Lauren Thomas and Steph Brake – best mates going bush in epic bid to support men’s health

Lauren Thomas and Steph Brake are two Tassie mates determined to go the extra mile for men’s health. Here’s why.

Steph Brake and Lauren Thomas will take on a 4-day hike across the top of Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

Lauren Thomas and Steph Brake are two Tassie mates determined to go the extra mile for men’s health.

The adventurous duo, who have been friends for 15 years, will next month team up for an epic 40-day, 500km hike over the “backbone” of Tasmania to raise funds for men’s health charity, Movember.

While the Western Australian-based Ms Thomas has been motivated to help her male colleagues face the challenges of the outback mining sector, Ms Brake has been inspired by the suicide of her own father to advocate for men’s mental wellbeing.

A map of the 40-day walk Steph Brake and Lauren Thomas will take on from October to raise funds for Movember.

“This my sixth year raising funds for November, after we lost a friend to suicide a few years ago, which rocked our community a lot,” Ms Thomas said.

“And Steph sadly lost her dad to suicide when she was 11, he was just 36.

“So we’re both pretty, pretty impacted by it, and we both sort of tomboys, have a lot more male friends and female friends I say.

“Men’s health is a really big thing for us both.”

The two 33-year-olds hope to raise $20,000 by taking on a north-south traverse of the island that is not for the faint of heart.

Starting in Penguin on 21 October, the pair will take the Penguin-Cradle Trail, before walking on the Overland Track, over the King William Range, through the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, along the Port Davey track to Melaleuca, and finishing with the notorious South Coast Track to the finish line at Cockle Creek on 28 November.

“We have coined the walk as the backbone of Tasmania, with the metaphor of males being the traditional backbone of the family, but backbones don’t actually stand alone and are supported by muscles and ligaments,” Ms Thomas said.

“Movember is all about connecting through shared stories, and we hope our 500km walk can draw a lot of people in.

“All of the fundraising that we do during campaign season goes into so many different projects, and the work Movember does is incredible.”

Ms Thomas and Ms Brake’s fundraising page is hosted on the Movember website. 

World Suicide Prevention Day is Tuesday, 10 September.