adapted to it three months in that if it starts with a two, I can, if it's even to 29, I can run all day and it doesn't bother me. If it inches over to the threes,
00:30:01
Speaker
I get, I get a bit delirious and I'm really mindful of the weather and I, and I, and I make sure if it is hot, I will leave early. Even if it's a three 30 start, I'll do what I can because it does rattle me. And it it's compounding because then I become dehydrated. I get a bit of a heat stroke and then it takes, it's an extra thing for my body to need to recover to go again the next day. So yeah, sometimes it's unavoidable, particularly where the Cape where it was humid and it was 24, you know, it didn't matter what time you left because it was 24 at 6am or it was 28 at 11am. It didn't matter. yeah How much water are you drinking each day? like you know Because you're living outdoors as well in the camper, like not like you're spending the afternoon in an air-conditioned room that's that isn't a normal temperature.
00:30:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's, I guess I'm just dealing with it, to be honest with you. It's been just hot. I've just had a lot of sweaty days. It's another, it yeah, I mean, to get this record, the girls that got it in the yeah UK, they um they messaged me. They're like, why are you doing it like this through the heat and the dust and the Ramones? You could have stayed, because they stayed at home and did a marathon every day around their London you know, loop and then they'd get physio and then they'd go to the cinema and here's me like dust and cows and, you know, dehydration and no food and no reception. And I'm like, why did I do it like this? But no, I wanted to see Australia for Australia. and the he
00:31:22
Speaker
I think we just lost Akana.
00:31:29
Speaker
Looks like Akana's joining us again. Here she is. She's back. You know what happened after talking about the heat? my I was on my phone because my laptop wasn't working and it shut down from being too hot, overheating. Oh, wow. We thought it was probably charging and we thought that was another good question for you. How are you charging everything when you're...
00:31:46
Speaker
i ah Out in the wild. Yeah, that's a good question. It usually is battery, but that time was too hot. And so, yeah, quickly, my laptop wasn't working. The the phone wasn't working. had to quickly grab my my partner's Mac and then it's like, Zoom needs to update, you know, whenever it decides to fall around down around you. So I was like, oh, help me. Yeah, charging is is is really tricky because we're obviously trying to film as much as possible. we have drones. We have, you know, two free laptops and all the film quick. Get it here. My Garmin as well. Yeah, the most important today yeah the most thing of all.
00:32:23
Speaker
Random question, but I've heard that if you're doing stuff for marathons, you've got to do two watches. Is that a thing? You you don't need to, but you have to, you don't need to. i started doing that because I was super nervous that if my Garmin ran out of battery, which it got very low today, because I got the charger last night, that it would, it doesn't count towards the record because you need to have the complete GPS.
00:32:45
Speaker
And they don't accept Strava or even they need a specific.KML file. Yeah, that's a really tricky one. At the very start, I would have a spare garment on in, um and I put it, I didn't wear it on my wrist, but I just put it in mum's bike or on my sport bike.
00:32:59
Speaker
But they, mum sometimes would get bored and then with like thirty eight k she'd just cycle home. She's like, oh, you've got it from here. So then the speed would go up to again, like two minutes per k. Mm-hmm. And i was like, it's clearly not me running that speed. So it wouldn't work.
00:33:13
Speaker
um It would work as GPS, but you know, without any cadence, you can tell I'm not running it. So, you know, I just rely on the one Garmin at the moment, which might be a bit risky, but you know, we're 89 days in and it's been okay. Yeah. I feel like you've got the rhythm, but yeah, that's super stressful that you can do the thing, but once again, like technology lets you down. And for some reason, if there's a glitch on the watch and you lose the days, like that's, that'd be heartbreaking. I think I would go out and go again. Like I want the record. I would have to go out and then just spend the next eight to nine hours. Just really slow, slow plod, just cursing, sending angry emails to Garmin. at the I think you need a backup.
00:33:53
Speaker
Can't you have your phone recording or something? I think I should. Yeah, I really should. It's a bit silly. You're so close, Akana. Getting anxious for you. Now i'll go to Will, who had a question. Hey, Akana.
00:34:05
Speaker
Hello. Amazing stuff, mate. um Just incredible what you're doing. i don't really understand how your body's not breaking down because... i Can't really fathom what you're doing. You kind of answered the question earlier when you talked about the first two weeks and the advice around not giving up. But how did you get through those first two weeks? Like you're you're obviously just running another marathon the day after running through an injury. How did you get through those first two weeks? Was it just that advice or what? I got through, there was a few days where every step was excruciating and particularly when my tibout went, I couldn't even, you know, flex extend so my toes without, you know, wincing.
00:34:44
Speaker
And yeah, to get through that was definitely the hardest part I've had so far. It was horrible. I walked, you know, I would run a I would walk 500 metres, 500 metres.
00:34:55
Speaker
And I guess I didn't give up then, because I'd, you know, I'd quit my job. I'd got all these sponsors on board. I'd got my entire family. My dad had taken his annual list long service, which, you know, he's waited 10 years for. My partner had quit his job. He'd spent all this money on film equipment. I thought, man, if I give up in the first two weeks, I'm going to be the least popular person on the planet. So I almost did it out of like, you must do it for everybody else. And that's the general truth is being like, I'm too scared to quit.
00:35:26
Speaker
Yeah. And then now I'm so close and I feel like that would, yeah, that would drive me to the end. And I had backup. So I had an A plan, a B plan and a C plan and i still do. And my A plan is run it. And, you know, as do you normally would, my B plan is break it into like 10 kilometre kind of segments. And, you know, if you get to 10 and then if you need to walk, that's okay. And then if you get to the next 10, if you need to walk.
00:35:48
Speaker
And then plan C, which I've touched but haven't got to yet, is you can speed walk speedwa it if you need. i haven't got there yet, which is mighty lucky, you but that's there if I need to. So for the Guinness World Record, it just needs to be a continuous run.
