Every year a small group of people from around the world gather in the north of Bali, lace up their shoes in the dark, and run 80 kilometres overnight across the entire island.
They don’t do it for prize money. They don’t do it for fame. They do it for 2 reasons. For the person that training for such a hard physical challenge makes them become, and because somewhere in Northern Bali there are children who deserve a classroom, a teacher, and a chance at a better future. And every kilometre run, every dollar raised, makes that more possible.
This is the Bali Hope Ultra. And it is one of the most meaningful events I have ever been part of.
My own journey with this race goes back to 2019. It was only my second ever ultra marathon and somehow I won it. The course has changed slightly over the years, but when I did it, it was 84 kilometres with 1776 metres of elevation, from Lovina to Canggu, and I achieved that result in 8 hours, 14 minutes and 42 seconds.
Today the course remains coast to coast, but it is 80 kilometres / 50 miles, from Lovina to Seseh.
What stayed with me long after the finish line wasn’t the win. It’d be remiss of me to not acknowledge that the result gave me a lot of confidence in my future goal to run around Australia, there’s no question, but it was the school visit that stayed with me. Standing in a classroom in Pedawa, Northern Bali, watching kids with so little, kick a soccer ball around with the biggest smiles you have ever seen, put everything I had back home in Australia into perspective. That day cracked something open in me.
Canggu, Bali, May 2019. Celebrating my first ultra win alongside my mum Lauren and younger brother Aaron.
In 2023, I stepped into a different role as event ambassador and support coach. Not racing, just running back and forth along the course, pacing, encouraging, and making sure no one felt alone out there. Seeing first-time ultra runners find something new in themselves made every step worth it.
2024, I was a little busy… running my full lap of Australia!
I returned to Bali Hope Ultra in 2025, but still recovering from Freiberg’s disease and other serious injuries, I couldn’t run. I joined the operations team instead and found a way to be part of it anyway.
Every year this event has given me more than I brought to it.
But this year, May 2026, was different. This year was personal in a way I did not expect.
People see the challenges I take on and assume I just love running. I do, deeply, but more than the sport, running is one of the most important tools I have for my mental health. If you’ve read edition #3 of The Run Within, you’ll know there are parts of my story I haven’t fully shared yet. Some stories aren’t yours to tell alone, and those will be revealed in the documentary following my run around Australia.
What I can share right now, is that running has pulled me through some of my darkest moments. The simple act of going for a run gave me control at a time of my life where I felt like I had none. Running has given me a purpose, a beautiful community, and my career.
But to come back to the purpose of this newsletter, the 2026 Bali Hope Ultra… because I’ve experienced first-hand the power of running, and having someone believe in you (big shout out to Coach Jase and Coach DJ who backed me in 2018), in June 2025, I was on the phone to my younger brother Aaron and I could hear it in his voice. He was struggling and I was hurting for him.
He was going through one of the hardest periods of his life and I wanted to help. I said to him, “I really think running could help you mate.” Then in the spur of a moment, it came to me, I said I’ve got this crazy idea, “what if you ran across Bali next year?” He laughed. He told me that it was beyond him. That there was “no way [he] could run 80 kilometres.”
I told him not to worry about the 2026 Bali Hope Ultra yet. All I needed was his commitment to the process. I said give me that, and I’ll handle everything else. He promised he would, so together we locked in. Azz got my whole heart as a coach, and so does everyone I work with. That same care and attention is what I bring to the small number of busy professionals that I take on one-on-one.
Four months later he ran his first half marathon and it was impressive, going sub 90 minutes. Then we built to his first marathon in April 2026, where he ran the Ballarat marathon in 3:05:14 on 26/04/26. I knew that result was strong, but at the same time, I didn’t know how he would hold up over an ultra, because that 42.2km event was the furthest distance he had ever run before the ultra, which would take place exactly 4 weeks later.
May 23rd came around. Race day had arrived. Our goal was simple – for him to go the distance, and to compete as hard as he could. That was it. But something greater happened. This year, in the 2026 Bali Hope Ultra, my younger brother Azz didn’t just finish the race… he won it! 80km with over 1600m of elevation gain, in 7:49:46.
Seseh, Bali, May 2026. Celebrating my brother Aaron, the champion of the 2026 Bali Hope Ultra, with his partner Steph.
I am not going to pretend I held it together watching him throughout that race. There were many tears. Because I knew how far he had come over the last year and also what he has endured through his life. I just kept thinking, look at who you are now. You kept showing up for yourself, day in, day out, and you became someone completely different because of it.
Here is what I know. When someone is struggling mentally, telling them to cheer up or think positive rarely moves the needle. But giving them a goal, a process, a reason to get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other, that can change everything.
That’s the part most people miss. You see, the purpose of me suggesting Bali Hope Ultra to Azz actually had nothing to do with running across the island. Sure I wanted him to experience the beautiful adventure that the event is for himself, but the reason I encouraged him to do this race was because of the person it would make him become. Running 80km in one go is no joke, and racing it, is another level again.
By turning up for himself, day after day, after day, he achieved a remarkable result, but more importantly he built himself back up, out of darkness, and into a person that he is proud of. Running was simply the vehicle that carried him there.
That is what consistent movement, and believing in someone can do for a person. And that is what committing to doing hard things can do for your mental health.
And it connects directly to what I talk about in my keynote The Run Within, because Azz’s story is one of the most powerful examples of it that I have witnessed up close.
The Run Within is not about being the fastest, the fittest, or the most talented. It is about finding that thing inside you that keeps going when everything feels too hard. It is about holding your standard and taking ownership of your own growth, even when the outcome feels uncertain and the goal feels impossibly far away.
Azz did not know he was capable of running an ultra marathon a year ago, let alone winning it. He just committed to showing up. One session at a time. One kilometre at a time. And that commitment compounded into something neither of us will ever forget.
I have seen this same thing happen in businesses and sporting teams all over the country. The teams that win are rarely the most talented ones. We hear it all the time, It’s never the team of champions, it is always the champion team. The team who commits to their systems and the process when it is hard. Who hold their standard when no one is watching. Who take ownership of their individual development for the benefit of the team, instead of waiting for someone else to light the fire for them. And more often than not, the leaders who build those cultures are the ones who have done their own hard thing. Who know what it feels like to show up broken and keep going anyway.
This year, alongside Az, I had the privilege of coaching 12 other runners through their Bali Hope Ultra preparation, each one worked with one-on-one. There were 35 people on that start line. The top four finishers all came from my coaching group at Sean Bell Run Coaching (SBRC).
Az took first. Jack Dowland second. Craig Alberd third. Nick Dobbie fourth.
I think it’s fair to say I take high performance seriously, whether that’s in my own running, or in the athletes and organisations I work with as a coach and speaker.
I’m proud of what every one of my runners achieved. Watching each of them, including many first time ultra runners, put the work in over several months, and then execute on race day, was special. I’ve built my career through incredibly hard work, but I also recognise it is a privilege to do what I do, and I don’t take it lightly.
Celebrating with my SBRC runners at the closing party of the 2026 Bali Hope Ultra
Running has changed my life in more ways than I can count. It has taken me around this entire continent. It brought me to a classroom in Northern Bali that I will never forget. It has been a lifeline for my mental health. And this year… it transformed my brother’s life, not just bringing him back to himself, but leading him to a better version of himself.
If you are hurting right now, if you are in a hard spot, sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is move your body. Set a goal that scares you and commit to the process. Trust that who you’re becoming along the way is worth every hard moment, because it is.
The run within is always there. Sometimes you just need the right challenge to bring it out.
Thanks for reading.
It’s time to tap into your own run within.
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Sean
