Wollongong physio Brendan Wyatt to again attempt the impossible for great cause

Macarthur's physio - who will line up for Berkeley in the District League in 2024 - made national headlines when he raised approximately $20 000 by attempting to run 160 kilometres in 19 hours to grow both money and awareness for Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM).

Wyatt's latest challenge is even more torturous. He will attempt to run 52 marathons (42 kilometres) in 52 weeks, starting in the first week of January in 2024. In total that is 2195 kilometres in a year, the equivalent of the distance of New Zealand top to bottom.

Of course Wyatt's reason for raising awareness for AVM is well-known.

In his time as physio of Wellington Phoenix when the team was based in the Illawarra during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wyatt struck up a friendship with star player Ulises Davila.

The two since reunited at Macarhur before Davila's wife Lily tragically passed away from AVM - a cerebrovascular disease which affects blood flow and blood vessels in the brain - at the age of 31.

The Australian football community was rocked and Wyatt wanted to help in any way he could. And he did so by running more than 160 kilometres and now just eight months after that enormous feat, he wants to go again.

"Obviously through my work with Wellington and Macarthur I became very close to Ulises and his wife Lilly passed away from that condition," Wyatt told the Mercury.

"I also know a young girl who was part of our Bulls academy and sadly she had to stop playing football a couple of years ago due to her diagnosis with AVM as well.

"Those two are definitely the big inspirations for me taking up the challenge. The 160 turned 170 kilometres in April was a huge accomplishment for me. Not only did it prove to myself that I was capable of physical feats like that, but it was just incredible to see Australian football unite towards a cause and towards a charity.

"It was so heartwarming for me to see the reward of the donations which was actually used to help fund a research grant specifically in the area of AVM, which is obviously all I can hope for with trying to take up tasks like this."

Wyatt said that whilst it was a daunting prospect ahead of him to run 52 marathons (one a week for a year), he knew within himself that he could achieve the impossible.

"The idea of running one a week for an entire year is extremely daunting," he continued.

"But with that being said, I've proven to myself in the past that mind over body actually does work and all you can do in my case is just prepare as much physically as you can and essentially just control what you can control and everything else will just be a case of navigating that at the time.

"The training's been really good, I've been really consistent. I've still got a month to go until the first marathon and I'm motivated and mentally prepared to get it done and raise a lot more money than what I did last time."

If you would like to donate to Brendan's cause, click here.