A Perth runner is looking to take on Nedd Brockmann’s record as the youngest person to run across the country.
Chad Aziz took off from Cottesloe on May 20 in a bid to run from Perth to Sydney in 62 days.
His goal – to raise $100,000 for Zero2Hero, a not-for-profit youth mental health charity based in WA.
“I’m running from Perth to Sydney to raise money for youth mental health. I just want to inspire the younger generation to get outside and just test their limits, because your body is so much more capable than you think,” Aziz said.
“Personally, for me, I just think it’s so beneficial for your mental health and wellbeing, just to get outside and do something active, get away from your screens, and get some sunlight.”
In order to make it across the country in his goal timeframe, Aziz will have to run 65 kilometres a day. That’s more than a marathon, every day, for 62 days.
Aziz isn’t new to multi-marathon distance running, having completed 10 marathons in 10 days last October as part of Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge – a fundraising project by Brockmann which aims to raise money to help people in Australia facing homelessness.
“That was a big push on my body, or a big push mentally. Again, I didn’t think I could do that, but I just showed up day after day, and just got it done,” Aziz said.
“I was very surprised at the end by how my body came out of it. I managed it a lot better then I thought I would.”
The run will see Aziz travel inland from Perth, across the Nullarbor, through Melbourne and Canberra before ending in Sydney, racking up around 4000 kilometres.
“It’s home for me, the country. So I feel like just travelling from one side to the other, trying to spread my message as far as I can, is the best way to do it,” he said.
This masthead spoke to Aziz when he was three days into his journey and, so far, “feeling good”.
“It’s kind of 12 hours on foot, and then 12 hours rest, so the rest is sufficient, as long as I don’t push myself too hard during the day,” he said.
At 20 years old, if Aziz goes the distance, he will become the youngest person to run from Perth to Sydney, knocking Brockmann off the top position after he completed the route in 2022.
Brockmann was 23-years-old when he ran the mega-marathon journey in 46 days and 12 hours.
Brother-duo Stefan and Lachlan Lamble – known on social media as the Lambros – also ran across Australia in 2024, with Lachlan completing the trip at age 23.
However, the duo took a different route to Brockmann and Aziz, running 3400 kilometres from Perth to Melbourne in 85 days.
Aziz is sharing his two-month-long journey on his Instagram page and hopes to reach his fundraising journey by the time he gets to Sydney.
