The Bali Hope Challenge 2020- My 181.4km 24 hour run to help Balinese families

Running across Bali in the Bali Hope Ultra in 2019 was one of the most beautiful weeks of my life. It is hard to put into words… it was extraordinary! It showed me that long distance running doesn’t have to be an individual sport; individual runners can come together for the same cause and make a big difference.

I had been training really hard to be ready for the Bali Hope Ultra at the end of May in 2020, however due to COVID-19, I found out in March that the event was cancelled. At the start of May, I received a call from Tom Hickman the founder of the Bali Hope Ultra, sharing the news that they will be running a virtual event to raise money and awareness for the Bali Children Foundation. In 2019, the 20 runners that participated in the 84km run across Bali, collectively raised $165,000 to help put 460 disadvantaged children through their entire primary schooling.

Tom shared with me that the impact of COVID-19 in Bali was significant. Due to no tourism, 80% of Balinese people lost their jobs and so families were devastated. Therefore this year the money raised for the Bali Children Foundation was to help the disadvantaged families meet their basic needs; food, clean water and soap. I am proud to share that through my generous family, friends and supporters, I personally fundraised $6,300 this year to help these families.

Running 84kms is incredibly tough, but racing it is harder. When I found out that the race was no longer going ahead, I didn’t want to not do an event on the date that I was going to be racing across Bali, given how hard I had worked to get there. I called my coach Jase and said to him, “now that it is not a race, I want to run 100kms instead of 84”. He said to me, “DJ and I are going to run for 24 hours, even though you are in Melbourne you should do it with us virtually!

I quickly agreed and all of a sudden I was locked into my 2nd 24 hour run in 9 months. It was just 3 weeks out from the date and the nerves and excitement started to build!

At the time of the run, the COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria were that you could exercise with a maximum amount 10 people. So I couldn’t have it as a big community event at one location like last year at the Vermont Football Club, but 9 of my close friends joined me at 3pm Saturday and I set off to run for 24 hours!

Whilst it was so different to last year, I was again blessed to have so much support, with runners changing regularly throughout the day and night. I didn’t have a single step alone! When new runners came it always brought a big smile to my face and a real energy boost!

My great friend Cody joined me for an epic 100kms! He has been a close friend of mine for the last couple of years since we met through our shared love for ultra marathon running. Codes is a plumber and so he works big, long weeks that are physically demanding on his body. He called me on the Friday night after work and said “mate, I’m sorry to let you down but I need to tell you something… I’m stuffed from work…” I was expecting him to say he was pulling out of the run with me; he said, “so I’ll only run 100kms with you instead of running from 3pm to sunrise like we had planned. Is that OK?” I just laughed. I couldn’t believe it! I said “of course mate, 100kms is huge and I’m so grateful for your support. I would be happy if you ran just 1 kilometre!” Like me, Codes is a running nut!
To anyone that is not an ultra marathon runner that must just sound ridiculous!

So Codes ran with me from 3pm- 3am when we hit the 100km mark, before it was time for him to get home to bed. It was great to run with Joshy and Robbie as well from midnight until 3AM. I love those boys! This was a pic of the 4 of us at 3AM as I hit the 100km mark - celebrating the little wins along the way!!

Last year’s 24 hour run was from 7AM until 7AM. I found it tremendously difficult at the end, because like most people, normally I would be asleep through the night! I knew that this year I wanted to do it differently and by running 3pm-3pm instead, I wouldn’t have to finish and do the hardest part through the night. It was so much better! Whilst I was still naturally really tired at 7AM when I hit the triple marathon mark (126.6kms), when the sun came up in the morning I felt somewhat rejuvenated. Even though I hadn’t slept, my body performed better due to it being daylight. I pushed on and the next 8 hours seemed to go by a lot quicker than running through the night. The end was in my sights!!

I finished the 24 hour run completing a distance of 181.4kms (11.2kms further than my first 24 hour run- 170.2kms). The run took place all over the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, on many different running trails and visiting many different suburbs. We looped back to my house regularly to change clothes if needed and to grab something to eat, and then we were off again!

The memories I have from this Bali Hope Challenge I will forever cherish; just like this moment with Codes stopping for some Pad Thai at 10:30PM after 7.5 hours of running. Thanks to our generous friend Victor for bringing it to us! Vic always goes over and above!

At the end of the run I celebrated on a zoom call with my coaches Jase and DJ who had successfully completed their own 24 hour runs in Sydney. Whilst we weren’t together physically, we came together to put our mind and bodies on the line for a cause that we means a lot to us.

There are both highs and lows in running for 24 hours…. but once it is over you quickly forget about the lows and only remember the highs! I don’t know when my next run like this will be (24 hours +), but I am excited for the next 18 months as I build up to my Run for Wishes run around Australia, starting in February 2022.

Just a few calories burnt!