00:36:04
Speaker
So i can't be 20 kilometers in the morning and 22 kilometers at night. It can't be broken into three times 14 kilometre runs or 13 it has to be yeah in one go so stopping the Garmin is a bit of no-no so yeah it has to be a walk or a run and that's kind of how I get through it for Guinness it's it's hard like i have days where I'm I'm just in tears but just but you know, as much as possible. And I'm so, so glad that I only chose to do 42 a day.
00:36:35
Speaker
and that last two kilometers is just so, so I'm like, why is it 42? Why can't it just be 40? but ah But that's kind of my mental attitude to it is I put so much into it and I've sacrificed so much and I've got so much support behind me that at the end of the day, I feel like I remove myself from myself and I do it for that.
00:36:58
Speaker
Amazing. Thank you. And I think that's where signing up, because I first got into trail running by doing to kind of trail and you're asking people to fundraise for you or to donate. And then that's a really good motivator to go and train because you're like, it's it's not just about me. It's about all these people that have given me money and now I feel indebted in a good way. do. And it forces you to push yourself and a good motivator, get out of bed and do that run. Or we all know the hardest part about going out for a run is actually getting out the door. And once you're there, often you, well, most of the time you never regret it. That's a really good point. Yeah, a lot of people. 100%. And a lot of people have reached out to me and offered to run and even into Wimbah, for example. And I get nervous leading into those group runs because I do a lot of solo running where I've got my own freedom to stop and walk if I get a bit sore.
00:37:43
Speaker
And so I get nervous going into to to group runs because I'm like, now I'm going to have to like up my game. going to have to run, you know, at a certain pace the entire time. And but and and I'm nervous, nervous, nervous. And then the second we start, it's great. They'll pull me and it flies by and, you know, you end up going, you know, sub four by well and truly. And you're oh, oh, okay, that actually does have a big difference, but it doesn't take away the fact that you get nervous going into them because you're like, oh.
00:38:09
Speaker
I think I need people around me to really get me up and up, and that's definitely my motivator for sure. That's awesome. um And Shane's got a question too. Astounding effort. Okay, congratulations, and I hope you don't stop until you get down here. I've got two questions.
00:38:23
Speaker
First one is, was there some food or nutrition you were using at the start that you absolutely can't stand and hate now? and And the second one is, what's your favorite piece of gear that you've been using that's lasted? Good question. You know, that's a really good point. I've got Clif Bar as a sponsor and I'm very grateful for that. And I've probably eaten more Clif Bars than, so I don't hate them now, but I'm definitely, I've definitely, I've eaten a lot.
00:38:48
Speaker
I'm a bit over one specific pasta that we've had a fair few times, which is just not a lot sustenance. So it's just pasta and tomato and it's been the one that we just took a lot of. But, you know, it's um I'll probably love it again at the end.
00:39:00
Speaker
My favourite piece of gear, I don't know. i mean, my Garmin because it's my gateway to the record. Yeah. I think I never was a hat wearer ever. I've never worn a cap while I run and I've got a cap that I'm religiously wearing now because ah it keeps the sun off me when I'm outdoors for longer than ever. It's a simple answer, but it's very effective.
00:39:20
Speaker
But I also have really long hair. It gets so knotty if I just put it in a hair tie, it actually physically sticks to me. So if I put it in a bun and then put the cap on it, I can save it from the knots.
00:39:31
Speaker
It's very female. <unk> issue But yeah, just like not having my hair knotted to the absolute like dreads every day is is a bit of a win for me That's so interesting, Akana, because i just I've always seen you in hats, like you're always wearing one now, which makes sense because it's sunny.
00:39:47
Speaker
Yeah, you definitely strike me as a hat person. So it's interesting to know that you were never a hat person. Yeah. I always didn't pack one. And then, yeah, and then I had a night where I almost cut all my hair off because my hair was absolutely knotted and Raya goes, I'll just put it down and and wear a hat over the top and it won't knot. was like, firstly, how do you know that? And secondly, all right. Give it a go. won't cut it off because of the continuity of the film. I can't, if you can't cut it, you can't cut it because I need the shots if, you know, we need to go back and forth. i was like, oh, man.
00:40:15
Speaker
Oh, the things you do for content, hey? Yeah. ah Mark's got a question as well. It's amazing to see where you've been, ahr Shana, and just come through the Sunshine Coast here. And yeah, fantastic effort. In 85 days is amazing.
00:40:29
Speaker
I'm wondering what you're going to be like on day 106 when you've beat finished finished at 107. How will you keep motivated then? That's a good question. And I'm trying to, I'm trying to find that answer. I haven't found it yet because I actually am sometimes using just getting to the record as my motivation.
00:40:48
Speaker
um And so i definitely want to yeah get to Melbourne, but yeah, how does does it change? Do I still do the marathon every single day without a break? That's the question. And I'm definitely going to try. i think the fundraising then will turn to my focus. It's it's okay. Have we hit the goal? No. Okay. let Let's hit the goal and maybe even blow that out of the park as well. So i Yeah, I think I'll switch it over more to the cause once the record's done and go from there. That's my answer now, but we'll see afterwards. Great. And what do you do about shoes? Have you got pairs that you rotate between or what do you do?
00:41:20
Speaker
Good question because my shoe sponsor is actually incredible. So I'm sponsored by Tarkine. um They're a Western Australian company. They make recycl well shoes from recycled products. So they're very sustainable, very aligned with our mission. They've just released a second iteration of the shoe I'm wearing because at the start it was actually a little bit tricky because they're new, so they only have one shoe. And so rotating was hard if I wanted to stay in Tarkines. So to be honest, I would do say...
