no more mr fat guy
change your thinking. change your life. make life amazing

it all started with a simple idea you know, a realisation that i was unfit, overweight and generally wasting my life.

the idea was put out there; run a marathon. it was crazy, super CRAZY. it was like suggesting that a common garden sparrow fly to the moon.

there was no way that gary circa dec 2011 could run, let alone run 42.2km!

it WAS achieved and so the next level was unlocked

having put my mind to it, started to believe it was possible, reality fell into line. i got fitter, i started running, i eventually fell head over heels in love with it.

it took things to a new level, filled me with a passion that i had never felt before.

opened doors to new experiences, new friends, new possibilities.

it gave me a mission, one base on telling stories and changing lives.

the idea of showing people they can sort their sh*t out and live the amazing lives they always dreamed of.

a piece was still missing though

i’d started working with a book coach, could visualise continuing the writing, blogging and speaking journey. inspiring and motivating people along the way.

it was/is a completely tangible reality in my mind, can see it, feel it, taste it, touch it.

however… the spark was missing somehow, i couldn’t put my finger on it…

then it all started coming together!

it was a seemingly random collection of small things

three things in particular:

1. a comment made by a guy i reached out to for some “mentoring”

2. a semi-joking post made by one of the other “rogues” (rogue runners club australia)

3. a picture i was tagged in by a non-running friend, which had absolutely nothing to do with running

the comment was along the lines of “we need to put together an event of some kind”

the post was a mock up of a “Map My Run” route from Perth to Brisbane

the picture was a haulage truck with the name “Wilmot” on the side and the tagline “Brisbane-Perth Specialists”

if the marathon seemed impossible, this seems incredulous

deep deep deep in my psyche i have always admired, and perhaps envied, people who take on incredible journeys – whether that’s running/walking from Lands End to John O’Groats, or running around the world.

like the secret desire to run, this is another heavily buried dream (to the extent that not even i realised until recently).

and when i saw the mockup of the Perth to Brisbane run, it clicked inside almost immediately. i’ve not been able to get the idea out of my head.

at about the same time i got tagged in the photo on facebook – Wilmot. Brisbane. Perth. Specialists… it was an omen surely??

and it certainly ticks the box in terms of being a “big event”!

so here it is, the latest crazy idea from my very special world of crazy sh*t

i want to run from Perth to Brisbane.

no idea how (well, slowly, obviously)

no idea of the logistics involved

no idea who could help put this together

no idea who would be support crew

no idea how bills would be paid

no idea how long it would take me

but here’s the thing. i never believed the marathon could happen. it did.

so guess what? somehow….

i’m going to run the 4000+ km from Perth to Brisbane,

I’m going to do it as a Rogue Runner

it’s going to raise enormous awareness of the Rogues cause and ethos

it’s going to take the NMMFG mission and message to the masses

it’s going to inspire, motivate and basically put good sh*t into the world

it’s going to change lives.

now to see how it all comes together – everything starts with an idea…