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Health

Meet the people flying and running hundreds of kilometres across the Nullarbor

Crossing the Nullarbor has been a healing journey for William Burnett.

On his 34th birthday he set off to complete 81 consecutive ultra-marathons across Australia — equivalent to 56-80 kilometres a day.

Mr Burnett hopes he can raise awareness about veteran suicides along the many kilometres of his journey, which began in Margaret River, Western Australia, and will end in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

Mr Burnett was medically discharged from the military in 2018 after serving for 11 years including deployments to the Middle East, United States and Asia.

He had sustained physical injuries and struggled with mental health problems in his final year in service.

"I was suicidal for two years, and was very, very depressed and suffered from PTSD for a very long time. I could have become a statistic. But I didn't.

"I want people to know the power is in their hands. It absolutely is, and there's a community out here, who is ready to receive everybody and help as much as possible."

The Nullarbor leg of his journey took Mr Burnett by surprise.

"It was like picking up a completely different book," he said.

"It's this isolated, transitory thoroughfare of animals and road trains and blistering sun and 40km headwinds.

"It's a beast of its own. It has its own personality."

On his journey he has met Vietnam veterans at camping sites.

"It feels really good to know that they are seeing the changes that should have occurred in their generation," Mr Burnett said.

"We didn't have the framework back then that we have right now for mental health support for military men or women returning from war."

He's had a lot of time to think on the road.

"I'm spending upwards of seven hours most days out on the road, running on some of Australia's most dangerous roads, with climate and environment and traffic.

"I spent four and a half days where I walked 12-plus hours a day because of my injuries."

Flying the Nullarbor

Richard Dolan and Andrew Twitty from the United Kingdom have taken a sky-high approach to crossing the Nullarbor.

They're using a paramotor, which they describe as a big fan that's strapped to your back, enabling you to fly.

They travel at up to 6,000 feet above the ground giving them a unique view of the landscape.

"We've seen places that are absolutely breathtaking, the numbers of sunrises, sunsets, camels and all the wildlife," Mr Dolan said.

Setting off from Western Australia's Steep Point Roadhouse, Mr Dolan and Mr Twitty are the first known people to paramotor across the country to Byron Bay in New South Wales.

They dreamt of flying across Australia to break a Guinness World Record.

Without a ground crew they must plan fuel stops.

"If we fly into a head wind and we don't make it to our next goal because we have no fuel then we're stuck because we have no support at all," Mr Twitty said.

100km a day for $1 million

Tradie Nedd Brockmann, 23, is on a mission to run across Australia in 40 days and raise $1 million for homelessness charity We Are Mobilised.

Now on the home stretch, he is five days away from reaching the finishing line at Bondi Beach.

Most days he runs 100km and makes it look easy with a smile from ear to ear, but support crew member James Ward said it had been tough.

"He's doing as best as he can, he's pretty positive on the mind but it's pretty taxing on the body," Mr Ward said.

A shin injury required a 26-hour detour (by car) for medical scans.

Mr Brockmann was motivated to raise money after moving from a small country town in central-west NSW to Sydney where he was shocked by the level of homelessness.

"He's a typical Aussie bloke, he's got the big flowing mullet, he's one of the guys who's so determined to do this, and he wants to make change in this world," Mr Ward said.

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