00:41:46
Speaker
three days in Tarkines and then one day in a different shoe just until my body adapted to it because I have a very low heel drop. So it's a very free run, which suits my style, but I never obviously put this much load through my body. Do three days in a low heel drop kind of flat, and then which is the Tarkine, and then i would then I would do it a day in a soft kind of plush shoe. They've now released another, the second iteration, which is just as plush, so I can run in that nonstop. But sometimes I'll change. i have a few pairs, so I'll change every day.
00:42:15
Speaker
Sometimes halfway through run, I'll change too. In fact, my foot has actually swollen an extra size now, which is which is not good. it It means all my shoes don't fit me. So I've got to get some more.
00:42:25
Speaker
It's not a fun conversation. vic Thank you for all those shoes. Now none of them fit me. I please have that all again? ah but I'll hang on to the old shoes because hopefully give it a ah bit of rest and relaxation and you your shoe size will go back to what it what it was. Absolutely, exactly. well thanks so much, Mark. Good question.
00:42:47
Speaker
My final question is how can we support you? i'm Obviously donating to your GoFundMe and following along online, but I guess we're all keen, mad keen trail runners, some would say. we we know your pain, not to the extent that you're experiencing it, but just you know a little slither of it. But yeah, what can we do over the coming weeks and months as you finish up and make your way to Melbourne? Well, firstly, you definitely understand my pain. I did the Guzzler Trail Ultra before I started this and it was 53Ks and i would so I still stand behind the fact that it was the hardest thing i ever done. trail running is, is is yeah, does it it's I'm very humbled by anyone that jumps on the trails for a full day. that's It's incredible.
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah, come for a run. I'm passing through a lot of cities and towns and and regional towns now. So yeah, I'm i'm definitely leaning on a lot of local knowledge to get out into the trails because I'm not always aware of them. So I've been taking on some great trail loops that have been astronomical.
00:43:43
Speaker
So yeah, just any kind of running knowledge you've got for me, definitely sharing the story and kind of get the messaging out there is good because you know, the more people that follow along engage, the more you know donations that come through, but not just donations, the more conversations had, you know, how can I help? How can I be, I guess, a slightly greener version of myself? You know, having the conversation, what can I do? And then that starts the next thing. And yeah, it's all, it's all a slow growing machine.
00:44:11
Speaker
That's the way to do it though. Slow and steady. So what's the best way, um email or DMs? Like if people are both, yeah. Yep. So I'm not, I'm between me and my partner, we should catch it. We don't catch it just because we're busy, but yeah, pretty much on, on that a lot because yeah, we're we're trying to be very, I guess, receptive to people. It's people's advice. Cause it's actually been our lifesaver so far. that what morning So yeah.
00:44:34
Speaker
Yeah, no, there's a great community out there. And I know there's a bunch of people tuning in who are on the um the Illawarra coast, south of Sydney. So if you um find your way down there, I'm sure there'll be plenty of the Sea Cliff Coasters group down there are really keen trail runners and always plenty of people who want to come join you there and definitely down in Melbourne as well. So um thank you so much for joining us today, Karni. You do not look like you've just run a marathon this morning, but...
00:45:00
Speaker
I haven't actually eaten yet. I've i've got some food. We need to let you go so you can have one of your four big meals for the day. And it' it's nice to see you indoors, even though you spend all your time outdoors. It must be nice to get some respite from the sun and the mozzies and all that that good stuff. Not for long. It's just it's night and then we're back.
00:45:19
Speaker
on No, well, I'm really enjoying your partners doing an excellent job at telling your story and showing off the beautiful parts of Australia that some of them I've been to, some of them haven't, but I certainly, it makes me want to get up to Queensland and especially those beaches and rainforests. It's just truly spectacular out there. And it's really awesome to yeah be able to wake up every day and think, I can't, I've already run a marathon and I'm just going out to get my morning coffee. Oh, Oh, man, I can't wait to just go out for a morning coffee. ah yeah. it When I see you like riding along with a coffee, I'm like, oh that looks like, you know, just let the girl a morning off. I know, my poor stomach has had to endure a lifetime. Well, like, yeah, 88 days or 89 days constant run and eat. But, no, thank you so much. It's been really, really wonderful chatting. and Yes, likewise.
00:46:06
Speaker
And we look forward to seeing you in person along the way and all the best, less than 20 days until you hit the the milestone and the world record. So all the best for those. Thank you so much. And I'll run with you soon. Yes. Sounds amazing. Thanks everyone for joining us and have a fantastic week. And yeah, I'm sure we'll all be, we might not be doing our 44K, but at least we'll get out there for a bit of it a little bit of trail time. So thanks everyone and have a great rest of your week. See ya.
00:46:37
Speaker
And now we're going to jump forward to March 2025, just last week, to chat about life and recovery post-hip to toe and Akana's latest project.
Post-Record Reflections and Documentary Creation
00:46:50
Speaker
Last time we caught up Akana, it was the 17th of November, 2022, and you had just arrived in Brisbane after running your daily marathon on day 89 of your 150-day tip-to-toe journey. And then on the 16th of January, two months later, you crossed the finish line at the Tan in Melbourne, totally blitzing the world record at the time, which was 106 consecutive marathons by a woman, which is incredible.
00:47:14
Speaker
You've been very busy since, but before we get onto what you've been up to on and off the trails since then, I'd like to chat a bit more about Tip to Toe. Hopefully it's still somewhat fresh in your memory and doesn't just feel like a distant once upon a time.
00:47:27
Speaker
But in our last chat, you were motivated to keep showing up each day to break the Guinness World Record. And we're wondering once you've achieved that goal, what was going to motivate you? Now looking back, I've Do you remember once you hit that day 107, you still had a long way to go to get to Melbourne? what What kept you going and turning up each morning?
00:47:48
Speaker
That's an interesting one because had I have known just how hard it would have been on day 108 then, I probably would have stopped because it was so hard. I remember that 108th marathon being probably the hardest marathon on tip to toe.
