Oscar Wright ran 101km along the Esperance Foreshore to raise money for the RFDS. Photo: supplied.
Oscar Wright ran 101 kilometres in 15.5 hours along Esperance Foreshore during last Friday’s blistering heat to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS).
“It wasn’t actually that bad — I had a lot of friends who helped me out,” Wright said.
“I felt pretty good.”
It was the second year in a row the former Rural Clinical medical student set himself a mammoth running challenge to raise money for the medical transport service.
Wright said he fell just short of his 100km goal last year but he was determined to try again for a cause that was “so vital to any rural community”.
“I’m a medical student so I worked in the ED in Esperance and I just saw how much [the RFDS] helped and I saw the ad for the fundraiser and thought ‘perfect’,” he said.
“I’ve seen so many people need the RFDS to get to Perth for treatment and without it there would be a lot of people who would die I think, and a lot of bad outcomes.”
Wright said he trained for just two weeks to prepare for the run and was fuelled on the day by an avocado and a handful of nuts, but he remained humble about his efforts.
“There’s a lot of people in town who have similar fitness, it’s just being willing to do that distance,” he said.
“Most people would think ‘why even bother doing that distance, what’s the point?’
“One of the main reasons I do it is because I think most people don’t push themselves so it’s nice just to see what you’re made of every now and again.
“The worst thing was the electrolytes because I think it got to 37.6 degrees and I didn’t notice it but I got really dehydrated and I started cramping and that really slowed me down.”
Wright said he ran at an average pace of 9.15 minutes per kilometre, which included some rest time.
He said a bit of music and support from friends helped him push through.
“I had friends come with me — Darcie Richards was helping me for a lot of it — she had her rollerblades on and she had music next to me and I was running so that was super helpful.
“Otherwise, I just had the headphones in and listened to a bit of uplifting music.
“I like a bit of (country singer) Zac Bryan which sounds weird but even slower stuff I don’t mind because I wasn’t going that fast.
“Sometimes I listened to my own thoughts which wasn’t as fun.”
Wright said he would like to thank everyone who had donated so far.
He said people could still donate until the end of October: oceanstooutback.org.au/fundraisers/oscarwright37442/oceans-to-outback .
“It takes a village to raise a kid, and I feel like it takes a village to help me get to my goal,” Mr Wright said.
