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Muzza's mammoth march for mental health

By Murray Wellings

My Activity Tracking

7,300
kms

My target 7300 kms

BNE2FKJ: Twenty a day keeps the Black Dog at bay

Mental illness doesn’t discriminate – it affects 1 in 5 Australians every year with symptoms like depression, anxiety and burnout. The impact can be devastating, not only for those living with it, but for those around them. I know several people that are suffering in silence and wanted to do something to help.

That’s why I’m getting active and raising funds for the Black Dog Institute - to support crucial mental health research and support services that help Australians impacted by mental illness and suicide.

My goal is to average 20km a day, every day, of 2025. Whether that be walking, rowing or riding, I'll be working up a sweat.  All up, that will equate to 7,300km - the equivalent of Brisbane to Fukui, Japan.

Help me create a meaningful moment for mental health as I work up a sweat, all for a great cause.

Please donate now. Thank you.

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$2,023

My Goal

$2,000

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For continuity

Thursday 1st Jan
December calendar

Aaaaand done.

Wednesday 31st Dec
Woohoo!  That's a wrap folks.
7,300km, averaging 20km per day everyday of 2025.

The lion's share of it on the stationary bike (6,917.90km) purely because it was the most efficient.  358.26km walking and a mere 23.94km on the rower.  (Which is one of my goals for 2026 - become better at the rowing so I don't stuff my back every time I look at it).

Again, HUGE thank you to all of my generous donors.  We raised $2,023 towards helping with mental health.

I'm going to leave this fundraiser open so if anyone feels inclined to donate in the future, the links should still work.

Now that that is all done, I hear a steak and a cold beverage calling my name!


Fukui! (Foo-koo-ee)

Sunday 28th Dec
Crossing over the Fukui prefectural border, I can taste the finish.

Fukui is home to the Fukuisaurus, the Fukuiraptor and a rather large dinosaur museum. 

I do recall a slightly panicked/startled co-worker telling me "You can't have that here!" when he spotted my Fukuisaurus coffee mug.

I suspect he misread the name.  

Alas, a few too many cycles through the dishwasher has rendered it, more or less, unreadable.

Anyway, onwards to the finish!

Quick post for the history buffs

Wednesday 24th Dec
7,180km sees me traipsing across the ancient battlefields of Sekigahara (1600s).  

Tokugawa Ieyasu won resulting in the creation of the Tokugawa shogunate. Which ruled Japan for another two and a half centuries!

Anyway, you can read more here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sekigahara

Woot!

Tuesday 23rd Dec
Thanks to a very generous donor (you know who you are), we just hit the $2,000 goal!

This money will help the BDI continue their work helping people with, and educating people about mental health. Numerous studies show that it affects large swathes of the population. It's a fair bet you know someone that is struggling, or has struggled. Even if they've kept it hidden.

There are a few more pit stops to make before I reach Fukui airport, so stay tuned.

Landfall!

Saturday 20th Dec
I've hit mainland Japan at last.  Something interesting to look at for the final leg.

11 days and 255km left. A quick jaunt across to Fukui.

I thought it was rather coincidental that my measuring line from Brisbane Airport to Fukui Airport actually crosses the coast at a port.  What are the odds.

And another one down

Monday 1st Dec
November, done and dusted.

Another fairly patchy month.  Some days nothing at all, others 45km+

Still have not quite caught up after sickness, but if I maintain 23km a day until NYE, I should be gold.

I'm so close I can almost smell the yakitori and taste the icy cold beverage to wash it down with.

1,000km to go

Sunday 16th Nov
Yay, I'm now on the final 1,000km.

A mammoth weekend with just over 90km clocked up. I managed to claw back my deficit from 114km, to a mere 62km behind.  

It was a fairly wet and miserable weekend, so I was happy to be pedaling away inside, solving murders and skullduggery on the high seas on the TV.

Would you believe, there is only 45 days left in the year.

And I'm just $181 from hitting my $2,000 target.

The end is in sight, onwards!

(The graph in the picture shows if I was ahead or behind on any given day - green is good.  Red... not so much)

Ogasawara aka Bonin Islands

Monday 10th Nov
In the past couple of days I've passed some of the outer islands of Japan.  