00:48:01
Speaker
Maybe as well because I'd had a few celebratory champagnes as well, which didn't help it. But yeah. Yeah, I remember having to really focus back on the why, which was the raising money for biodiversity. So we were raising money for the Wilderness Society because the personal achievement that I'd built up in my mind of the world record, you know, that's such a strong motivation. That was gone.
00:48:23
Speaker
So yeah, it there it was kind of twofold. It was raising money for... my cause, the Wilderness Society, but it was also my traditional goal when I was a kid was always just to run from the top to the bottom of the country.
00:48:36
Speaker
So it was remembering that back before I even knew this record existed, the whole plan was to get to Melbourne. And so layering it back and finding the fun and adventure and the fun and just going from A to B, ah go a really big A to B, but A to B nonetheless of that. And that just adventure of getting to your destination was what, yeah, picked me back up off the ground.
00:48:55
Speaker
Yeah, because in our last chat, you said the first two weeks were probably the hardest and that your body was adjusting and all of the niggles and injuries that you kind of had during that time. on the On the back end for those last, I guess, 40 days, which is just crazy in itself to be running a marathon every day, how was your body, like your mind, you were trying to motivate yourself mentally to keep going, but how was the body feeling it as you, I guess, hit the border in Victoria and started the home stretch to Melbourne?
00:49:24
Speaker
Actually, we got faster and more adapted, which was really bizarre. And I and i i think it was a little bit of a my body had just got accustomed to running four to five hours a day, which is mind boggling, but it's what happened. And secondly, I was from Victoria and that's where my running community was. And they're all you know elite marathoners. So as I got closer to the Victorian border, the people that joined were were used to running with me at a different pace and they sort of just naturally were just a few steps in front of me and I was my old competitive self going, no, can run. And so we just, I think the marathons got to about 3.30, 3.30, 3.30 pace, hours for the marathon towards Melbourne.
00:50:07
Speaker
which is unbelievable considering had ah in you know before Tip2Toe started, I would have assumed it would have started easier and gotten harder, but it actually started hard and got easier to the point where who knows how many more I could have ran I didn't didn't you know give myself the option to keep going, but by 150, I felt ah felt fantastic. With that knowledge, has that changed your perspective on planning things going forward?
00:50:35
Speaker
Like knowing that Your body and your mind is capable of a lot more than probably anyone gives it credit for and going out there and trying new things and pushing yourself, whether it be on a short or a long-term basis. Has that kind of unlocked any next level of thinking and understanding and just letting the process play out? Yeah, yeah. It was a catalyst to do the speed project the last year, so a year later. And that is a 500k race through Death Valley. And it's a stop-start race where it's not a stage race. So once you leave Vegas, the watch starts and doesn't – sorry, once you leave LA, the watch doesn't stop until you hit Vegas.
00:51:17
Speaker
And I'd never ran more than, you know, 42k's in a row. And so it was a different kind of challenging that I'd never done before. So that was – a running event that challenged me because I didn't know how much I could just run nonstop.
00:51:31
Speaker
um And that one did, that found my limit. i I was very much bruised and battered and hiking the last 38 kilometers in a lot of pain. and i thought, okay, this is good because on tip to toe, i it took every ounce of energy, but I thought that I could keep going. Whereas on the speed project, I absolutely, utterly could not keep going.
00:51:52
Speaker
Yeah, which I guess is a good thing as well because once you've you've found your limit, then you're like, okay, i can not I don't need to keep pushing that bruise because I know where it is. And it goes from being hard but fun to just not fun at all.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yes. And that's what happens. How did your body pull up after tip to toe? Cause you were feeling good, but I can imagine once that daily routine of running a marathon and focusing on prioritizing eating and stretching and that sort of stuff finished, how long did it take your, for example, your feet to go back to their normal shoe size and for you to start to feel somewhat normal?
00:52:30
Speaker
It took, so I finished on a Monday and I clearly remember that my family flew out the Thursday of so, and I remember running on adrenaline the next few days because there was so much excitement and, you know, so much hype around it all. And then on the Thursday after they flew, I fell asleep and I don't think I woke up for a month afterwards. It was, you know, 12 hours at night and then I would nap from 10am to 11 and then 2pm till 3pm and I was just a mess And I remember feeling frustrated going, and know I need to sleep, but there's all this excitement and hype I want to be doing things, but my body needs rest. So my mind was uneasy, but my body was, yeah, very sore and tired. So reckon starting the Thursday afterwards, I was probably extremely fatigued for about three months, a long, long time, long, long time.
00:53:22
Speaker
yeah I guess since then, like a year later, you did the speed project. So I guess you'd after three months of rest and then did you feel ready to kind of start training again? And how did it go back to, had you lost any love of running or was it you kind of just excited to be able to get back to it again? Or how did that relationship pick up again once you felt you were ready to to get back out there?
00:53:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I definitely love didn't lose the love of running. I started dabbling in other events. I know that I did, say, a Backyard Ultra because I wanted to try it and I did at big trail events and I did, you know, a few road half marathons. And I just remember but almost just running for the fun of it. I was just playing with running and that sort of brought back a lot of love for it. I didn't train for anything seriously and until ah in July.
00:54:10
Speaker
it's taking me back. So three months after or four months after I fit, no, no, five, five, five, math is not my strong pursuit. Five months after I finished, everybody on tip to toe was saying, you know, you didn't really run Australia because you didn't do New Zealand, ah Tasmania.
00:54:26
Speaker
um And I thought, okay, I need to now go and finish, you know, the full mainland Australia. So it in just at least to prove a point to all the naysayers that said, you know, you haven't really done Australia.
00:54:38
Speaker
East Coast, you've missed entire state. So in July, we ran from the top of Davenport to Hobart to finish off the full length of mainland Oz. um We did a little bit of a different spin on it. the rate We did that one for...
