Trip Report - My 2024 Run Around Australia
From 10 March to 22 August 2024, I ran a lap around Australia as a personal challenge record attempt and a charity fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Australia.
I ran in an anticlockwise direction around Australia. I started at gate 2 of the MCG in Melbourne, Victoria at 5:04am AEDT on 10/03/2024 and finished back at gate 2 of the MCG at 5:30pm AEST on 22/08/2024: 13,964km in 165 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds.
This was a dream turned reality. A mission six years in the making. I set the goal at 20 years old and was 26 when I ran it.
I followed the previous record holder Dave Alley's 2015 route as closely as possible, coordinated with Dave in advance. That meant following mandatory waypoints and reaching key turnaround points e.g. the Darwin Waterfront Precinct in Darwin and Simpsons Beach in Broome. That also meant there were times where I ran the outskirts rather than the CBD of key cities like Perth and Adelaide. The only time I deviated from Dave’s 2015 route was on the instruction of a road authority. NSW Roads directed us onto the A1 Pacific Hwy when we sought permits, where Dave had been directed onto the New England Hwy back in 2015.
Over the 165 days I had 32 crew members support the mission, including one of Australia's best ultra runners, Phil Gore, who crewed from Karratha to Adelaide. Crew could only get so much time off work, so they rotated in and out as I passed airports around the country. Two motorhomes and 3 to 4 crew were with me at all times, cooking, shopping, filming, finding caravan parks, and running legs with me between jobs.
I ran every single kilometre, but we broke the record. It was a team effort.
I typically ran 7 to 10km legs, usually 8km, except the first hour of the day where I'd often take my first break at 5 or 6km. I ran most days solo. As the run went on, the compounding fatigue from running day after day was enormous. I'd take a 5 minute nap on in the motorhome on the side of the highway, and be shaken awake by my crew some days, to get up and get going again. Plenty of the public joined me too, in city areas like taking off from the MCG and across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through to people pulling over to run with me on the A1 in remote Australia.
At the time of my attempt the record-breaking moment was celebrated at 13,383km, Ron Grant's total in the inaugural run around Australia in 1983. I reached it on day 159, in 158 days, 16 hours and 52 minutes.
Summary of the run itself
The highs were extraordinary, and the lows were devastating. My favourite moments were running as the sun went down. WA sunsets were the best of the entire run. The lows just about destroyed me. There were many days where my body was clearly rejecting what I was doing. I'd constantly throw up and suffer blood noses, often at the same time.
I first noticed forefoot pain in the Northern Territory, about 60 days in. It got worse over the journey but I refused to stop because I had a job to do and I was committed to getting that job done!
On day 82 I made a critical error. In a remote area near Kununurra WA, with no phone service, I missed a left turn to stay on the National Hwy A1 toward Port Hedland. I'd been on the same straight highway since heading west from Katherine, so I ran straight past it. Around 12:30pm I saw a sign reading W30, meaning 30km to Wyndham. That’s when I realised, I'd run 28.9km off course. I couldn’t believe it. I was annoyed with myself, but I sucked it up, turned around and ran 28.9km back.As running towards Wyndham clearly isn't the direction for a run around Australia route, we counted that day as 57.8km off course. I ran 84.87km for the day, but only 27km of it counted toward the 13,383km record attempt. That meant that by the time I hit the record-breaking moment that we celebrated as a team on day 159, I'd already run 57.8km further than that.
What made that rough situation bittersweet, is that the error (running off course on day 82) contributed to me running into Simpsons Beach in Broome at sunset on day 94, and sharing that special moment with my crew, as if I didn’t miss those 57.8km, I would have reached the turn around point earlier on day 94 e.g. 9am, not at sunset.
Perth across to Melbourne in particular was a serious battle. The days got longer and harder, but I gave it everything I could, every single day until I eventually made it back to the MCG on Thursday 22/08/26. Seeing the MCG again in the flesh was incredibly emotional and a moment I'll cherish forever.
How the rules have now changed since my 2024 record attempt
The rules I stuck to, as did every known attempt before me (Ron Grant, Pat Farmer and Dave Alley):
- No rest days, minimum 20km every day
- Stick to the A1 as closely as possible
- Spray the ground and mark the coordinates at the end of each day
- Run 13,383km faster than the previous record holder. Close the loop back to your start if you choose to.
