By Jessica McSweeney and Cindy Yin
Nedd Brockmann hugged his mum and burst into tears as he crossed the finish line after a gruelling 1600-kilometre run, raising at least $2.5 million for a homelessness charity.
For 12½ days, Brockmann ran laps of a running track at Sydney Olympic Park in support of charity Mobilise, with a goal to break the world record of 1600 kilometres in 10 days.
Nedd Brockmann moments after finishing his 1600km run at Sydney Olympic Park on Wednesday morning.Credit: Marty Rowney / Bursty
Injuries held Brockmann back from breaking the record, but the ultra marathon runner kept the challenge going in support of his charity.
Brockmann finally crossed the finish line just after 6am on Wednesday, and was met by his mum Kylie and dad Ian and a small crowd of supporters.
“I can’t wait for a shower,” he said as he laid down on the track, relief visible in his face. The runner hadn’t slept in 24 hours.
His efforts were livestreamed on his TikTok account, and celebrity guests like Olympian Jess Fox, comedian Hamish Blake and NSW Premier Chris Minns stopped by to offer support.
The runner spent 301 hours on the track and ran 3760 laps.
On day 10, Brockmann updated his supporters on Instagram, saying his run had been reduced to something between a “limp and a brisk walk”.
“I’ve had no function of my right ant tib (tibialis anterior) since the end of day three, so I’ve been snapping dictus band rubbers [a mobilising foot support] left right and centre.
“No sleep because the tendinitis everywhere punches me in the throat come rest time. The feet have swollen three sizes due to the rain/track. It’s healthy stuff.”
Brockmann endured terrible weather conditions when a severe thunderstorm descended on Sydney on Monday and rain continued to pelt the runner on Tuesday.
The extent of his injuries were so bad that the runner, who was eating and sleeping at the athletes’ centre beside the track, had to be taken back to the course in a wheelchair each morning.
Speaking to his social media followers over livestream two hours after crossing the finish line, Brockmann said he had “a lot of pressure on” during the run as his body deteriorated over the 12 days.
In a moon boot and having to take breaks for dizzy spells, Brockmann outlined the toll the run had taken on his body. Going into the run with an injured left shin, his other shin “went” three days in.
Unable to flex his foot at all, Brockmann said: “It was so overused it was just dangling with stabbing pain”.
He said his fingers and toes were so swollen they “looked like King Charles’s fingers” and it was a “downward spiral” from day five.
“I’m quite new [to running] so the price I have to pay is the injuries,” he said. “I’m so relieved right now, my brain is at ease.”
Brockmann’s physiotherapist Alex Bell has treated thousands of runners in the past, but said the 1600-kilometre feat was a “different beast”.
Brockmann after finishing the run.Credit: Marty Rowney/Bursty
“As a physiotherapist, it really challenged my beliefs in what I thought was possible and what a human could endure. His ability to withstand pain at high levels and over a long period of time is phenomenal,” Bell said.
The hard, rubbery running track meant his foot was constantly sliding forward inside his shoes, leading to blisters and added burden on his joints. He was also running with shin, tendon, knee, and hip injuries, which made it near impossible for Brockmann to rest at night, which Bell said created a “perpetual cycle” of pain.
Brockmann’s rehabilitation journey will include blood tests, MRI scans for his shin and potentially for his knee injury to see the impact inside his joint.
“But sleep is probably the biggest lever that we can pull for his recovery,” Bell said.
The 24-year-old electrician from Forbes rose to stardom in 2022 when, after moving to Sydney and being confronted by the extent of homelessness in the city, he decided to run the stretch of Australia from Perth to Bondi Beach.
He completed the mammoth run in 47 days averaging 86 kilometres per day. More than 10,000 were there to welcome him at Bondi Beach.
Brockmann wants other Australians to raise money for Mobilise by taking on their own ‘Uncomfortable Challenge’. The rules are simply to pick something that makes you uncomfortable, and stick with it for 10 days straight.
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