The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
I take on the role of an authoritative voice that fearlessly communicates truths drawn directly from my lived experiences. With a genuine sense of ownership, my insights are free from any hidden agendas – they truly belong to the audience. My stories and journey add remarkable value, the key now lies in harnessing its power effectively to help others.
My purpose is to create a new residential building industry. My mission is to inspire unshakable self-confidence in my colleagues in the industry, empowering them to orchestrate prosperous, enduring, and lucrative businesses that bring exceptional projects to fruition for our clients.
My goal is to foster a deeper comprehension among clients about the identity and functions of builders, redefining their perceptions.
The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
From Addiction to Elite-level Trail Runner, How following your PASSION can change your life.
#145 Brett shares his transformative journey from alcohol addiction to ultra-marathon runner and founder of Run Queensland, discovering how running 100+ mile races provided the mental clarity and purpose he couldn't find elsewhere.
Check out Run Queensland here...
https://www.runqld.com.au/about
Check out Duayne's other projects here...
Live Life Build
livelifebuild.com
D Pearce Constructions
dpearceconstructions.com.au
QuoteEaze
quoteeaze.com/Free-Offer.html
Check out the Duayne Pearce website here...
https://duaynepearce.com/
And I remember being with Megan one day and she said you need to choose between this. And held a can of EB and me and I thought can I have some time to think about that? I mean she, we laugh about it now and I mean that's where I was at. You want to impress someone? Impress yourself. Yeah. Fuck it. I'm sick of trying to like make people happy. I'd rather just be myself. And if people like me, they do, and, and if they don't, that's okay too. I've kind of got used to that.
Speaker 3:The answer is not in learning how to run a better business or understanding your numbers. The answer is in you, yeah, and so that's why I like these stories. G'day guys, welcome back to another episode of Level Up. We are back in the shed this afternoon for another cracking episode. The guest I've got on for you today is quite random, actually. I'll give you a little bit of backstory before we get going. But a lot of you will know that I've been putting a lot into my training over the last sort of six to eight months, and three weeks ago Shay and I and two other mates did the 48-kiloda challenge and we're training for that a lot up the sunshine coast, doing a few hill walks and things, and we met this guy, brett, from run, queensland. How are you, buddy? Pretty good mate.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me on pretty random very random. I was uh 30k into a 50k training run.
Speaker 1:You look like you've just started mate yeah, just picked my son up probably 10k before that and he did the back 30k with me. He's 21, which was you know. It's nice to spend a few hours with my son out in the bush. There we're on jack ferris lookout. We, we all climbed that together and, uh, you met yourself and shay and started talking about running and the event you did. I've sort of been uh, following you guys a little bit with the running and was pretty interested to see how you went with your event.
Speaker 3:We went well, mate, but I um, yeah, I just, I know now there's things I should have done that my trainer was telling me with my knees and things, but I was cooked by the end of it like my knees were hurting you're certainly not a true trail runner, because usually the best thing about trail running is telling everyone about what you did I've been been waiting for.
Speaker 1:I've listened to a couple well, I've listened to tons of your podcasts actually since we met, yeah, and I kind of was waiting for these results and I'm like where are they? Where are they? And I couldn't find them actually online and Shea sent me a link.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I put them on my. I talked about a bit on my socials and my instagram, but, um, the like I I don't know what it is, mate, but I just felt a real connection with you when we talked that day and I and I reached out to you to come on, because this podcast is about telling stories. Yes, it's a it's to do with the construction industry and, um, better building and all those types of things, but I think you've got a lot to offer. Like I, I left after meeting you that day like we drove home just inspired in the car, like, holy shit, like that bloke's unreal, like he's gonna run 160 kilometers, and so tell us about your race, because you've done your race, too, since we met yeah, like I've been ultra running um since I was uh, probably 35, so it's a long while ago now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm 52 now and still going. Like everyone told me my knees would be buggered by now and all that, so they're not, you're a bloody good-looking 52-year-old.