00:54:52
Speaker
but we had these girls in Melbourne and they were drawing these incredible paintings of forests and trees. And, you know, we we had this discussion about the future of the planet for the generation that's born, you know, now and, you know, being being a young person and having a say and in, I guess, what the future looks like for them.
00:55:12
Speaker
And we used that as ah almost a story through the run. So I collected these letters from Melbourne and flew them flew them to Davenport and then ran the letters down Tasmania to Parliament House in Hobart and delivered the letters to the to Parliament House and said, look, you know, as a symbol to that everybody has a voice, it doesn't matter if you're young or old, you can still you can still do something for what matters to you.
00:55:35
Speaker
So we put a little bit of a different spin on that run. But yeah, so... I still was still doing kind of events, but just to the slightly smaller scale to what Tip to Toe was. like anything will seem pretty small scale in comparison for a little while until you, you know, pick your next big next big goal. Because the point of Tip to Toe was not only to fulfill your lifelong childhood dream of running the length of Australia, but then also to get the Guinness World Record and to raise funds for the Wilderness Society. With the value of hindsight, looking back on your feet, is there anything you would change around –
00:56:11
Speaker
I guess, well, I guess the first question is, how did you find that process of doing something for a cause and trying to raise money for a cause that you are passionate about? Because I know that a lot of people go into doing things like this with that cause in mind, but I guess what things reflecting on do you take away that you might do differently next time or what worked or what didn't? Interesting.
00:56:35
Speaker
Was it harder than you expected? Did you think it was just $124,000? Like is that the ballpark of what you expected? or It was actually over what we expected. Our traditional goal was $10 per kilometre run, so that would have been around $60,000.
00:56:51
Speaker
I wish i had have known that it takes time. to for I mean I knew it would take momentum, but I think we raised $40,000 $50,000 in the last week, you know, and so you're you're running for 21 weeks or 22 weeks and for 20 weeks you're hustling and then for two weeks it pays dividends.
00:57:10
Speaker
Had I have known that, I would have relaxed into it a little bit more, but I was constantly, i felt like i was constantly in this battle of going, okay, I need to do all this media for the fundraiser, but then I also need to be protecting my energy for the run. And balancing the whole, all right, what's more important? Prioritizing the run, which is my platform to fundraise or the media, which makes the running harder. But therefore, so you had to sort of balance. I remember having to balance my energy levels between the priorities.
00:57:38
Speaker
There's a lot of things I think we did right. um My traditional goal was just to run, as I said, Australia without worrying about the record, but chasing the record got us enough momentum and sponsorship and media attention to to leverage the fundraiser.
00:57:51
Speaker
So i don't I definitely think that was one of the smartest things we did in this in this expedition. I did find it difficult, but i don't I don't regret it. I think doing it for the Wilderness Society was one of the most rewarding parts of the entire thing. So yeah i would I wouldn't change that for the world. It's interesting, isn't it? Doing...
00:58:10
Speaker
big things like this, making it centered around Guinness World Records almost makes it more relatable to the everyday person rather than just doing it for the hell of it or, you know, for a charity or something. But I feel like and if they need a good news story, they'll put ah at the end of the news bulletin, someone doing something crazy to like walking across Australia with a wheelbarrow or whatever it is, because it's just...
00:58:34
Speaker
a bit of good news to cap off maybe a ah night of not so good news. And without that sense of understanding of that Guinness world record, it kind of speaks to the to the everyday person because marathons as well is understandable. But as soon as you go into that ultra or that 150 days in a row, it's very hard and rightly so for the average person to comprehend what that might mean.
00:58:57
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, I definitely learned that with a lot of in my life going forwards, that if you have an idea, you definitely need to pair it with a ah marketing idea. So you need to have strategy in your messaging. And I think that's really important because a lot of people in the last two years have come up to me and said, hey, can you help me with this you know idea I have to raise money? And the first thing I say is, okay, what's your messaging?
00:59:17
Speaker
yeah know Let's keep it simple. It has to be catchy. you know People only remember things in threes. So but just making sure you've thought about how the world sees it, not just how you've... thought about it is really important. Not that I'm a marketing expert. It's just something that I learned.
00:59:32
Speaker
I learned on tip to toe. Speaking of that, like you did an amazing job, you and your partner, Rai, capturing your journey and sharing it on socials, which and in our last chat, you said that Rai probably has one of the harder jobs, which I completely, you know, being your crew and driver and videographer and editor and trying to make trying to make people who aren't there feel a part of it is...
00:59:55
Speaker
such a skill and such a big time investment. But it also has created ah a documentary, a film called 150 about your experience, your time on the road. And how is that undertaking in trying to translate, I'm sure, which would have been hours and hours and hours of footage into a story that has commercial appeal to some degree? And I guess did the story that you wanted to tell going into Tip to Toe, was it the same story that you conveyed 150? It's different because for those that know Rye, I know he's very creative and he's a little bit quirky and he's a lot of fun. And he had, yeah, hundreds of hours of footage and distilled it down to what is now an 82-minute documentary. It premiered at the Brisbane International Film Festival in October and I was watching it for the first time. Oh, wow.
01:00:45
Speaker
Yeah, and it was interesting. I was almost a little bit scared to watch it because – I don't know. It's like when you read Harry Potter and then you have this world and then you watch the movies and it's different. I wondered if it would be the same and if my memories of Tip to Toe would be the what I see in the film and not what I actually remember in real life.
01:01:02
Speaker
He did a really fantastic job of capturing the emotion of it and the joy and the fun and the positivity. which I think does portray how it was. We ultimately tried to be as authentic as possible and he's done a really good shot job of just showing that and what we actually went through and the highs and lows and you know everything that went wrong. So I would say yes, but it's not like a normal running documentary and people will soon see it. It's going to be released um soon. So I'm excited for people that came along and ran with me to to watch it and say see what they think. Yeah, because I feel like getting snippets on social media is very different to sitting down and getting the whole 150 days in a seamless story arc that also showcases so many parts of Australia that people probably haven't visited before. Like watching the movie in the cinema at the Brisbane Film Festival, what...
