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Murray Bruce and Singh Talwar have completed four marathons over 38 days as part of Bravery Trust’s annual Bravery Trek.
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Navy veteran Murray Bruce and friend Singh Talwar began the momentous achievement in Canberra in early September, joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh, and Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite as they completed the last 10 kilometres of their first marathon.
The pair then set out to complete another three marathons, completing their final leg carrying a Bravery Trust banner into the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they crossed the finish line for the Melbourne Marathon on 15 October.
During their journey, the pair also completed the Sydney and Brisbane marathons, supported by volunteers and running crews.
The Bravery Trek is an annual fundraising and awareness appeal to help provide financial support to veterans and their families. The trek is vital to helping Bravery Trust alleviate financial stress for the veteran community and continues until the end of October.
“We started at 2am in Canberra, running through all the state capital avenues as a symbol of our ‘Bravery Trek’ uniting Australians to show support for all who serve in the Australian Defence Force. To see 100 fellow runners, politicians and sponsors, waiting for us at Parliament House at 6am to join the last 10 kilometres was quite overwhelming,” Bruce said.
“The start at Brisbane was also a highlight – it was an emotional start at the 42 for 42 Afghanistan Memorial Garden honouring the 41 soldiers of those who lost their lives in Afghanistan and the 42nd soldier who took their own life when they returned. We stopped each kilometre of the marathon to reflect on those 41 soldiers and paid respect to the 42nd when we finished at Gallipoli Barracks.”
Murray Bruce is a Bravery Trust ambassador and vice-president at Leidos Australia. Leidos Australia is a foundation partner and major sponsor of Bravery Trek.
Talwar added that the Bravery Trek is an important initiative as cost-of-living pressures continue to squeeze the veteran community.
“We were uplifted by runners along the route within each and every run. We were inspired to see people step outside of their comfort zones regardless of how far or how fast they were running,” Talwar said.
“In that environment, it’s easy to see what a small bit of encouragement can achieve. In these difficult financial times, it’s great to witness the helping hand Bravery Trust can afford to current and ex-serving members of the ADF and their families.”
Bravery Trust chief executive officer Belinda Wilson explained that Bravery Trust’s financial education offering is critical to supporting veteran well-being after service.
“We’re preventing homelessness – we are relieving that immediate pressure point for the family – and then our veteran-specific financial counsellors will work longer term with the family or the individual to create a pathway forward,” she explained.
“We work with veterans and families to address the cause of their financial stress – it may be negotiating with banks to reduce debt, wipe debt, or to consolidate debt, and then our financial fitness coaches work with veterans on that longer term approach.
“It’s the old adage of teaching a person to fish, we provide urgent support when needed but after that, take them on a journey to make sure that they are able to avoid or capable to deal with future crisis.”
Two hundred others have signed up to complete the Bravery Trek, supporting veteran well-being and raising awareness in the community.
“Murray and Singh have run marathons in all four states; we have a crew onboard ADV Cape Fourcroy cycling a distance challenge using stationary exercise bikes; and we’ve even had one veteran run four marathons in 43 hours as part of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc event in France!” Wilson added.
The Bravery Trek runs until 31 October.
