On 16 July 2019, Burt Kennedy (Burty Burt), along with a crew and support runners, set off from Newcastle towards Sydney in an attempt to become the first person to complete a return run of the Great North Walk. The journey covered 530 km on foot and 552 km in total, including the Hawkesbury and Sydney Harbour crossings.
We left Queens Wharf with Lexi Bilkey, Hayden Carter, Richard Playford, and Matt Bell as the crew, while Chris Stoddard joined as the support runner through to Teralba. His wife, Jess, jumped in from the start and ran through to Bar Beach.
Brenton Rosier joined the crew at The Esplanade, meanwhile Luke Tedesco jumped in from Wakefield as a support runner through to Heatons Lookout.
The crew nearly missed me at Heatons Lookout after leaving Heatons Gap, as the burgers at the Oak Factory they drove passed looked far too good to pass up, so they stopped for a feed.
Though they made it there just in time and still didn't miss a beat. After a quick stop, we pushed on to McLeans Lookout, where the lovely Cath Nichols had hot eggs cooking for us. Matt Bell jumped in to run from Heatons to McLeans Lookout through the jungle, which I feel took a little bit of his soul, it's the hardest 6kms on the entire course.
The crew split here so one car could support me along Georges Road while I ran solo, and the other headed down into Congewai Valley. The support crew along Georges Road went as far as they could before Matt, Cath, and Luke finished up and headed back to Newcastle.
Brad Smithers joined the crew at Congewai, and the two cars split again, with Brenton and Lexi heading towards Flat Rock Lookout. Google Maps decided it would be a good idea to send them up a goat track as a shortcut, which didn't end particularly well, so they turned around and found a more suitable route.
Brad, Hayden, and Matt supported me through Congewai Valley. Ray Tate joined the crew and took Hayden and Matt into Happy Valley (Watagan Creek Road), while Brad headed around to Cedar Brush.
Arriving at Flat Rock Lookout, Lexi jumped in to run, but it was short-lived after she rolled her ankle while chasing boys, that being me.
Brenton headed towards Cedar Brush to meet up with Brad and Matt.
Lexi finished up at Happy Valley. When we arrived, the campfire was already going, and it looked like the perfect place to stop and sleep. Instead, I headed towards Cedar Brush on my own in the darkness of the night.
This was quite a tough section. After passing over Mount Warrawolong, I came off the single trail onto the fire trail, where the fog was so thick I could only see about a metre in front of me. I ran straight past the massive Great North Walk sign only a few hundred metres down the road, missed the turn, and continued for over a kilometre before realising something wasn't right.
I had just enough phone reception, provided I stood perfectly still, to call Brad and ask him to check my tracker. He confirmed I'd missed the turn.
I trudged back up the hill, where Brad and Brent had driven around and were waiting with more supplies at the turn. Heading down the correct trail this time, I soon hit another obstacle. Forestry crews had been clearing trees, and they were scattered all over the track. Climbing over, under, and through them in the dark and heavy fog made it difficult to stay on the trail.
Not long afterwards, probably because I was moving much slower than expected, I convinced myself I was nearly at King Tree Ridge Road. I even managed to convince Brad over the phone that I was there, to the point where he thought I'd somehow missed them before they returned, which would have made me super human if I completed that section that fast. As it turned out, I was completely wrong.
After finally making it to the emergency water tank at the end of King Tree Ridge Road, I called it a day rather than risk getting lost again. The crew drove me back down to an Airbnb in Yarramalong.
After what would end up being my longest sleep of the entire run, about seven hours, we headed back to King Tree Ridge to begin Day 2.
Matt joined me as we ran down into Cedar Brush, while Brad, Hayden, Lexi, and Brent crewed through to Cherry Lane. Brad and Hayden then headed into Hidden Valley while Matt stayed with me, running through to Somersby.
From there, I continued solo towards Mooney Mooney Creek while most of the crew took the opportunity to grab some rest. It started raining for the first time during that section. Although it was cold, it actually felt quite nice.
When I reached Mooney Mooney Creek, Brad was there crewing, and Joe Ward jumped in to run with me. I was glad to have the company because I wasn't particularly confident navigating that section across all the moon rock.
