THE POWER & PERSUASION OF RUNNING
Rob de Castella became a household name in Australia during the 1980s when his amazing marathon feats saw him claim two Commonwealth Games marathon titles (Brisbane in 1982 and Edinburgh in 1986), along with a world title at Helsinki in 1983, while inspiring many on to hit the road or trails.
Today, he still motivates people to run through the Indigenous Marathon Foundation (IMF), which uses running to celebrate Indigenous resilience and achievement and to create inspirational leaders.
It started out as a mission to try to find an Indigenous long-distance runner to rival the great African athletes. After all, the Indigenous people of Australia have a similar background of hunting and gathering, with similar physiology, so why wouldn’t they be brilliant runners?
From NT to NYC
Matt Long, founder of Good Oil Films, and Rob de Castella set about finding four men they believed they could train to be runners. Their paths crossed with Charlie Maher and Caleb Hart in Alice Springs, Juan Darwin from Maningrida in the Northern Territory, and Joseph Davies from Kununurra in Western Australia.
