Wednesday, January 14, 2009

British man runs 2557 miles across Australia with a wheelbarrow

A 112-day journey by a man pushing a wheelbarrow across Australia to raise money for Breast and Prostate Cancer Research has finally ended in Sydney. David Baird left his Cottesloe Beach home in Perth on September 21. He arrived in Manly, on Sydney's northern beaches yesterday.

The 65-year-old said he was feeling amazingly good, considering he had travelled a massive 4115km on foot.

Taking in about 70 towns along the way, Mr Baird said he pushed the wheelbarrow for between 10 and 12 hours a day. "It would take Joanne (his partner) to take my shoes off,'' he said. "She was my crew member, my one and only crew member.''


While he never had any doubts he wouldn't complete his journey, he admitted each day "was hard''. "My most concern was my survival with the traffic, he said. "That was quite horrendous.''

So far Mr Baird has raised about $20,000, which he will give to the Breast Cancer Foundation of Western Australia and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. The former gem field and mining worker said he intended on remaining in Sydney for another two or three weeks, during which time he would attempt to raise more funds.

"We haven't had as much time as we would like to interact with people on the road,'' he said. "We've got a target to reach.''

David's website.

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