01:01:53
Speaker
Were there certain bits of footage that kind of made you really nostalgic for your time on the road and that you kind of got your itchy feet to head out there again and see more of Australia? Yeah, the North was that in a nutshell. It was so simple. You had one job and because it was so remote, you didn't have phone reception, you didn't have anything to do in the afternoon. So you'd wake up and you'd run and you had all day. You didn't take all day because it was hot, but there was nothing you were running towards. I know in everyday life...
01:02:23
Speaker
you've got 30 minute intervals to do everything and you're always chasing the clock and you're always behind and then you have to squeeze in lunch. But it was this beautiful simplicity of just running in the bush and then setting up camp and then cooking and eating and then going for a swim. And so that bit I remember watching now with you know hindsight of what I'm doing currently, which I'm sure we'll get to and going, wow.
01:02:49
Speaker
and And, you know, just this the simplicity of doing my favorite thing in the world with my favorite people in the most beautiful part of Australia. So, yes, I was beyond nostalgic. You were just like, can't we just go back there? Whereas at the time, were probably like, get me out of here. Yeah, exactly right. yeah Back then, I was like, wow, I have a long way to go. Now I'm like, never leave that place.
01:03:09
Speaker
Yeah. It's amazing how we can always just constantly wishing to be somewhere else, whereas we look back and we think, oh, that was that was a pretty great time. It's like high school.
01:03:20
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I know you get so nostalgic about that, but yeah, at the same time, when you were there, you were like, oh my God, I just want to grow up and be be an adult already. Apparently they knew. And as much as Tip to Toe was about breaking a world record and also a passion project and to share the plight of Australia's native animals and strengthen our laws to protect biodiversity, you were creating positive change through running and bringing community
Transition to Politics and Environmental Advocacy
01:03:43
Speaker
together. And in 2025, that led you to a different kind of race, as you foretold there, running for federal office. You are the candidate for McPherson. With that tip to toe in mind, how running for environmental advocacy and political advocacy, are there similarities? Are there differences with the experience you've had? How has, I guess, the past couple of months of campaigning been for you? Well, everybody's been asking me what's harder, running an electoral campaign or running 150 marathons.
01:04:15
Speaker
And I would tell you the campaign, hands down, is a lot harder because i guess for me, running was an um it was an uncomfortable, comfortable. It was in my world and it was my favorite thing to do. you know i also really enjoy making change, but it's so outside my knowledge level and my and my comfort zone that I haven't just stepped outside the box. I've leapt outside the box and I'm absolutely just swimming with the sharks.
01:04:42
Speaker
And so the learning curve has been phenomenal. I am loving it. I'm loving the challenge. There's so many similarities, the intense focus for the period of time that it takes, the all challenge.
01:04:53
Speaker
give it everything approach, which, you know, tip to toe was, I threw everything at it and I'm throwing everything at this. The building community, you know, i started running solo with Just Rye and then by the end, we had hundreds of people joining in on the run.
01:05:07
Speaker
It's the same thing here. You know, we started with a small grassroots team that's now over a thousand people on our supporter list that are coming to, you know, 50 events a week. So,
01:05:18
Speaker
It's growing that positivity. It's campaigning for things that the community is passionate about. i guess the the thing for me is it's it's all well and good when I'm advocating for things that I'm comfortable with, like the environment. But then, you know, i also have to learn superannuation tax reform and, you know, things that I don't quite have the same level of understanding for. you know, telecoms infrastructure. And um so that's where I get night sweats where like, all right, I'm reading and learning as much as I can.
01:05:46
Speaker
But then I just remind myself, you know, when I started Tip to Toe, I hadn't ran two marathons in a row and I ran 150 and it's okay to just try and give it your best shot. And, you know, I'm not supposed to be a politician. I'm running to represent our community as the person that I am. And is as, as,
01:06:02
Speaker
but being values aligned, not, you know, a career politician. I think people are frustrated with career politicians. That's why we're moving away from them. So, but you just have to remind yourself of that. So there are lots of similarities, but a few differences.
01:06:14
Speaker
It's hard, isn't it? Watching candidates and even having been there myself, like you're doing it because you don't want to, you're trying to offer an alternative to, like you said, the career politicians, but you can't help but get caught up in that and feeling like you're meant to be like that and follow that cookie cutter, what we've always had of what that person looks and sounds like and how they talk and that they're expected to be able to reel off all these numbers and data points. And you're like, I'm just ah and just a girl who really likes running and wants to like make the world a bit better. like How do I...
01:06:47
Speaker
how am I meant to retain all this information? But I've actually been able to weave in my old life with my new life. So in three weeks, i'm I'm doing a fundraiser for the campaign and I'm going to run the perimeter of our McPherson electorate. And I don't know how far it is. I'm assuming it's about 120 Ks.
01:07:03
Speaker
But I thought, you know, it's it's what I love. i know that it connects people. there's The Gold Coast is, you know, a running capital. So people can come and engage in what I'm standing for without feeling like it's very political.
01:07:16
Speaker
Because political apathy is this huge headwind that we face here. People move to the Gold Coast because they want to disengage. So just getting people to talk about what matters to them is, you know, sometimes difficult. So going for a run and a showing people where they live and B, allowing people to just come for the fun of it is, yeah, my way of weaving two worlds. And it's really important as well because maybe people come along who haven't been engaged in politics before, but they're just there for the running. And if you can open their eyes up to maybe a few different things along the way and have those conversations, they might be more likely to think, oh, no, actually, who I vote for is like an important part of being a citizen and a part of a community. And even if it's
01:08:01
Speaker
yeah, they're voting to, i don't know, help protect a particular area or part of nature or something. Like that's enough in itself. Like if we had more people putting nature first when it came to election day, I think the makeup of our parliament would look very different.