Hahajima (one of the larger islands of the Ogasawara archipelago) lays claim to the Southernmost point of the Tokyo metropolitan highway.  Which is pretty impressive really.  

I'd want to make sure you were covered for water damage before driving the rental there.

Progress map

Saturday 1st Nov
I've not been putting the maps up as, at this point in the journey, there aren't many landmarks.

Fe Fi Foe Flu

Saturday 1st Nov
At least I am assuming it was the flu.

Caught something up at the beginning of the month that absolutely flattened me.

Several days were I could barely muster the energy to do anything let alone ride 20km.  And as I've hinted before, catching up is brutal.  A few 40km days and I'm still 100+km behind.

But I'll catch up... eventually.

September

Tuesday 30th Sep
Closing in on the three quarters mark of this little jaunt.

Weather is warming up again, but I'm staying inside on the bike, away from the black and white menace.  While they do sing beautifully, I'm not that keen on the swooping.

Not really much else to report.  The month was very much in the 'trudging wearily onwards' category.

We'll see what October brings!

August

Sunday 31st Aug
Well that is August done.  It also marks the two thirds point of this little trek. 4,860km of the 7,300.

Guam!

Monday 18th Aug
Day 360 and currently sitting on 4,605km.

Waaaay off to the East (or should I say Starboard?), if you squint, you can see Guam.

I'm still on track for the challenge, but it is a struggle some days.  They reckon exercise is pretty good for keeping the black dog at bay, and all the things I've read in that regard back that theory up.  

I have wondered about it a few times, because I'm still not exactly skipping along on my merry way each day.  But then I wonder how much worse I'd feel if it wasn't for all the exercise and activity I've been doing.

While it's been a real PITA to drag my butt off the couch each day to go for a ride or a walk; I believe it has helped.  Or at the very least, has not hurt (in a metaphorical sense - because it sure as hell has hurt in a muscular sense).

Anyway.  Exercise. It's good, do it.

And another one done

Thursday 31st Jul
July done.  Winter is well and truly here and it's certainly made getting excited about exercising somewhat harder.

But once moving, it has been quite pleasant.

A few walks along the Redcliffe and Shorncliffe shorelines with family, and a few laps around the local bushtracks with friends were just what I needed to break the winter drudgery.

A few days off due to illness, but I'm still more or less on track (about 8km behind as of tonight).

My handy spreadsheet tells me I've covered 4,232km.

Land ho!

Monday 14th Jul
Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink.

It's been a pretty boring few weeks on the map. Just the open water. But this week I passed some islands!

Namely the Caroline Islands.  Home to 125k people (give or take).  Woleai (off to the West there) hosts 1,081 people.

If you want to go down that rabbit hole, here are some links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woleai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Islands

And of course Google maps is always good for a stickybeak.


Half way!

Wednesday 2nd Jul
Wow... so many 'Whoa you're halfway there' memes.  Didn't even know that was a thing.  Lizards on a chair. Lincoln on a bear. Even cats got worked in.  Something for everyone.

Anyway, dragging myself away from that rabbit hole:  I'm halfway!

2nd July marks the halfway point of 2025. And with this arvo's ride, I just hit 3,662km.  3650km was the halfway point of my planned route.

Getting out for walks has been a bit easier in these cooler months. Have been heading down to Shorncliffe pier for an early morning walk which has been quite pleasant.

Bonus graph!

Monday 30th Jun
Who doesn't love an Excel graph?  What's that? Just me?

This is one of (yeah, there are a few) graphs tracking my progress.  

It nicely shows some of those mammoth days I need to do to play catch-up.

The blue lines are distance each day, orange line is cumulative, and the green line is marking '20km target' for each day.

30th June!

Monday 30th Jun
And here we are halfway through the year already.  Well, technically half way will be 2nd July, but we'll get to that in due course.

Another patchy month with a few sick days in the mix.  And catching up those lost days in the cold winter months was even harder.  But I am still on track.  Even a whole 300m ahead...

And that was May

Sunday 1st Jun
The month of May was a little hit and miss.  Getting sick blew a few holes in the daily activities, and catch-up was BRUTAL. A few 40km days and one that was closer to 50. I am not built for that.