Darkness fell as we headed towards Mount Wondabyne. Not long after switching on my headlamp, I realised there was a problem. Somehow, old batteries had found their way back into it. The further we went, the dimmer the light became until I was running almost entirely in Joe's shadow, relying on his headlamp as our only real light source. It made for a challenging section, but we eventually made it through to Patonga.
By that stage, there were no water taxis running, so Brad drove us around to Brooklyn instead. It was there that I met Steve Domonkos for the first time. Steve ran with me through to Cowan, where we finished for the night before heading back to Brad's house at Mt Colah.
By then, getting to sleep each night was becoming a little more difficult, but it was still manageable.
After another night at Mt Colah, we headed back to Cowan to begin Day 3.
That morning, I met Jeremy Rankin for the first time. He jumped in to support the run through to Galston Gorge while Brad continued crewing. Lexi then took over running with me, while Hayden and Ray shared the crewing duties through to Thornleigh. After that, Hayden finished up and headed back to Maitland on the train.
On the way from Galston Gorge to Thornleigh, I started having problems with my left foot. After a phone call, physiotherapist and podiatrist, Declan O'Connor decided to meet us at Thornleigh Oval, where he taped my foot for support. It gave me some relief, but I had no idea how bad it was about to become.
Leaving Thornleigh Oval, Kirrily Dear joined me to support the run while Brad, Lexi, and Ray crewed ahead. As we made our way towards Lane Cove, it became obvious we weren't going to get there before dark unless we started running. Neither of us had brought a headlamp, and Kirrily had the added problem of the bladder in her hydration pack bursting.
I ran ahead to make it to Lane Cove, where Brad and Lexi were waiting.
Brad went back to assist Kirrily, while Lexi jumped in at Lane Cove and ran with me through to Woolwich Pier as Brad, Kirrily, and Ray continued crewing.
When we reached Woolwich Pier, Caydon and Briar were waiting for us. Briar, who was working as a massage therapist at the time, assessed my leg on the water taxi across Sydney Harbour and laughed.
"There's definitely stuff that isn't supposed to be squishy, that's definitely squishy."
Jumping off the water taxi at Sydney Cove, we didn't have much time before we needed to head back, so we pushed on to Macquarie Place Park for a quick stop before turning around and retracing our steps towards Woolwich Pier.
Brad then jumped in to run with me through to Hunters Hill before we called it a day. Although we were finished for the night, we'd already started the return journey. We headed back to Mt Colah for another night's rest.
The following morning, we returned to Hunters Hill to begin Day 4.
Anthony Campbell joined me to support the run through to Galston Gorge. On the way back towards Thornleigh, I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. My foot had deteriorated to the point where I couldn't point my toes down at all.
I called my doctor, Alan Lightbody, who talked me through my symptoms and said it was most likely a stress fracture. At the time, there was no way to know for certain, but an MRI after the run confirmed he was right.
Following his advice, I wrapped the foot with compression and took painkillers. He also reassured me that, while it was going to hurt, but it wasn't going to kill me.
So we kept moving.
By that stage, I wasn't really running anymore. It had become more of a slow trudge than anything else.
We eventually made it back to Thornleigh, where Lexi rejoined Anthony for the run through to Galston Gorge.
While the crew waited at Galston, a very attractive blonde German girl arrived. None of us realised she'd come to support the run, so when she introduced herself in her German accent and explained she'd come to help, between her beauty and her accent the boys hearts melted.
At Galston, I headed off with Anna-Lena.
It turned into one of the most memorable sections of the entire run.
A full moon lit the trail as we made our way past the lookout between Crosslands and Berowra. The moon reflected across the river, and for a few minutes we simply stopped and took it all in. After everything the previous few days had thrown at us, it was one of those rare moments where time seemed to stand still.
We reached Cowan just before midnight, where Anna-Lena finished up and Nigel jumped in to accompany me through to Brooklyn while Richard crewed.
That was a particularly tough section.
Nigel could tell I was struggling, both physically and mentally, so instead of talking about the run, he talked about travel, life, and everything else. It kept my mind occupied and stopped me focusing on the pain, and for that I was incredibly grateful.
Eventually, we made it to the Concrete Hill of Love, the last descent into Brooklyn.
With a badly damaged foot, it was a brutal descent, but there was no other option. We picked our way down the hill and finally reached Brooklyn at around 3:00 a.m.