Speaker 1:If this is what running does, I'm going to keep doing it. I'll tell you what I'm bloody good getting on this podcast now. Yeah, so I kind of got given a book in 2007 by my father-in-law called Ultramarathon man Confessions of an All-Night Runner. Dean Karnasas was his name and I read this book from you know cover to the back in really quick time and he talked about his experience of a race that I have been to now in America and I decided I'd go past my normal 7k loop. I didn't I've run a little bit longer, but not nothing long and I just ran and just ran and I kind of ended up I just kept running and, um, I ran about 24ks and I had no water.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that. I mean, I don't know if you guys have had this experience. I didn't know that you're probably going to go to the toilet early in the morning. So, lucky for me, I found lucky people dump stuff around Glasshouse, so I found a KFC box and that was very lubricated. But anyway, one of those moments that I was like God, what is this? And I got home, I was exhausted, fell asleep, I woke up and I thought that was amazing.
Speaker 3:My wife cup and thought that was amazing. My wife couldn't believe. I actually sat down during the day because I'm pretty hypo and, um, because that was that was something we talked about a little bit, like we literally like I think you caught you come up behind us like we were walking, you were running and, um, we just started chatting and then, next thing, you know, we're at a bit of a lookout and we we all just pulled up for whatever it was 10-15 minutes, had a bit of a chat. But that was something else that interested me, because you talked about ADHD and how the running calms you and all that sort of thing, and that's something I like talking about on this podcast, because a lot of people in the construction industry have those types of things. But what were you doing before that? What's?
Speaker 1:your background. Well, well, yeah, I've always loved sport, um, I mean, I was playing lawn bowls when I was 15 um and got into greenkeeping. So I'm a greenkeeper by trade um in sydney and left sydney and then came up here and just couldn't get. Well, I couldn't get a job that paid any money and I had a young family. So I ended up being a postie for a bit and then I got into the running and like I was doing a lot of jobs, different things up around here, working as a contract mail person and a bit of greenkeeping at the little glasshouse bowls club there, whatever it could pick up. And then I was doing the running and there was another fellow there and I said I wonder if you could make a business out of running. And he had a couple of races and then we just started moving forward with it and I really wanted to.
Speaker 1:There's a race in Sydney called it's called Ultra Trail Australia, but it's called North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains and I'd been and done it and I wanted to do something like that up here and so I did a bit of recce runs and that up in mapleton we came up with a black or 100, but no one would let us in the national park and I just couldn't work out how do you, how do you do this sort of thing?
Speaker 1:And we had smaller races and stuff. And I just went and spoke to a someone. Said in national parks, actually, we hate it when we get talked to by politicians and I thought what does he mean by that? So I went to the politicians and I showed them and I said, look, this is an event we do in Sydney and I take a lot of people with me. I usually have eight friends and we, you know, spend a lot of money and all that sort of stuff. And as soon as you start talking money, politicians seem to listen and it seemed to be interested in much else. And, um, about three days later I had a call from national parks and we had this event took 18 months, which you probably can appreciate, just with your event that you've done.
Speaker 1:Um, the other day, with your level up, which I'd love to hear a little bit more about if you're happy to share about that- too, but it was brutal and we got this little race going and we put it on in 2014 for the first time, and I owed a lot of people a lot of money after that and I so I was working my jobs trying to cover this race and, luckily for me, I had these relationships with these people. They believed in what we were doing and they believed in about getting people onto the trail. I think it's something that saved my life. My wife calls it my soul work when she sees me doing what I do, especially in the long races, because you go into spaces that I think people pay a lot of money for drugs for. But I get to do that in these moments when you just think you can't do anymore and you've got nothing left.
Speaker 3:You've done well for yourself. Because the other thing, I think everything happens for a reason and you don't just run into people for random. I don't know what it is yet, I'm sure it's going to poke its head out at some point, but there's a reason. We ran into each other that day. I'm a big believer in that.
Speaker 3:You, you've got to be, you've got to look after everyone and just through our little conversation like we I don't know how it come up, but we um, I think you might have been talking about your oh, you had, I think you had bananas with your son and you're telling us how you picked them from home. And then that led into you've got a food forest and I was telling you how we've just met this guy and we're doing his design in our yard and it turns out it's the same bloody guy. And then you were telling me how awesome it is and you've had it three years and you literally walk out your yard and you pick your food and stuff. So I think you're an example of what a lot of people are trying to achieve. You're following your dreams and you've made it into a living and you're living a very healthy, connected, comfortable life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look, the business of the running. Just quickly, with that I don't make a lot of money. I get a lot more than that anyway from watching people do what I've always loved doing. You know, when we do the Black Hole, we've got 24 hours to finish it. So there's people that are going to walk that whole thing and they'll walk across that line and I can see the tears and I understand what they're going through and I get teary with it when I'm doing it with them.
