When Tim O’Brien lost his lifelong friend Travis to suicide in January 2019, he was devastated. But he had no idea how far reaching the effects would be – it broke his heart to see the outpouring of emotion in the days, weeks and months after Travis was gone.
Tim had always wanted to do something in memory of Travis. After a catch up over drinks with good mate Andrew, they decided to get involved in the annual Irrational SOUTH 200 Miler, which is run on the Lavender Federation Trail between Murray Bridge and Clare.
“While all my mates got into motorbikes, I got into running,” Tim said.
“The furthest I’d done before this was 105 km as a specific event. This 200-mile event came up and my mate said, ‘if you do it I’ll sponsor you and we can turn it into a fundraiser for Travis’, and we kind of went from there.
“Travis was very encouraging – he always encouraged me to do all these sorts of things.”
Unfortunately, the Irrational SOUTH 2020 event, which was meant to happen in June, was postponed and eventually cancelled due to COVID-19. But Tim and his friends were determined to make the 200-mile run happen. So they went ahead and created their own fundraising event – 200 Miles for Travis.
Following months of preparation Tim set out on his journey in October, just as the weather turned back to what it was at the peak of the Winter months.
“Each day we started super early and finished really late,” he said.
“Day one, the Wednesday, was really windy and rainy – I ran 120 km that day.
“And then Friday, around lunchtime, I went from doing really great to doing less than 3kms an hour because of a leg injury.
“When I got injured, I wasn’t sure if I could continue and needed some sort of reinsurance. That’s when I called the medic to check me out.”
Despite the setback, Tim pushed through the pain with the aid of mental strength, painkillers, the support of his team, and the notion that Travis would be encouraging him to push on.
After five days of running and a total of just 12 hours sleep, he eventually conquered the 200 miles, crossing the line in an emotional embrace with Travis’ family and friends.
“I asked my crew chief to put on a song that brought back memories of when Travis, myself and a couple of the boys went to Thailand years ago,” he said.
“We put that on, I hugged my wife and kids, and then my crew chief and Travis’ parents came over and we had a big cry.”
With the support of major sponsor City Shelving, he raised an incredible $12,000 for Beyond Blue and AnglicareSA, which has been providing bereavement support to Travis’ family.
“AnglicareSA provide many charitable services but have been instrumental in helping Travis’ parents deal with the grief and pain from the loss,” Tim said.
“200 Miles for Travis has been a life changing experience for me. What started as an idea over a beer with a mate has grown into to something beyond what I ever expected.”
With all the post-event swelling, soreness and emotion, we thank Tim for his inspiring expression of mateship through this gruelling and amazing effort.
If you would like to provide a final contribution towards 200 Miles for Travis, you can donate HERE.
200 Miles for Travis would not have been possible without the support of:
- Andrew Monks of City Shelving – major sponsor and crew chief
- Ryley Smithson, Neil Scrimgeour, Randell Taylor and Marcus Staker – Buddy/safety runners
- Sarah Jones, Tash Sekulic and Tamas Lorincz – other runners who took on the Lavender Federation Trail at the same time as Tim
- Michelle Hanlin, Heather Kaesler – support crew
- Andy Phanthapangna from Apeirogon – website support
- Glenn Fuller from Fullhammer – team apparel
- Charlie O’Brien, Heather and Murray McLeod, and Tim’s family, friends and supporters
- Shaun Kaesler – Irrational SOUTH 200 Mile Race Director
If you or anyone you know needs help:
- AnglicareSA’s Suicide Prevention Service is a free program providing specialised support to individuals who have had a recent suicide attempt.
- AnglicareSA Living Beyond Suicide is a free program providing practical and emotional support to people bereaved through suicide.
- Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14.
