THERE is no questioning the dedication of Penola’s Daniel Hackwill, who ran a massive 100km on Saturday as part of his campaign to raise money for farmer drought relief.
The Penola footballer and gym owner completed the incredible feat – which saw him run from Penola to Millicent, then on to Mount Gambier – in 12 and a half hours, making the achievement all the more impressive.
But the real sweetener for Hackwill was the support received from the community, as he was alone for only 5km of his journey.
Hackwill’s wife Kirsty also joined him for the full distance by bike, acting as his pit crew on the run, providing drinks and snacks along the way.
“I’m not even exaggerating, it was the hardest thing I think I have ever done,” Hackwill said.
“We knocked it over though, I think it took us about 12 and a half hours.
“It was a long time to be moving.”
Hackwill’s journey started at the ‘welcome to Penola’ sign on Millicent Road at 5am Saturday morning and finished at the Western Tavern in Mount Gambier around 5.30pm.
“We stopped in Millicent for about half an hour, just to have some lunch and a bit of a stretch, but other than that we were moving the whole time,” Hackwill said.
Going into the run Hackwill said he was unsure what to expect from the massive distance, despite plenty of preparation for the run.
“I was confident we would get there, but I was not 100pc sure what to expect,” he said.
“It is pretty hard to prime yourself up to do 100km.
“I was fairly confident we would make it and we had a good support crew behind us.
“We had a few of the footy boys do a few legs and it was a whole town effort.”
He was overwhelmed by the support from Penola and the surrounding community and was more proud of the backing his campaign received, than of his own personal achievement.
“We got to the Western Tavern a bit earlier than I expected to,” Hackwill said.
“To get there, go and have a shower and come out and see the front bar absolutely packed with people, even though I felt pretty sick at the time, it made me feel really proud.”
As can be expected, the journey was not without its hardships, with Hackwill losing a staggering 4.8kg in the one day, which he put down to not getting in enough food.
“When you use up all your carbohydrates and your sugars, you start using up your proteins, when you’re not really meant to,” he said.
“Essentially you start eating your muscle and I was pretty sick Saturday (night) and Sunday.
“I think I have put 2kg or so back on now, but I had not been able to eat properly until probably Monday night.
“It was a pretty uncomfortable 36 hours or so.”
The hardest part of the run was at the 80km mark, where Hackwill’s body and mind were ready to give up.
“I do not think I will ever forget it, I got to 80km and everything – the brain, the body – said there is no way you are getting through this last little bit,” he said.
“We had a couple of people come out at about the 85km mark and if we did not have such a good support crew on the home stretch, I do not think I would have finished it.
“I was really struggling, everything was hurting a lot.
“There would have been probably 15 people running or bike riding the last little bit with us.
“Without that many people out there and that sort of support, I would have struggled to finish it off I reckon.”
But all the pain was worth it in the end, with the target of $5000 smashed out of the park.
When talking to The Pennant yesterday, Hackwill still had about 12 donation cans left to count and the total sat at around $8500.
“We were only hoping for $5000 and we will probably end up closer to $10,000 by the time it is said and done,” he said.
“It shows how much everyone got behind it, it is humbling and heart warming.”
Hackwill was also proud of Kirsty’s efforts, as she rode by his side for the duration of his epic marathon.
“She rode the whole 100km and by the time she went to and from cars to get drinks and bananas and that sort of stuff, she probably would have ridden the bike about 130km for the day,” he said.
Looking forward, Hackwill said there are no current plans for another event of this calibre, but is always open to ways to help those in need.
“It is pretty hard to imagine doing that to myself again,” he said.
“We try and give back a fair bit when we can.
“That was the whole point of the run, there are a lot of people struggling a lot more than we are.
“We will probably put our minds together and come up with something different again maybe to do next year.”