My original rules have shifted from requirements to encouraged conditions within the Spirit of Challenge, to stay consistent with how every looped FKT is adjudicated: fastest to close the loop, full stop.
Thank you
A run of this magnitude isn't possible without a lot of support. I was backed by Apollo Motorhomes, Fortem Media, Run The World, Coles Perform, Kennedy Trailers, Pickawall, Altra Australia, Coros Australia, Hyro, LSKD, WorkInc and more.
The journey raised over $177,000 for Make-A-Wish Australia (link here), whose mission is to grant children facing a critical illness their number one wish, providing hope and happiness for them and their families.
Massive thank you to my sponsors and everyone who donated and supported Make-A-Wish.
Learn more
The run was documented daily on Instagram. My crew filmed every day, from starting on the spray paint marking where I'd finished the day before, through to spraying the ground again that night. I also filmed regular updates while running solo, with a crew member and with members of the public who came out to join me. You can relive the whole thing via Vidimaps (link here). Media coverage is also available at seanbellruns.com/media.
After the run when I had a chance to get an MRI, it became known to me that I had suffered a near career-ending injury to my left foot (Freiberg's disease, multiple cracks in my plantar plate and a Morton's neuroma), along with severe osteoarthritis in my right hip and chronic fatigue syndrome from running that many kilometres in such little time. That explained the foot pain I was feeling from the NT onwards!
I dedicated this run to Make-A-Wish children and the 12 year old version of myself. I wasn't a sick kid, nor did I have a friend that was a sick kid, but I was driven to support a cause that matters deeply to me because as a young person navigating real challenges at home, I was looking for hope and inspiration from others. That was my WHY. In 2027, I have a documentary called The Run Within coming out, covering my life leading into the run, the run itself, and life after it. The big run will make more sense when you watch that!
Follow @seanbellruns or visit seanbellruns.com to follow my journey, documentary updates and more.
My 2024 Run Around Australia Strava Files:
Day 1 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10927259778
Day 2 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10934773959
Day 3 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10941203976
Day 4 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10948646286
Day 5 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10956072407
Day 6 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10963123052
Day 7 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10969199389
Day 8 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10976406588
Day 9 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10984096979
Day 10 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10990940086
Day 11 - https://www.strava.com/activities/10998612792
Day 12 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11006211349
Day 13 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11012851031
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Day 15 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11025663400
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Day 20 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11059603516
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Day 29 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11124517967
Day 30 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11132682142
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Day 40 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11208228495
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Day 46 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11252144469
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Day 48 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11266673378
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Day 50 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11280611238
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Day 52 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11296549773
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Day 54 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11313457163
Day 55 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11320740662
Day 56 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11327784818
Day 57 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11335286778
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Day 60 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11359136008
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Day 65 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11398941549
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Day 70 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11436820245
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Day 75 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11477163339
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Day 78 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11499775389
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Day 80 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11515030376
Day 81 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11523261184
Day 82 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11531055078
Day 83 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11546392100
Day 84 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11546526894
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Day 86 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11569921209
Day 87 – https://www.strava.com/activities/19561396995
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Day 89 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12448074872
Day 90 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11594732737
Day 91 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11602991668
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Day 95 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11634362935
Day 96 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11642217063
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Day 100 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11671763216
Day 101 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11679712750
Day 102 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11688224575
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Day 110 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11751381465
Day 111 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11758542686
Day 112 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11766326765
Day 113 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11774296951
Day 114 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11781144390
Day 115 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11788971818
Day 116 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11797318953
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Day 118 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11813391446
Day 119 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11820774746
Day 120 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11828739520
Day 121 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11836519732
Day 122 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11844962411
Day 123 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11853269379
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Day 125 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11869125876
Day 126 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11876681191
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Day 128 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11892861046
Day 129 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11901036612
Day 130 - https://www.strava.com/activities/11909872853
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Day 132 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11926521455
Day 133 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11934638284
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Day 135 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11950766483
Day 136 – https://www.strava.com/activities/11958910474
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Day 150 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12075954769
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Day 156 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12126595121
Day 157 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12135170264
Day 158 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12144305418
Day 159 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12152783530
Day 160 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12161456437
Day 161 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12169408581
Day 162 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12177539840
Day 163 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12185752455
Day 164 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12194156162
Day 165 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12203347385
Day 166 – https://www.strava.com/activities/12211735449