Highlights include:
My Trans-America Challenge in 2012, a journey of 3,256 miles from Santa Monica, California to New York City in 35 days, was incredibly hard but also an opportunity to experience the United States of America from a unique perspective.
The challenge took me from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, to climb the 14,500ft (4,419.6 m) high Mount Whitney, running across Death Valley (the hottest place on earth), crossing the Sierra Navarda mountains, riding over the Painted Desert and Route 66, traversing the vast Great Plains, and kayaking on one of the largest lakes in the world. Finishing in New York on October 11, 2012, I had completed the distance and become the first person to achieve this epic challenge using four different disciplines. The first person with Parkinson’s to achieve this feat!
On the way I encountered not only the enormity of North America but also the strength, kindness and selfless generosity of the people that live there. There’s a sense that the pioneer spirit still survives in the American psyche. This was truly evident in the support and moments of human kindness that I experienced along the way and from the assistance and belief of my support crew and sponsors.
In the jungle, everything is trying to survive.
In 2013 I headed to the Peruvian Amazon at the invitation of the Peruvian tourist board. Beyond the Ultimate had a race series and challenged me to compete in the Jungle Ultra. This 200+ kilometre race through the Amazon rainforest was brutal. Encountering a variety of wild animals (Puma, wild boar), traversing a course with over 70 rivers including many with rapids and most of which had to be crossed on foot, plus all the snakes, Hornets, and billions of insects, all I had to do was survive.
With significant changes in altitude (climbing and descending out of the cloud forest at 3,800m), a backpack weighing 14 kilos and heat coupled with humidity often at 100%, brutal is the only word I can use to describe this adventure.
Three weeks after the jungle, I flew to Italy to take on the Lavaredo Ultra Trail
Four weeks after Italy and I was running in the Beyond the Ultimate Mountain Ultra; a 240 km race across the Colorado Rockies, which was tough. With significant climbs at altitude, a competitive field of runners, and the cumulative impact of racing ultra distance events so close together, this was six days of pain.
In September 2018, as part of a team of four, I competed in Primal Quest. The event was held in British Columbia, Canada and included canoeing, kayaking, technical mountain biking, hiking, glaciers, white water rafting and the real risk of injury or death. As a team, we completed the 240 mile Primal Quest Pursuit Race in 4 days 5 hours.