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You can measure Nedd Brockmann’s success in any number of ways: in kilometres run, in millions of dollars raised to tackle homelessness, in gallons of his beloved choccy milk. But in our uplifting cover story, this unstoppable runner reveals how he sees himself and his astounding athletic achievements – like running from Cottesloe to Bondi, or smashing 50 marathons in 50 days! “I can’t stand that a group of people are looked past,” Brockmann says of the motivation behind his monster marathons. “No-one wants to be homeless, no-one chooses to be on the street.”
I was born in Bristol in England, but I grew up in Kent. I was adopted by my mum and dad when I was about six-and-a-half, along with my two brothers. I don’t remember anything about my life before then. My dad was fighting in India when he was 15 – he put his age…
Read MoreI grew up on a farm in Coonabarabran in New South Wales. We had pigs. My childhood was pretty good. At the time, I probably didn’t like it so much, coming from a family of 10. I was the oldest boy. My sister was a bit older than me – she and I had a…
Read MoreI’m in a good spot in my life at the moment, but that wasn’t always the case. My life started with open-heart surgery shortly after I was born. Luckily it went well, but I might need additional surgery to replace a valve later in life, so I can have a long life. While my parents…
Read MoreI grew up in South Melbourne. I was an only child and was raised by my nan. She was an aged care worker. My nan was awesome. She was totally old school in her values – hard worker, good provider, created a family environment. I’m strong, like her. My childhood was good with her. I only have…
Read MoreI was brought up in Kingston, which is a few miles south of Woodridge in southeastern Queensland. It was my mum, dad and sister at home, but Dad was away a lot. Eventually my parents split up, so Mum did a lot on her own. I found primary school difficult and didn’t like it much…
Read MoreI used to be an athlete. I got a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport when I was 14, and was with them for 10 years. I’ve travelled to Germany, Brazil, Spain, Hungary, Malaysia and Argentina to compete in the world championships for the intellectually disabled. I’ve held a world record and won gold…
Read MoreI grew up with a single mum and an elder sister in St Albans, Melbourne. I never knew my father; he died when I was one. My mum’s parents are Ukrainian, and during this turmoil I’ve been wishing I could do more. I got the amazing Ukrainian trident (tryzub) tattoo, so now it’s always close…
Read MoreI grew up in Adelaide, in the suburb of Payneham. Been there all my life. I went to Payneham Primary School, then went to Marden High. I haven’t lived out of the town. Growing up, I played cricket locally for my school, and for a couple of years at Payneham Cricket Club. I played soccer…
Read MoreI hated school. I hated discipline. At that time, you were allowed to leave school at 15, and on my 15th birthday I was like “see you later”! When I left school, I started off as a cabinet maker. But I didn’t have much of an education, so I got let go because I couldn’t…
Read MoreI’m known as “The French Kiwi” to everyone around me. Born in Whangārei, in the North Island of New Zealand, I had the only French name in town. And boy did I get picked on for that! For the first seven years of my life, I grew up in foster care. The family were so…
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