The steely Australian burst into tears on completing his tortuous ‘Uncomfortable Challenge’ around a single running track in Sydney.
‘I just never could have imagined it to be this bad. And I’m forever grateful for it all. Wouldn’t change a fkn thing. Post traumatic growth coming right up.’
Nedd Brockman, a 25-year-old electrician-turned-extreme-ultrarunner from New South Wales, Australia, posted these words, among others, to his Instagram account on the 10th day of an almost unfathomable running challenge.
The challenge in question? To run no less 1,000 miles (1,609.3km) in the space of just 10 consecutive days – starting on Thursday 3 October – around a single 400m running track in the Sydney Olympic Park. The reason? To raise vital funds to support Australians experiencing homelessness, while trying to set a new world record.
Known as Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge, this almighty charitable mission certainly fulfilled the brief of testing Brockmann to his utmost limits. In the same aforementioned ‘Day 10’ Instagram post – with 1,426km of running already ‘chewed up’ – the suffering but steadfast runner was battling swollen toes, feet that had inflated to become three sizes larger than normal, no function in part of his right lower leg and, thanks to ‘tendinitis everywhere [that] punches me in the throat come rest time’, no sleep. ‘It’s healthy stuff.’
Brockmann’s aim was to set the fastest known time for 1,000 miles and, in doing so, better the current record of 10 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds achieved by legendary ultrarunner Yiannis Kouros in New York in 1988. The target was extremely ambitious and, by Sunday (13 October), it was looking a lot less likely that Brockmann would hit it.
However, while the world record was no longer in reach, the 1,000-mile mission was still very much on. With well over AUD $1 million already raised for charity in response to his running efforts, Brockmann was determined to hit the distance, come rain, pain, or shine.
In fact, due to rain, his swollen feet and red-raw blisters had worsened. Throughout the challenge, he ate and attempted to sleep in a tent at the track, and avoided running during the hottest parts of the day wherever possible.
‘Nedd has been in pain every day of this challenge,’ said James Ward, Brockmann’s support team leader, at the time. ‘He’s got issues with his shins, knees, shoulders. It’s got to the point where he needs us to put him in a wheelchair every morning to get him on the track. But so long as the donations keep coming in, he thinks all the pain is worthwhile.’
On Tuesday (15 October), Brockmann completed his extraordinary multi-lap quest in 12 days, 13 hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds, averaging 128km of running per day. The broken man broke into tears when he completed the outstanding feat, unable to dam up his emotions on conquering something so brutal. Clearly in physical agony, Brockmann was treated like a hero by the 1,000-strong crowd that had come to cheer over the finish line at the track in Sydney – his ovular home for the past 12 days.
As it stands, Brockmann has raised more than AUD $3.7 million for charity through his Uncomfortable Challenge.
But this isn’t the first time that Brockmann has taken on a jaw-dropping ultrarunning adventure. In 2022, he ran an extreme 4,000km in 46 days across Australia, having started in Western Australia and finished at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach to 10,000 supporters. Here, he raised AUD $1.85m for We Are Mobilise, an outreach programme that combats homelessness.