Balancing Immediate and Long-term Concerns
01:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
01:08:22
Speaker
coming into the election, there's a lot of focus on cost of living and stuff. And I'm sure a lot of things, yeah, like you said, that you've got to get across that are affecting the lives of everyday people. But how do you navigate back to, i guess, the core issues and your core values and talk about the things that not only important to everyone else, but I guess those broader topics that are getting kind of overlooked this election, for example, like climate change and reforming our environmental laws and going back to tip to toe and, you know, making sure we stop the extinctions and stop biodiversity loss. That's a really yeah good point. We are obviously needing to tackle cost of living first and foremost, because people are struggling and it's the the number one thing that I'm hearing from everyone that I speak to. So it would be, you know, it's silly of me to not obviously recognize that.
01:09:12
Speaker
But where I am really lucky is that where we live on the Gold Coast, it's one of the key reasons people live here is the surf and the you know the natural beauty of the place. And so the natural environment and biodiversity here, we have an urban koala population that's endangered, that people are doing everything that they can to protect. we have world-class waterways that are constantly being contaminated through sewage leaks and you know the community is up in arms about it so we have a lot of i guess support behind the natural environment here which you know I naturally gravitate towards going okay let's make that a priority.
01:09:48
Speaker
um Climate it's an interesting one but where it's it's high high on the list here and obviously cost of living is overshadowing it but I think the way I like to frame it is climate and cost of living cut luckck helping or so you know doing what we can for the climate will also filter down into a cost of living relief as well. I know that 20% of houses here on the Gold Coast are not insurable because we are so constantly subjected to flooding and we've just days ago come through a category you know Cyclone and Alfred. um
01:10:20
Speaker
So, know, our houses just aren't equipped to deal with it and we're seeing these constant recurring climate events that's putting climate back into the forefront of at least here locally where we've just gone through disaster relief.
01:10:31
Speaker
So, it's reframing it going, okay, how can we transition to renewables to provide cost of living relief um for energy prices? How can we have more EV vehicles for because then they're a second backup battery for for houses who have, you know,
01:10:47
Speaker
that are electrified, et cetera, et cetera. So it's about weaving everything together to to create a ah more holistic picture. And it's no easy feat either, I find, trying to connect the dots. And yeah, everything's, for better or for worse, our world is a complicated one and there's no easy solution. But at the same time, it means that everything kind of is interwoven and to get the cost of living relief In the long term, we need to make sure that, yeah, we have a safe climate that reduces the frequency and the intensity of things like cyclone Alfred, which, yeah, you're slowly, slowly, i guess, recovering from.
01:11:25
Speaker
We've just got our power back on. So, yes. Yes. I mean, it never ended up being as bad as we had predicted, which is a good thing. But, you know, the damage that caused not end up ending up being a Category 2 storm was was
Participation and Political Influence
01:11:39
Speaker
phenomenal. So, yeah, I think it's definitely reminded people that climate is still a really big issue. And if we continue to ignore it, it's going to become a bigger one. And now that you've, I guess, you've done different forms of advocacy, tip to toe, and now running for federal parliament, like how do we get more runners, trail users, outdoor people to give a shit about politics? Because for better off or for worse, it infiltrates every every little nook and cranny of our life. But now that you've, in some ways, as a candidate, seen behind the scenes and understanding the complexity of things, why do you think, and do you think, and I'm guessing it's going to be yes, but why do you think that people who love the outdoors should be more involved in, for example, important things like federal elections and volunteering or supporting their candidates? And what are some ways that people can do that? We definitely should. And, you know, the more I see what's going on in parliament with the major parties, the more and more motivated I get to do this. I mean, Labor throwing out the nature positive bill is just one really good example of an election promise that was just thrown out because of vested interests in Western Australia. So i I've seen behind the curtain and I can't unsee what I've seen. So maybe ignorance is bliss.
01:12:57
Speaker
Yeah. but yeah want rid
01:13:02
Speaker
But it is scary when you actually do some reading. um And so if you do love the planet, it is really important to yeah get involved in this. And you don't have to, you know, quit your job and and campaign to to do that. It can be as simple as just checking what doing.
01:13:17
Speaker
who is running in your electorate and what are their values and what are their policies and what are their environmental or climate policies. And if you align with that, then then give them a vote. And yeah, I know that you might not think that they will win, but that primary vote is so important for the, I guess, parliament or the government of the day to see the matters that are yeah important to the people and to fight for them. So the more climate focused people we can get into parliament, the more actual legislation and change we can make and that will filter down and actually see lasting change. So that's what's motivated me to run because currently it's quite scary the way we're projected to go. And so
01:13:56
Speaker
I know I'm hoping that we're successful and other electorates around the country are successful so we can actually have you know a balance of power in these in these decisions. Definitely. And it's looking like it might go that way, but anything is anyone's guess at at this
Election Funding and Campaign Challenges
01:14:10
Speaker
stage. And just to plug the For Wild Places newsletter, in our last week, we explained preferential voting and went into detail as to why it's so important to Yeah, why your vote can, I guess, be more valuable if you do vote for a a minor party or an independent. Were you aware that, well, it was $3, but now $5, your vote is $5 in the pocket of your candidate of choice. Were you aware of that going in? No.
