By Mary Ward
In August, 60,000 exhausted Sydneysiders stumbled down Bondi’s Military Road having run 14 kilometres from the CBD in the City2Surf.
A couple of weeks later, Nedd Brockmann also set off on a run to Bondi Beach. But by the time he arrives on Monday afternoon, he will have run the equivalent of more than 270 City2Surfs.
Nedd Brockmann is in the final days of his run from Perth to Sydney.Credit: Bradley Farley
Leaving Perth’s Cottesloe Beach on September 1, the 23-year-old sparkie pledged to run 3800km across the country for homelessness charity Mobilise.
Travelling with him are his parents, Kylie and Ian Brockmann, girlfriend Jemma Griffin, friend and photographer Bradley Farley, as well as his physio and sponsor. The day starts around 5am, with his entourage driving ahead in 20-kilometre bursts.
Brockmann, who lives in Sydney but grew up on a property between Forbes and Condobolin, usually calls it around 6.30pm or 7pm.
“He needs to get off his feet pretty quickly, because they’re pretty mashed by that point,” Kylie said, speaking to The Sun-Herald on the road between Yass and Goulburn on Saturday.
“He’s holding up incredibly well. He’s very thin and I’d rather he was a bit chunkier, but he’s still running. I’m astounded.”
Nedd Brockmann pictured with his mother, Kylie, on the road. Credit: Bradley Farley
Her son wasn’t much of a runner as a kid, Kylie said. He started to get into it in 2020: at home during the pandemic he announced he would run the 60 kilometres from family’s farm to Forbes.
“He asked me to meet him at a couple of spots on the way, but he pretty much did it on the back of a few sour worms,” Kylie recalled. He nearly gave up at 50 kilometres, but his bemused mother asked if he was sure. He’d come too far, he decided, so rolled up her window and said she’d see him in town.
Later that year Brockmann ran 50 marathons in 50 days on treadmills and around parks, raising $100,000 for Red Cross.
The initial goal for this run was to beat German ultra marathon runner Achim Heukemes’ 43-day record for crossing Australia on foot, set in 2005. But after an injury around day 12 – he walked the Nullarbor for two days and then had two days off for medical treatment – the timeline was pushed out, and he will now complete the feat in 47 days.
Offsetting any of the disappointment about missing the record is the money raised. Initially setting out to raise $1 million for the organisation, by Saturday the figure was approaching $1.2 million.
Noah Yang, the 26-year-old founder of Mobilise, said he was shocked by the amount of money raised. He connected with Brockmann when Mobilise shared some of his social media posts about his fundraising for Red Cross.
“We were a big believer in Nedd and knew that if the Australian people saw him, how could they not fall in love with him? And look, that’s basically what happened, isn’t it?” Yang said.
The organisation sends volunteers on to the streets to speak with homeless people in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, connecting them with other services.
“We’re providing care packages, assistance, but really our core focus is connection,” Yang said.
With the money, Yang hopes to start a direct giving pilot in the communities the organisation works with, providing people without a fixed address with financial grants to pursue employment opportunities or secure housing.
Brockmann will run from the Southern Highlands to Campbelltown on Sunday, before tackling the final leg of his run, to Bondi Beach, on Monday.
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