Richard then drove me around to Patonga while I grabbed what little sleep I could before the next day.
After only three hours of sleep, Steve came back to support the run for Day 5, staying with me all the way through to Yarramalong Store. It was another tough day, but having Steve beside me made it so much more bearable. By the end of the event, Steve had covered around 125 km supporting the run, while not being anywhere near prepared to cover this distance, he seemed to do it with ease.
As we made our way through Hidden Valley in the early evening, I remember seeing the flickering light of a television through someone's window in the distance. I found myself thinking, what am I doing out here, putting myself through all this? But I also knew those thoughts weren't helping anyone, so I pushed them aside and kept moving.
By the time we reached Yarramalong Store, I was in a world of pain. We headed back to the Airbnb for the night, where Lexi and Kate Mudd, who had both been doing an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes logistic work, alongside Brad, did everything they could to help relieve the pain in my swollen feet and legs.
When Day 6 began, I honestly didn't know how I was going to finish. Every step hurt, but I had Lexi and Kaleb Paten there to support me. Their energy and positivity made the day so much more enjoyable, especially with Richard and Andy crewing.
As we came into Happy Valley, Richard greeted us with hot food. It was exactly what I needed.
By this stage, more support runners had joined us. Damon Baker and Justin Connors jumped in alongside Lexi, Kaleb, and Matt, running through to the start of Congewai Valley.
By the time Kaleb, Damon, and I reached the far end of Congewai Valley, I completely hit the wall. The temperature had dropped to -2°C, I'd had almost no sleep, and I desperately needed a break. I climbed into the back of Richard's Troop Carrier and managed what was probably the worst 20 minutes of sleep I've ever had.
We eventually set off towards Barraba Trig. My body couldn't regulate its temperature anymore. One minute I was freezing, the next I was overheating. I spent the entire climb to Narrow Place Lookout constantly putting layers on and taking them off again.
This would be our final night on the Great North Walk.
Even though I was in a lot of pain, there was something comforting about knowing the finish was finally within reach. That thought alone made the suffering a little easier to tolerate.
We pushed on towards McLeans Lookout, where Kirrily Katen joined Kaleb to support the run through to Teralba. Sally Potts also jumped in at Heatons Gap and ran through to Teralba, while Richard and Lexi continued crewing.
When we reached Wakefield Fire Station, Bruce and Marylyn had a feast waiting for us. After a short break and a much-needed feed, we pushed on to Teralba, with Kirrily Dear also jumping in for this section.
Two Kirrily's become confusing so they were named K1 and K2.
Both Kirrily's finished there, and Steve returned once again to help Kaleb and me complete the final kilometres. I was incredibly grateful to have him back.
As we made our way towards Charlestown, the rain began to fall. Apparently, we needed a dramatic finish after what was already a challenging journey.
The wet weather made the creek crossings being the houses heading towards the Yuelarbah Track even more challenging, but we pushed through.
Stopping at Yuelarbah Car Park to change my saturated socks, which I knew would be short lived but still it was worth it.
Coming off the Yuelarbah Track and onto the beach, we came across a baby shark stranded in the sand. Somehow, Kaleb still had enough energy, and enthusiasm, to pick it up and carry it back into the water.
It was one of those moments that still makes me smile.
Reaching Merewether, we faced one final obstacle. High tide meant wading through waist-deep water to reach the concrete pipe just before the baths. Once we made it through, though, we knew we'd done it. From there it was all pavement back to the finish.
As we trudged towards Queens Wharf, exhausted, soaked, and barely able to move, we come around the final corner to find Jodie Bell, sitting there in the rain in her wheelchair and the finish.
I honestly can't think of a more memorable way to finish.
When it was all over, we'd raised $21,500 for FightMND.
Looking back now, the kilometres, the pain, the sleep deprivation, and the stress fracture have all faded. What hasn't faded are the memories of the people who gave up their time to help me achieve something that simply wouldn't have been possible on my own.
Whether they crewed, ran beside me, cooked meals, taped my foot, drove countless kilometres, or simply turned up to support us, every single person played a part in making this journey possible.
To everyone who helped along the way, thank you, also to everyone that had donated along the journey and beyond.
And if I've accidentally left anyone out, or got any parts confused, as I was by sleep deprived, I sincerely apologise.