Mission Australia

WILSONS Promontory National Park will be the final leg in a triathlon spanning the length of Australia for a young adventurer.
Tom Dunn of Geelong will travel from Cape York in Queensland on September 10 and over 90 days, he will travel 4825km to South Point at the Prom – the geographical southernmost point of Australia.
The trip comprises four legs; a cycle longer than the average Tour De France (Cape York to Sydney), a run further than 22 back to back marathons (Sydney to Lakes Entrance), a swim further than four crossings of the English Channel (Lakes Entrance to Sale) and a final full Ironman (Sale to South Point at the Prom).
“Wilsons Promontory will mark the final stage of my journey and will be the most exciting bit of the trip,” he said.
“I’ll be cycling from Sale to Darby River and then beginning a final run that will see me take in the beauty of the Prom and reach the finish line.
“After so long travelling, it will be hard to suddenly stop and then try to take it all in. This is all depending on the fact I make it too. There is a lot of hard work to go before I can think about the finish line too much.”
All going well, he hopes to finish at the Prom in the first week of December.
Mr Dunn conceded he was not an ultra fit triathlete and the event will be his first triathlon.
“If I can do this hopefully it will inspire others to go out and pursue their dreams too,” he said.
However he is no stranger to adventure, having previously kayaked the length of the Murray River (2200km), travelled 3800km throughout the Murray-Darling Basin on a stand up paddle board and trekked to Everest Base Camp.
“I’ve also used those trips to raise more than $97,000 for charity and will again be using this trip as a fundraiser. I’ll be raising funds for the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School and aim to raise over $30,000,” he said.
Mr Dunn will taking his first journey completely self supported.
“I’ll travel as light as possible and carry my equipment in bike bags, a backpack and a raft for each leg,” he said.
“I’ll look to pick up food in each town I pass through, so if anyone sees me on the roads I’d love some restaurant recommendations.”
Mr Dunn believes his trips are 90 percent a mental challenge and 10 percent physical challenge.
“I’ll spend my time researching roads and towns so I have a plan for when I’m fatigued,” he said.
“I’ll still cycle, run and swim as much as possible in the lead up, but more so just to mentally prepare myself and so I know I can do the kilometres each day when I need to.
“I’ll probably never be as fit as what I’ll be during the trip and due to the duration of the trip, any run or swim training I do will be physically pointless after over a month straight cycling.
“For me it’s a matter of keeping as fit as possible to make those first few days easier, but more importantly staying mentally sharp.”

Planning ahead: Tom Dunn will cycle, run and swim from the top of Australia at Cape York to the southernmost point, at Wilsons Promontory, starting September.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jul 24 2018. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry