Completing two marathons a day, every day for six months straight—that’s what Brooke McIntosh is doing to raise $1.4 million for mental health.
Attempting to break the Guinness World Record and become the fastest woman to run around the country, she’ll be running the equivalent of 80 km for 180 days.
The 29-year-old Perth woman set out on her journey March 2nd, and as of Sunday, Brooke has already covered 591km, running through Western Australia towards South Australia.
And yet, this is not the first time Brooke has taken on an intense running challenge. In 2023, she ran 1,600km from the Pilbara to Perth, with her feat now voted a #1 documentary at the 2024 Gutsy Girls Film Festival, screening across Australia and New Zealand.
While it’s easy to gawk at the enormity of these numbers, even more importantly, Brooke is using running as a catalyst for change. After surviving a near-fatal truck accident in 2022, she’s managed to turn her own struggles with mental health into a movement of resilience.
Overcoming mental health struggles
A former FIFO worker, Brooke had been navigating mental health struggles when she was involved in a serious car accident in August 2022. That same week, she says she’d been planning to take her own life.
“It was during this pivotal moment, lying awake on the hospital bed after the car accident, that I came to a realization: I did not want to end my life, but to alleviate the pain and suffering I was experiencing,” Brooke tells Women’s Agenda.
“Surviving the accident instilled within me a deep sense of purpose and a conviction that I had untapped potential.”
While she’d battled suicidal thoughts even as a young girl, Brooke says the car accident was what ignited a mission within herself to speak out in support of others and help break the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
For Brooke, running has become a way to provide this support to others, along with being a form of therapy to support her own wellbeing.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that avoiding emotional baggage only makes it heavier. Emotions are just energy in motion. You have to let them flow, let them release,” Brooke says.
“Running helps me do that. There are times—probably always will be—when I’m on a long run, hit a wall, and fall into a dark place. But I push myself to take just one more step. Somehow, I break through, find some sense in it all, and come out the other side with this incredible calmness and strength.”
Running as a catalyst for change
During some of Brooke’s darkest moments, she was able to find strength through The Blue Tree Project, a charity with symbolic blue trees scattered throughout the country to help spark important conversations about mental health.
“The Blue Tree Project holds a special place in my heart. During my darkest times, when I was battling intense suicidal thoughts, it seemed that whenever I looked up, a blue tree would appear, often within mere hours,” says Brooke, noting that “it served as a reminder to persevere—a beacon of hope in those moments of despair.”
The money Brooke is raising through her World Record attempt run will go towards The Blue Tree Project, and she’s aiming to raise $1.4 million.
“I know what it’s like to feel like talking about mental health is a weakness,” she says. “That nearly killed me. The Blue Tree Project is a powerful reminder that we have to talk about it. That checking in, opening up, and asking for help isn’t weak.”
“Their mission is to spark real conversations and break the stigma around mental health, so people don’t suffer in silence.”
Just One More
Building off the lessons she learned during her run from Pilbara to Perth back in 2023, Brooke is channeling the mantra “Just One More”.
“[It’s] the mantra that saved my life and it’s what made me finish that 1,600km run. Every time I wanted to stop, I reminded myself of my dream. Why I started—to show people that they’re not alone in their battles, that they’re stronger than they think, and that asking for help isn’t a weakness,” she says.
It’s a message that applies to running, but also life in general, where Brooke notes that even if something feels incredibly uncomfortable in the moment, she hopes to inspire others to push for “just one more” step forward.
“I don’t care where you’re at right now. If you think you’re too far gone, too broken, too behind, it doesn’t matter,” Brooke says to anyone wanting to follow along on her journey.
“Even when you’ve reached the very limit of your capacity, go ‘just one more,’ and have ‘just one more’ conversation.”
“A single conversation has the power to alter the course of your entire life,” she says, adding that “you never know where it might lead”.
“That ‘one more conversation’ has placed me on the path to potentially becoming the fastest woman to run around Australia. Had I not been willing to engage in that pivotal conversation, I would not be where I am today.”
Follow Brooke McIntosh’s run around Australia here:
Support:
Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support)
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 (free professional phone & online counselling)
1800 RESPECT – 1800 737 732