Nedd Brockman Making The Impossible... Possible

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable” is the 25-year-olds’ mantra, which he embodies through his recent astonishing challenge. Brockman exemplifies dedication, discipline and selflessness. On Wednesday 16th October, he completed a 1600km running challenge at the Sydney Olympic Park, with an ambitious goal to raise $10 million dollars for ‘We Are Mobilise’, a non-profit homelessness charity, alongside wanting to break the world record for running that distance in 10 days.

Although he didn’t hit his fundraising goal, he still finished a seemingly insurmountable distance. 12 arduous days, 13 hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds later, he completed the feat in an inspiring and painful fashion. Averaging 128 km a day, often running for 16-20 hours a day, he raised $2.75 million NZD (and counting) to aid homeless Australians. 

‘Nedd Brockman’s Uncomfortable Challenge’ was the title for the journey that was live streamed on TikTok, and it sure lived up to this name. By the end, his feet had swollen three sizes, tendonitis hit so bad he was numb, and by day three, he lost all function in his tibialis anterior. At one point, elastic bands were used to lift his feet when he couldn’t use them. By the tail end, his ‘run’ was more classified as a limp and a brisk walk. The pain was so severe that he eventually had to be pushed in a wheelchair to and from the track. 

The last 24 hours were sleepless for Brockman, making that last dash across the finish line a sweet victory. His celebration of completing 3,760 laps? Falling into his mother’s arms. 

Brockman is no stranger to physical and mental adversity. In 2022, he ran 4000 km across Australia in 46 days and raised $2.6 million, which was used to develop a pilot program that’s now given 52 people housing and support. His shift from a small town to Sydney saw him struck by the amount of people living without homes. A feat to capture all the attention of Australians made his message clear - “Homelessness should not equal hopelessness.” 

People do a lot of things to raise money for charity, but willingly putting yourself under physical and mental scrutiny to that extent, is exceptional. Brockman admitted “Honestly, this scares the sh** out of me.” It scares the sh** out of me too, just watching the man! Feeling “lost” and struggling with “emptiness in his life,” Brockman wanted to relieve this feeling and push himself far beyond his limits. Prior to his challenge, he said “I’m doing this, I’m accountable. It’s scary and exciting, and I’m going to throw the whole kitchen sink at it. Tomorrow isn’t a given. So, I want to make the most of every single day - even if that’s at the expense of my body.”

This is a compelling reminder; every day is an opportunity to squeeze the most out of life. You don’t have to run 1600km over 12 days, but Brockman sets a clear standard - step outside of your comfort zone. This could be reading pages of a book daily, walking a challenging amount of steps or cooking a new recipe. With focus and determination, we can achieve the extraordinary, and Brockman is the living example of that. 

If you think the inspiring touch stops there, you’re wrong. In 2019, he wrote in his diary about his 5 year plan, “Use running as a way to make income and to change your life.” He really spoke this into existence. Hopefully he can speak his next 5 year goal into existence, “We will have minimized homelessness by 20,000 people in this country. We will also have set up an organization that helps people change their perspective by getting uncomfortable and embracing intentional adversity. And I will probably have done two more events.”

Nedd Brockman gave us a generational performance, pushing us to redefine what’s possible when you commit fully to a goal. So, what can we take away from this? 

“Dare to be great.”

References

https://neddbrockmann.com/pages/my-story

Emhail, I. (2024, October 17). The gruelling injuries Nedd Brockmann endured for 1600km charity run in Sydney. RNZ. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/531070/the-gruelling-injuries-nedd-brockmann-endured-for-1600km-charity-run-in-sydney

FOX Sports. (2024, October 14). *‘Did that just happen?’ All-time barrier ‘has fallen’ as freak ‘destruction’ signals new era*. Fox Sports. https://www.foxsports.com.au/more-sports/chicago-marathon-2024-winner-times-results-ruth-chepngetich-breaks-world-record-previous-record/news-story/41b45c7c14a9f5d41ce3213f59337640?recommendedCount=0