Pacharo Mzembe has completed a mammoth undertaking: running from Perth to Sydney for charity.
Perth to Sydney is not a short trip. By plane it takes around five hours. By car it takes around 40 hours. By foot it takes around 70 days. Of course, that’s only if you run around 60 kilometres a day. Then, as might be expected, everything gets extended if you include a brief stopover in Adelaide.
No matter. Australian actor Pacharo Mzembe, known for his work on Underbelly: Razor, recently pulled off just such a feat. The Zimbabwean-born actor ran the 4,189 kilometres from Australia’s west coast to east coast, with an interlude in Adelaide.
He arrived in Bondi yesterday, and was welcomed by the likes of Alex Dimitriades, Jack Campbell and some of the Underbelly production crew.
This epic feat, called The Run of Awareness, sought to raise money for Youth Off The Streets and Room To Read.
“I believe that young Australians should all have access to a decent education just like I did,” Pacharo said.
From the outset, Pacharo was aware of the dangers, which included extreme heat, dust storms and of course, the pain of running kilometre after kilometre, day in and day out.
“There is no doubt that the Run of Awareness is extremely dangerous but I believe I can do it and I want to show Australia’s youth that no matter what, they can make a difference if they want to,” he said before he set out in late February.
“If you set your mind to it, anything in life is possible. Just never stop believing.”
To be sure, Pacharo did not leave things up to chance. His preparations included pulling 19 kilogram sleds for an hour, conducting 20 kilometre stair climbs, and running 50 kilometre tracks.
The feat was filmed by The Great Gatsby cinematographer Anthony Fallon. Hopefully a documentary is in the offing.
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