Peter Malinauskas is running for office – and inviting the public to tag along on ‘hump day’ fun runs

Labor leader Peter Malinauskas is combining his fitness and work commitments by inviting members of the public to come for a dawn run. So we tagged along.

HERE’S my confession about running at dawn with Labor leader Peter Malinauskas and an entourage of super-fit young people from the aptly named Adelaide Frontrunners group.

I cheated, just to keep up.

Mali and his running mates easily punched out a 7km jog along the River Torrens from the weir to the Hackney Rd bridge and back, while I cunningly stopped at the Frome Rd bridge and waited for their all-too-speedy return.

The vigorous Mr Malinauskas – labelled the Commander in Beef a fortnight ago for ripping off his shirt to display his gym-honed body – quickly left me struggling in his wake again.

Thankfully, though, he and the Frontrunners paused for pictures at Pinky Flat, where I caught up and joined in some – er – staged runs for the photo shoot.

Jogging alongside me for the final 500m or so of my 4.88km run, Mr Malinauskas answered my almost-breathless questions with relative ease – he wasn’t struggling.

Mr Malinauskas can run. And run. This middle-aged reporter, who once fancied himself as a jogger, was left gasping for air in the Opposition Leader’s wake.

This was the first “Hump Day run” that Mr Malinauskas has launched “to talk about the state’s future” by inviting people to join him at 6am on Wednesdays ahead of the March 19 election, meeting near the Torrens Weir.

This morning, he was joined by about 40 people. Many of them were linked to the Frontrunners, an inclusive and clearly regular jogging group – one told me his 5km personal best was under 18 minutes.

Peter Malinauskas is interviewed by Advertiser journalist Paul Starick after a brisk dawn run. Picture: Dean Martin

Taking off at an ambitiously fast pace, this reporter’s plan to conduct a searching interview with Mr Malinauskas as we jogged was dashed within about 200m – ironically on the Torrens’ south bank near the site of the Liberals’ proposed $662m arena which Labor opposes.

Settling down with the backmarkers, we watched Mr Malinauskas flit between groups, chatting away with relative ease as he jogged from the weir to the Hackney Rd bridge and back.

One of those alerted to the jog by the nonpartisan Frontrunners group, Lisa Fraser, branded Mali “too fit”.

Peter Malinauskas sets the pace along the banks of the River Torrens on Wednesday morning. Picture: Dean Martin

“I thought I was coming out for a nice easy jog, not a 7km run,” she said.

As an election gambit, the Wednesday runs have an obvious nod to Kevin Rudd’s wildly successful Kevin 07 campaign to unseat Liberal prime minister John Howard.

Mr Malinauskas is seeking to turn the campaign to the future, rather than an examination of Labor’s 16 years in power that ended in 2018.

“We’re running for the future,” Mr Malinauskas tells me, puffing just a little as the jog finishes.

“Our policies are about using this opportunity, post the pandemic, in a world where we put a value on health more than ever before, to set us up for the long term.

“ And I guess I’m taking a political risk in having policies that aren’t just about the immediate future, but the long term, that people will back that in.”

Peter Malinauskas invites the public to run with him.

Mr Malinauskas made waves when he stripped and jumped into the pool at the North Adelaide Aquatic Centre earlier this month, revealing his athletic physique.

He insisted the move was not a political stunt.

After seeing photos of Mr Malinauskas in his bathers, Premier Steven Marshall joked he would give up carbs.

“I thought to myself this morning, right, that’s it, no more carbs,” Mr Marshall said last week.

“Look, it’s great when people look after themselves and stay healthy but he’s clearly got a bit more time on his hands than I have.”

Mr Malinauskas wore a singlet with campaign slogans on the front during the run.