Bay to Bay - Vlastik's run across Australia for CanTeen

While Australia’s eyes are glued to the telly watching our sporting champions break world records and win Olympic medals, another Australian hero is doing a world first here at home – largely unnoticed.

Somewhere in the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia, Vlastik Skvaril, a 68-year-old Burnie man, is 28 days into an ultra-marathon of mega proportions.

Vlastik is running the equivalent of a marathon and a half every day for 100 days, as he becomes the first person ever to run from Australia’s westernmost to easternmost point.

Vlastik is trying to raise $50,000 for young people living with cancer, with all donations going to CanTeen.

Someone must be watching over Vlastik…as a stroke of luck he “ran into” millionaire Dick Smith in the middle of nowhere! Dick made a $2,000 donation to the cause bringing the current tally to $13,000.

But with very little passing traffic and only small remote towns along the way, raising donations is no easy feat.

The Forestry Tasmania and Southern Cross Television Community Assist program has sponsored the “Bay to Bay” run with a $9,000 grant but there is still a long way to go to reach $50,000.

Vlastik started his run in Shark Bay, WA, on the 19th July and will finish in Byron Bay, NSW, on 27th of October. Vlastik’s only support crew on the 5,768 km run across the country is his wife, Jo.

They will celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary and Vlastik’s 69th birthday during the run.

Vlastik has been a keen bushwalker for many years but it wasn’t until he was 57 that he caught the running bug. He runs 10-15 kilometres every day, and more when in training for an event.

“When I run I feel free, but at the same time in control,” he said.

“It is very relaxing and clears your mind. You can sort problems very quickly.”

Vlastik is no stranger to running in extreme conditions and this is not his first long distance journey. Two years ago he ran from South East Cape in Tasmania to the tip of Cape York, a distance of 5506 kilometers, in 92 days. This run raised $25,000 for Camp Quality.

His first ever ultra marathon was 246 kilometres from Athens to Sparta in 2000 and he holds 10 Australian ultra marathon age records. In April 2002 he came second in the Simpson Desert Race, during which he crossed 1,160 sand dunes over a distance of 380 kilometres in temperatures of up to 51 degrees celcius.

To follow the journey of this quiet Australian hero visit his blog at http://www.vlastiksrunforkids.bigblog.com.au/index.do.

If you’d like to make a donation go to www.everydayhero.com.au/Vlastislav_Skvaril

Click here - Vlastik_-_Day_28.kmz to see Vlastik's current position in Goolge earth. (Requires Google Earth)