But, stayed on target overall, hitting the requisite 140km each week.

3000km and passing the equator

Saturday 31st May
I do like a nice round number. Today saw me clear the 3000km marker which, coincidentally, is pretty much the distance from the Brisbane airport to the equator. Who knew! 

Not many more landmarks now until I hit Japan really. Just a lot of water.

But I'll keep plugging/paddling/peddling along.

And that makes one third

Wednesday 30th Apr
30th April means we are one third of the way through the year. 

Which also means I'm one third of the way through this mission I've inexplicably set myself.

Today I racked up my 2,422nd kilometer.

Not entirely sure 'Thursday off' is doing what I had hoped as I'm still perpetually knackered, but I'll keep going down that path for now.

2,000km!

Friday 11th Apr
Just rolled past 2,000km and have cleared the Australian mainland.
:)

Quarter of the way there

Monday 31st Mar
What a month.
My plans to try and do something more varied than cycling every day, were derailed a bit by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. 

Thankfully our place was spared the worst of it, but running around prepping and then cleaning up didn't leave a lot of room for leisurely walks.

And in other news, my fantastic donors helped me hit my initial fundraising target of $1,000.  Woot.  You guys rock.

So given I've got nine more months of this, I've upped the goal to $2,000.

I'm still adapting my routine a bit. This coming month (April), I'm going to again attempt to get some variety. I'm going to try and up the rowing sessions a bit.  Slowly. Because my technique is awful and my lower back is happy to remind me of this.

I'm also going to try and rack up 24km each day for six days, and take one day off each week.  It will still average the same amount for the week (140km), but give my body a chance to ... heal? repair?  Something like that.

Thank you, you legends!

Saturday 22nd Mar
Wow.

I've been blown away by the donations for this little fundraiser. I'm just $15 away from hitting my $1,000 target, and I'm not even a quarter of the way through 2025.

Thank you to everyone that has donated!

But of course, it doesn't stop there. I'm going to keep plugging away until I reach my distance/duration goal. So with that in mind, I'm going to reset my dollar goal to $2,000.

I'm also going to try and work in some rest days.  I'll still be hitting at least 140km a week (ie average of 20km per day), but will probably aim to do 23km a day for six days and take a day off.  Pretty sure I'm overtraining, and my body has been throwing me plenty of signs that I've been trying to ignore. I should probably pay attention to that before it does something drastic to MAKE me pay attention.

Thanks again to everyone that's chipped in. I'm blown away by your generosity.  You're all champions.

M


Ah, the Ides of March

Saturday 15th Mar

While it didn’t work out too well for Caesar, spending time chilling with friends is an important part of preserving your mental health.

Well, at least I think it is, but it’s not like I’m trained in this sort of thing so your mileage may vary… I mean look at Caesar.

Having a close group, or even just one person, with whom you can let your guard down and just be yourself, is a valuable commodity that you should treasure.

This could be people you see every day, or a mate you only see once in a blue moon but instantly just ‘pick up where you left off’.

It can take some effort to maintain friendships, but the payoff is substantial.

Maybe reach out today and have a chat, coffee or brew (be that tea or something cold).

2 down, 10 to go

Saturday 1st Mar
Another month down.

No pretty pictures as I racked up most of the distance on the indoor bike in February, just out of necessity.

This month (March) I'm going to try and limit the riding to a max of 75% of the total.  Try and bump up my rowing and walking a bit more.

Not sure if I'd say it's getting easier.  Muscle-wise, it seems ok. But I was feeling pretty fuzzy when it came to mental energy.  I've made a concerted effort to eat more (mainly protein) as I suspect I was just not consuming enough energy to balance the increase in exercise.

We'll see.

The positive messages from supporters and workmates has been encouraging. Hopefully when they've checked out my page they've also poked around the Black Dog Institute website a little too!

1001 kilometers

Tuesday 18th Feb
Just clocked up 1001 Km.

Feeling pretty knackered. I'd have thought my body would have adapted to the new regime by now.  Guess not.
But will persist.

