Marathon Man Conquers Record For Cancer Awareness

By Tom Penistone on July 10, 2014 in News

Bondi man Trent Morrow recently achieved what many would find impossible when he broke the world record for completing the most marathons in one year, running 160 of the gruelling races across all seven continents.

Known to many as the ‘Marathon Man’, Trent ran a total of 8439km in 16 months, or a marathon every 2.4 days. The record attempt was completed on April 21 at the iconic Boston Marathon.

Motivated to make a difference around the world in tribute to the passing of his mother from colon cancer and stepmother who lost her brave battle with lung cancer, Trent had the world record in his sights.

Having resigned from his job in November 2012 and with a lack of funding from any major sponsors, Trent relied heavily on the generous support from the many people who followed the record attempt via social media.

“It was a day to day battle to survive. I wasn’t doing it to raise money for certain causes, but rather raising awareness for cancer and encouraging people to get a better, healthier life for themselves,” Trent said.

Along the journey, Trent was to encounter many challenges, including having his bag and passport stolen from an airport in Europe. But it was an injury in Brussels that provided the biggest hurdle.

“I thought I broke my right leg in Brussels; that was tough. But the doctors confirmed that no moon boot was needed. I continued to the city of Bonn in Germany and through severe pain completed the marathon there,” he said.

It’s at times like these that us mere mortals may have thrown in the towel and admitted defeat, but not Trent.

“You question whether you can keep going. I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t have a purpose and a goal. It was certainly tough but you need to believe in yourself,” he said.

Despite the many tough encounters on the trip, there were also a lot of moments of joy that provided inspiration for Trent to continue.

“I’ve run in some spectacular places such as Patagonia, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the biggest highlight was meeting all the different people along the way.”

Although Trent was the one making the serious physical and mental sacrifice, he admits he couldn’t have done it alone. Michael Gentle or “my right hand man” as Trent calls him, was one of those people responsible for helping him break the record.

The pair met in 2012 at the Centennial Park 50km ultra marathon, where they were both competing. Speaking after the race and sharing a strong passion for endurance running, it was just two weeks later that Trent announced his plans to make the world record attempt, and Michael was only too keen to help out.

While Trent was pounding the tarmac around the globe, back in Australia Michael was organising the logistics and planning ahead for the upcoming races, and despite experiencing moments of doubt, Michael never really feared that Trent wouldn’t be able to complete his goal.

“Trent is a very determined man who manages to stay positive and remain focused on what he wants to achieve. He constantly continued to put one foot in front of the other,” Michael said.

Having now settled back into life in Bondi, Trent plans on releasing a book early next year as well as becoming a motivational speaker.

To find out more about Trent’s amazing story, visit www.marathonman.com.au.