Is Nedd Brockman the messiah or just a very naughty boy ?

17 October bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

Nedd Brockman does what he does bloody well and that is raise money for charity but is he a good runner ? To the ultra running world the answer is no, he is not. His challenges , although extreme, are not new and when he does attempt to get world records he fails by days, not hours. But that’s not the point is it ?

He is in a catch 22 situation where the public expect , and demand, suffering . If Nedd just skipped around a 400m track all smiles and smashed a world record for the distance who would have donated ? I’m convinced the more the public sees Nedd suffer the deeper they put their hands in their pockets to donate. This also translates to the longer the event , again, the more donations. He was after an untouchable world record set back in 1988, I’m not sure if he or his team really believed he would get it. I certainly didn’t but that’s not the point. All talk of the world record disappeared from about day three when it was obvious he was already behind his target and beginning to hurt, in a 1000 mile record attempt there is no such thing as a negative split. !

Instead we watched a man break himself on a daily basis and just keep showing up, more and more broken each day. On Instagram there were all the images you’d expect to bring the situation home to the donating public . The token vomit on the side of the track, the look of agony as blisters are burst, tape around the shoulders and nipples, totally exhausted laying on the grass and then crawling up to continue , bleeding noses, drone images showing Nedd alone in a vast stadium, and even wheel chairs to the track in the morning. His team are marketing geniuses.

But is he the super human the public think he is ?

an athlete stands on a blue athletic track, holding a large banner that appears to be in motion

The holder of the 1000 mile record, Yiannis Kourous, set the record nearly forty years ago and was unable to train for months before the attempt and got sick on day eight ( https://ultrarunninghistory.com/yiannis-kouros/ ) In the ultra running world he is a God but outside this community no one will have heard of him ? An incredible athlete who destroyed all before him but how much good did he do for charity ? It must be noted Kourous was around before the go-fund me , charity specific running became a thing and the ability to reach a global audience didn’t really exist. Nedd isn’t even in the same ballpark as Kourous, not many are, but Kourous must be looking at Nedd’s attempts as amateur at best and wonder what could have been if he had the tools at Nedd’s disposal.

The best ultrarunner in the world, you never heard of., the great Yiannis Kourous,

Let’s put this run into perspective . Recently Sean Bell ran around Australia, the 25-year-old Victorian became the fastest person to circumnavigate Australia on foot, finishing 13,383km in 158 days, 14 hours and 52 minutes. Put your hand up if you knew this. ? Also in the time he never had a rest day, ever. ! He ran every single day. Sort of make Nedd’s 4,000km run from Perth to Sydney look a little tame right ? How much did Sean earn for 174 days off running , just over $162,000. Not quite the $1.4m he was hoping for. If you followed Sean on Instagram he certainly played the suffering card as well as Nedd. It was painful to watch Sean start each day and he did this for hundred of days not ten. Unfortunately Sean is a clean cut runner, bar the ultra beard, who just hasn’t got the persona needed to pull in big donations. He’s just too normal ,and I say that in a nice way, and when it comes to raising money the public don’t like normal. They want a blond mullet, an old cap and the good old fashioned digger mentality of getting shit done. If you’re stuck in the trenches you need a Nedd standing next to you as you’re ordered over the top, Nedd would give a whoop of delight as he ran into a hail of bullets , taking a few in the chest and then moving forward encouraging you to do the same, and you would. People would take bullets for Nedd.

In January, 2023, Erchana Murray-Bartlett set the Guinness World record for running the most consecutive marathons. She ran 150 marathons in 150 days and raised money for Australian wildlife along the way. Erchana started at Cape York, which is in the northern tip of Australia and ran along the coast all the way down to Melbourne. Currently she earned just over $133,000 for her chosen charity with little media coverage. Seems a poor return when Nedd can raise over $2.6m for 12 days running around a 400m track ? Erchana’s main problem, again similar to Sean just too normal, the girl next door look is not good for raising money. Clean cut does not cut it with the public and enjoying it is a massive no-no, donation suicide. !

Kiwi runner Shannon-Leigh Litt is running an ultra a day and started on January 1st 2024, as of now , October 17th, she is still going and has smashed the current world record. As well as running over 50 kilomtres a day she also works full time as a defence lawyer, which is a demanding job on it’s own right. The Whangārei criminal defence lawyer set out on her epic mission on January 1 with the aim of beating previous world record holder Candice Burt, from Colorado, who ran 200 ultra-marathons in 200 days, finishing in May 2023. She is nearly at 290 days and counting, that’s nearly 15,000 kilometes. Shannon-Leigh’s main problem is the run is just too long, and after a while becomes the norm. Why give money to someone who does the same thing day in, day out and makes it looks like a local park run. ? Again not enough suffering and continuing to do a demanding day job is just not cool for the donating public.

I have friends who have followed Shannon-Leigh on Strava but eventually gave up as constantly seeing someone smash out an ultra a day demoralises them. I’m not sure if Shannon-Leigh is even raising money for charity ? Imagine if Nedd did this, and every day we were shown images of him breaking down , day by day, the ultimate suffer fest, we’d be selling our kidneys to give more !

Running an Ultra a day while working full time in a demanding job.

World-runner Tim Franklin is poised to become the 8th individual to run around the world and to be inducted into the WRA. Whilst his run records are still under ratification, we are happy to introduce Tim to the WRA family.576 days, 26,245km run: Congratulations to Tim Franklin who might today become the 8th person to conclude a run around the world! Welcome to the WRA whilst we review your full data! Tim started his run on 3rd December 2022 in Brisbane Australia. Tim concluded his journey in Brisbane Australia on 30th June 2024, accompanied by thousands of supporters and well wishers. Similar story to Shannon-Leigh, unless you have a marketing team on point with updates that show the mammoth task of running around the world it becomes boring and loses it’s appeal.

This is what the ultra community are up in arms about. The public sees Nedd as a messiah like figure achieving things that no one else can and this is what they need to believe to dig deep for charity. The running community sees the bigger picture. Nedd can run for long periods of time and suffer but has he got any running pedigree to race against the best in the sport. Probably not truth be told. He will never win marathons or ultra marathons of any note but again do we really care. What he can do is to connect to the public at large, pull their heart strings and do incredibly good things for his chosen charity. Charities around the world must be looking at Nedd and asking themselves how they can persuade him to perform for them because that is what Nedd does, he performs and at the moment he is the best in the world at being Nedd Brockman.

Over $3m donated as they head towards $10m for the homeless.

What do I think ? I love Nedd, he’s making running , and ultra running in particular, part of mainstream conversations. I can’t imagine the number of people who have put on a pair of trainers after watching Nedd do his thing. This is another bonus of his personality , it just makes you want to do ‘hard shit’, and his 10 day uncomfortable challenge campaign kicks off on October 20th around the country, on the back of his 1000 mile run this will be massive as the next generation of little Nedd Brockman’s start their journey. To the moon baby.

Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in. It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong, storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! . ( https://coros.net.au/ )

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About The Author

bigkevmatthews@gmail.com

A running tragic.