For most of us the start line of a marathon can be a daunting experience so spare a thought for ultra distance runner and Premax Captain, Sean Bell who, starting Monday 11th April, will run from Cairns to Melbourne in 60days, covering a distance of over 3700kms. Named Run for Wishes, the purpose of Sean’s run is to raise funds and awareness for the Make a Wish Foundation. Spurred on by the death of his close friend and teammate at the age of 18 Sean has dedicated his life to chasing his dreams and helping make the dreams of others come true. Last week Premax CEO and Founder Randall Cooper caught up with Sean ahead of his biggest challenge yet.
Randall: Tell us about what you are doing?
Sean: Beginning Monday 11th April I will be starting a run from Cairns to Melbourne. It’s a big run called Run for Wishes to raise awareness for the Make a Wish Foundation. We have called the project 60 for 60 for 60. What that means is 60km of running per day for 60days to raise $60,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation. It’s been a journey I have been working up towards for years so I’m very excited.
Randall: Tell us a little bit about the actual breakdown of what you are going to do and what your average day and support crew will look like?
Sean: We will average 60km a day over the 60days, but each day will be a bit different. Starting out the first week I will probably be looking at averaging 50km per day to allow my body to adapt to such a big load. That’s 350km of running mileage in the first week. As we progress from there the kms each day will get more and more up to 70-80km per day. It will be a clippy shuffle, rolling the legs very slow. If I was running a half marathon then my normal speed would be around 4:30 pace. Doing something like this it will be more like 6.30 - 7mins per km. So super slow but long days. I’m very lucky to have some close friends and family come and support the journey. My best mate Max is even quitting his job to come away with me for the 60 days so I will be forever indebted to his support.
Randall: What’s your major emotion heading into this?
Sean: Definitely excitement but I’m sure I will start to get a bit nervous close to the start.
Randall: What does your lead up look like ahead of starting this amazing endeavour?
Sean: I don’t like to rest a lot, like a lot of athletes. I will definitely need to rest and relax heading into this. We fly to Cairns on Friday and then pick up the motorhome and rest Saturday and Sunday. The run starts Monday 11th April. We don’t have an official starting time other than first light. One of the conditions of the police permit is that we can only run during daylight hours so to cover the distance required we are going to have to start early each day.
Randall: What do you think the no.1 Premax product you will be using?
Sean: Sunscreen! Definitely sunscreen. Especially in Cairns where it will be warm and on the big days where I will be running 10-12hours. The Anti Friction Balm will also be a very very important one. I have had some bad experiences with chaffing in the past when I haven’t used it so I will be loading up on that.
For more info on Sean’s run check out the video bellow and also check out seanbellrunforwishes.com. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay tuned for updates on Sean’s progress and his Instagram takeover later in the month.
If you would like to donate to Sean’s amazing cause you can do so here https://makeawish.grassrootz.com/run-for-wishes
You can also help support Sean by using the code RFW5 at checkout. This will give you 5% off your purchase and Premax will contribute 10% of sale proceeds to the Make a Wish Foundation.
