“I don’t do average,” says Adam Engel, a committed triathlete and teacher at Flagstone State Community College.
Maybe not. And the feat he’s set himself – to run seven marathons in seven days in seven different cities around Queensland – is in no way “average”.
But there’s a catch.
Mr Engel has lost training time due to family reasons. And he’s never run more than one marathon back to back.
Sure, he’s done ultra-marathons which are over three days and require a run of two marathons in a single day.
And he’s done an “Everest ride” which requires bicycle riders to complete 8848km of elevation. In his case, it was a loop along Logan River Road which he did 185 times over 29 hours.
“So this appealed to me,” he said of the seven-marathon journey.
Mr Engel, 39 and father of two daughters Elliana aged 6 and Amielle aged 4, knows that he could “blow up” at any point over the seven days.
“But I’d have to live with that for the rest of my life,” he said.
“I love setting an example, that you can achieve what you set your mind to. And this is mind power.”
Mr Engel trains with Stephen Kettley from Jimboomba Produce, who he says is like a brother to him.
Together, they’re the “bushies” of Team T-Rex, a group of extreme athletes based at Runaway Bay.
Currently, he’s running about 10km-15km each day in order to train for the marathons.
The event is to support Bravehearts.
And as the school’s Head of Student Services, he deals with behavioural and cultural issues every day among children and teenagers with traumatic backgrounds, which means the cause is very close to him.
“It’s funny I guess, that this all started out as being all about the challenge. But since I signed up, it’s become all about the cause,” Mr Engel said.
So far, he’s raised about $7000 and would like to ensure it reaches $10,000 before he runs.
The Bravehearts 777 Marathon kicks off next Monday June 28 in Toowoomba, before heading to Brisbane, Mt Isa, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and the Gold Coast.
On some days, runners will arrive at the next city late at night, only to be running from 7am.
There is a strict cut-off time of 6.5 hours for each marathon.
To donate, go to fundraise.bravehearts.org.au/fundraisers/adamengel.