01:14:34
Speaker
I had no idea. And that's just the electoral reforms for those that are interested are, yeah, I mean, they're shocking because there's going to be an extra, at the 2028 election, there'll be an extra $140 million dollars that's going to be spent by the LNP and the Labor Party on the federal election. $140 million dollars in a cost of living crisis that's just going to to the major parties for campaigning that's taken away from new entrants to our democracy. So,
01:15:04
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't know that. There's a lot that I've learned that goes on behind the scenes. And, you know, i'm it's interesting because I'm, you know, proudly accepting Climate 200 money because I stand for climate integrity and equality. And everyone says, oh, you know, you're so well funded. And I think across Australia, there at the last election, they spent $25 million dollars across Australia, whereas the majors spent $500 million. So, I mean, yes, it's a lot of money, but comparatively, it's still a David and Goliath battle. Totally. Totally. And it's interesting how minor parties and independents and the teals get hold held to such higher standards rather than the two majors because that's just the way it's always been. So no one questions it. Whereas even as a candidate or as a party or a group of individuals, you get scrutinized for every dollar. Whereas, yeah, Labor and Liberal can absolutely burn through the cash and no one even thinks twice or...
01:15:55
Speaker
Exactly. Even the benefit of taxpayer funded staff. I mean, we don't have any taxpayer funded staff. We're just doing it. We're fundraising, you know, and so that's a similarity from tip to toe, right? It's okay, we have a shoestring budget. It's got to last six months, you know, we're going to have to fundraise as we go. And so, you know, your your your focus has to shift to fundraising. It has to shift to community organization and recruitment and and you pretty much have to build an entire organization from scratch. Yeah.
01:16:21
Speaker
So yeah, there's lots to there's lots to consider in this. and But it's been a huge project. It's been very rewarding. We need to do one of these three weeks after the election to see if I am stoked that I'm doing it or not.
01:16:32
Speaker
I know. we won't leave it as long as we did this time. It won't be two and a half years later. Coming to you from Canberra. Yeah, well, exactly. Who knows? It's very exciting.
01:16:46
Speaker
Do you know where you're going to be on the 19th to 21st of September this year, Akata? For the Pilliger Ultra? Yes.
01:16:56
Speaker
know you're a busy lady, but I just wanted to put it on your radar. We loved having you last year. You're an absolute lifesaver in helping sweep some of the courses after running yourself, of course, but...
01:17:07
Speaker
I'm going to do all of them next. That'll be my, yeah. No, I'll be there for sure. Well, hopefully by then, whether you're in parliament or not, you'll have hopefully have a chance to get out in the camper van with Rye and enjoy some downtime by a river somewhere warm and soak up some some quiet time and take some rest because speaking from experience, the come down after election night is a come down like no other.
01:17:32
Speaker
I can imagine. Yeah, I get this Twitch where I look at my phone. It'll probably be similar to the Thursday after your family flew out after Tip to Toe and you just kind of retreat to bed and and don't emerge for a little while. But yeah, wishing you all the best for the next month, probably.
01:17:48
Speaker
um until election
Advocacy and Closing Remarks
01:17:50
Speaker
day. yeah it's very exciting to see what you're doing. It's great to see you getting the press, getting your unique love of running and advocacy and climate action out there. Yeah, using your platform and your love of running for good and inspiring a lot of other people and hopefully getting a bunch of people out to do the 150 or 120k lap around McPherson.
01:18:11
Speaker
Soon. When is that, Akana? That's in three weeks. So it's the 6th of April. We had to, it was supposed to be next weekend. We had to push it because of um Cyclone Alfred, which I'm actually not that disappointed with because I get one more long training run. Training and campaigning, impossible. So I'm very undercooked. It's going to be, I'm leaning on hopes and dreams to get me around the lap. Well, you'll have plenty of people to to help you along on the way. But yes, one thing at a time, training in itself is a beast, let alone trying to Yeah.
01:18:41
Speaker
What did you say? 50 events a week. Like that is, i hope you're not expected to be at all of them because that sounds and i'm at most physically if impossible. Oh my goodness. Well, thankfully you're good at logistics um and planning and being a very diligent in everything that you do.
01:18:58
Speaker
um Thank you, Hilary. And thanks for yeah the catch up. It's fun. Well, I look forward to yeah doing it again soon to get your thoughts and reflections on being a candidate because I think that for better or for worse, politics isn't going anywhere and democracy is the best system we've got. And it'd be great to see more people who want to see it improved, putting up their hand in whatever way, big or small ways. Like you said, you't have to quit your job and become a candidate and dedicate your life to it. But a little bit goes a long way. So yeah, good luck. And we will talk to you hopefully soon. Thanks, Hilary.
01:19:37
Speaker
And that's the finish line of our seventh trail chat. Thank you for tuning in for this conversation with the energetic, unstoppable and inspiring Akana Murray-Bartlett. If you'd like to see and hear more from Akana and find out how you can watch 150, follow Akana on socials at Akana, that's at E-R-C-H-A-N-A underscore.
01:19:56
Speaker
You can also check out her coaching business, Project Run at projectrun.coaching via socials or the website. And with a federal election fast approaching, don't forget to update your enrolment details with the AEC if you have recently turned 18 or moved house. so Head to check.aec.gov.au to confirm your enrolment details. so If you'd like what you've heard and want to stay in touch with For Wild Places, then follow us online at For Wild Places or subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
01:20:23
Speaker
Every Friday, we pop into your inbox, bringing you interviews with athletes and activists, events, info, and everything trails, environment, and adventure. If you would like to further support For Wild Places, you can become a For Wild Places member.
01:20:35
Speaker
For more information and to subscribe or become a member, head to forwildplaces.com, that's F-O-R, wildplaces.com, or find us on socials at For Wild Places.
01:20:45
Speaker
Thank you again for joining us. We are stoked to have you here. A huge thank you to Akana for carving out the time to share her learnings and passions with us during the gruelling election campaign. And finally, thank you to Lara Hamilton for our theme music.
01:20:58
Speaker
Until next time, happy trails. And as always, thank you for taking the time for Wild Places.
01:21:15
Speaker
Thank you.