On the morning of the final day in Nedd Brockmann’s quest to run 1,000 miles (1,609.3km) in 10 days, the loneliness of Australia’s favourite long-distance runner could be felt by all. The former tradie turned endurance athlete was in agony.
Brockmann, 25, from the New South Wales central west, had already covered 1,271.26km in nine days by running 16 hours a day around a 400-metre athletics track at Sydney Olympic Park. He had raised over $1m in donations for charity. But his body was failing him.
The blisters on Brockmann’s feet were raw and bleeding. Despite wearing shoes three sizes too large to combat the discomfort, there were times he could barely walk, let alone run, in his effort to meet the astonishing target of four marathons every day.
“It is so relentless that track … it has been hell … and that’s why I love it,” Brockmann told his followers in a social media clip. By then his “Uncomfortable Challenge” had drawn 2.6m views to TikTok for what did prove uncomfortable – yet undoubtedly inspiring – footage.
Brockmann captured the hearts of the nation in 2022 with an extraordinary 46-day run of 4,000km across Australia that raised $1.85m for We Are Mobilise, an outreach program combatting homelessness. Six weeks after he set off in Western Australia, a crowd of over 10,000 people cheered the cult hero across the line at Bondi beach.
This challenge was shorter but steeper – and far more gruelling. Brockmann was targeting the record set by the greatest ultra runner of all time, Yiannis Kouros, who ran 1,000 miles in 10 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds in New York in 1988.
“Yiannis Kouros’s feat of endurance is simply mindblowing,” Brockmann had written on Instagram ahead of setting out.
“However, if you’re going to do something, don’t go in half-assed, throw everything at it. Everything.”
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Over the past 10 days, the former electrician has certainly done that, eating and sleeping at the track in a tent under the grandstand. Brockmann has been mostly running at night to avoid the heat, and sleeping by day, and stuck to a strict refuelling schedule.
His mother, Kylie, and father, Ian, have been cheering his every step, and boxing champion Harry Garside and comedian Hamish Blake have turned up at the track to run beside him.
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On day eight, with with the record slipping away, Brockmann changed tactics. Instead of tackling each 100-mile (161.1km) block virtually non-stop over a day, he began to work in “sessions”: running big miles, resting a few hours, then going again.
With 24 hours to go, Brockmann was still 300km short.
But even if Kouros’s record eludes him, he is encouraging workplaces, schools, gyms and groups of friends to embark on their own uncomfortable challenge for charity in coming weeks.
“This isn’t just about endurance or attempting to break a world record – I want it to be a rallying cry for people who want to have a crack, to stand together, and make a difference,” Brockmann said.
Brockmann’s attempt is being streamed on TikTok Live.