How's the serenity

Sunday 16th Feb

I think there is a lot to be said to just getting out of the house. 

I try to find reasonably interesting places to walk when I can, and most of the time these places involve nature. There is only so much concrete and bitumen that you can take.

There is a saying/philosophy in Japanese called shinrin-yoku, which translates roughly as ‘Forest bathing’.

Apparently there is some science behind it, something about trees releasing good chemicals or some such, but I think it’s just rather pleasant to be out amongst the trees.

I saw one post, somewhere, that suggested the following ratio, which I thought was doable:

·       20 minutes, 3 times a week in something like a city park or botanical garden

·       5 hours each month in a semi-wild area like a state park

·       3 days each year camping, backpacking, or staying in a cabin in the wilderness

20-5-3. 

Can’t say for sure it’s going to fix what ails you, but at the very least you might see something new.

I do proclaim!

Sunday 9th Feb
I've clocked up over 805km.  So you could say that I have gone 500 miles.  And I will go 500 more...

One month down

Friday 31st Jan
One month down. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be able to maintain the 20 a day target, but I'm actually a little in credit.  :)

Sitting at 653.09 Km.

Week 4 - Hot and sweaty

Sunday 26th Jan
Ah, nothing like a heatwave to make exercising even more fun.
South East Queensland sweltered a touch this week, so a lot of my activity was undertaken inside, in the aircon, in front of a fan.

But I did manage to go for a few walks in the cooler hours.  These shots are from a few laps around the lakes at North Lakes.  And an iced coffee thereafter.

Week 3 - Row, Ride or Roam

Sunday 19th Jan
My wandering this week didn't take me anywhere particularly photogenic, so no pretty scenery shots today.

Instead, here is a capture from my fitness tracking app.  It is somewhat insistent that I am overdoing it. To be fair, it is probably right. But am quite enjoying 'hitting the target' every day.

Week 2 - Grey and wet.

Sunday 12th Jan
This week was pretty wet, and it sounds like it is not going anywhere.  So a lot of time was spent on the exercise bike as walking in the rain isn't really my cup of tea.

That said, I did time today's walk really well.  Look at this crisp, blue sky and fluffy white clouds!  (an hour later there was torrential rain)

Week 1 - I'm a sucker for a good winding path

Tuesday 7th Jan
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

1 week in, holding steady.

Tuesday 7th Jan
Well I've managed to stay on target, clocking up at least 20 a day.  Bit warm out there still, but you get that in the Sunshine State.

I'm not exactly setting a cracking pace on my walks, but just being outside amongst the trees has been pleasant

And so it begins

Wednesday 1st Jan
Day 1.
Let's see where this thing takes us.

Thank you to my Sponsors

$22.58

Anonymous

$181

San

$75

Martin Mari

20 kilometers a day for such a meaningful cause is amazing, mental health is so so important and your march is so inspiring to see, thank you.

$30

Julie-ann Jordan

Well done Murray! You're an inspiration. : )

$106.12

James Hultgren

Incredible work Murray.

$22.58

Cathy Abberley

Awesome work Murray 👏 Great charity!!

$27.81

Mary-leigh Scheerhoorn

Well done. Great cause.

$135.04

Daniel & Sasha

It's really great what you're doing; you're almost half way there!

$211

Julian L

$33.15

Margie Murray

Great work Murray - donation from Margie Murray

$54.12

Carley Murray

You are doing fabulously Muzz! Keep going!

$11.65

Keiko Maeno

Good on you, Murray!

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Ben Buckingham

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Anonymous

$54.12

Julie Ball

Great work Murray! Well done 👍

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Tessa Vaux-miller

Great work Murray

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Anonymous

Keep going Murray!

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Anonymous

$250

Peter

Good luck Muzzzaaaaaa!

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Ros Herron

Go Murray!!! What a great cause.

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Jo Jenkins

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Glen Giles

Hi Murray, I'm seriously impressed with your drive and commitment to this very worthy cause.

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Adam Morrow

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Liv Andreassen

Doing great, Murray!

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Chanelle Gleeson

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Anonymous

$54.12

Kirk Roberts

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Aleksandra Dzepo

$52.92

Anson Cheung

$50

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