Speaker 1:See that, sorry, you know I haven't slept like them. I'm waiting for them and you know I haven't slept like them. I'm waiting for them and you know, I know what they've gone through to get there and it means a lot to me to be able to share that and yeah, so that's pretty cool. So, and then I think the other stuff that's happened is my wife's really connected to the planet, like, and I'm lucky that I met her. So, um, and you know, we, I think I actually think this. I've contemplated this because I've listened to your podcast. It's really weird because I listen to people say I can't get enough of his podcast, and I listened to the first one and I thought this isn't really like it's about building. But it's not about building to me, it's about. When I listen to you. I can hear that you're passionate about everything. I just walk through your yard and I'm like does he build these things as well, like you've got?
Speaker 1:tiny freaking tiny homes. I'm like this guy does everything your passion's. You know, I can see your passion and I can feel that and I could feel that that day, those you know, Shay and Brett, was there with you and I didn't get to meet your fourth guy in that run. And you know, then I listened to the podcast. Oh, that's why I met this guy, because he's all about improving oneself and not pointing the finger at other people and trying to take responsibility and I think that's what I've tried to do.
Speaker 1:I'm not great at it all the time, but you know, and that regenerative farming thing that you spoke about, we had these old macadamias that were just shit. We thought we were going to be macadamia farmers when we moved to Glasshouse and they were so run down and the soil was dead. And we met Tiago from Syntropic Solutions and within three weeks we cut down 40 macadamias that became part of the garden. We recycled all the trees in the same way that you're recycling houses and put them into the garden. And you know they want to put eucalypts every one meter and I'm like what what are they talking about?
Speaker 1:and I just trusted that they knew what they were doing and they've brought this from their culture, from brazil. And you know, I'm pulling out vegetables now and bits of trees and stuff I don't even know. I I didn't even know of them, like things like cassava. And then I've got Brazilians that come to my house that randomly I meet and we're making all these dishes out of these foods that I thought were just. You know, we're classified as weeds and I'm like you know, pineapples under every bloody eucalyptus, every meter, and you know we're eating these beautiful pineapples that grow in the shade.
Speaker 3:I love it, mate. So good. I just think there's something about being able to walk out into your own garden and pick your own food. I just think it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:It is. I mean, at the moment we're getting the citrus, at the moment it's just unreal. And you know, we don't spray, we don't fertilize, we don't water and this thing grows like it's pumping. It's just the bananas in winter, you know, and things that I was told, as a tradesperson, wouldn't happen are just happening. Things don't grow under eucalypts.
Speaker 3:Well, being a greenkeeper, you'd be all about fertilizers.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, mate, I've got a green shirt on, but it may. I'll tell you underneath it's a wonder I'm not glowing green from it, the amount of sprays, and that I mean. I watch those guys playing lawn bowls and I think, man, I'm surprised half those guys ain't got cancer. Because you know, you spray for African black beetle which I think I don't know if you're allowed to use those chemicals anymore, but they're almost like the termite ones. I think they are chloropyrophos, I think that's a term, I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure that's the active ingredient in it. Um, and then you'd see them lick their fingers as they roll their bowl you know what I mean. And then they pick the bowl up and I'm like gosh, you know, and we'd be in space suits.
Speaker 3:So we're spraying in the middle of summer and let's see, people don't, most people don't even think about that, but there's, there's chemicals everywhere, it's everywhere like we um, I'm very conscious of it now, just in building, like with the products that our team are handling, like, yeah, I'm pushing them all the time like wash your hands, wear gloves, like it's because all of that stuff's affecting us totally, I mean listening to you, some of the podcasts of yours.
Speaker 1:I'm blown away, away. I'm hearing, I mean that fellow with the solar. Yeah, I was like 40% of the bloody planet's silver goes into solar. I'm like how is this helping the planet?
Speaker 3:Well, it's not, mate. I mean, we've been going all day about that. Yeah, I definitely got views on that. I think all that stuff's just a massive big rort. But look, there's only just been an article coming out in the last few days like the australia is about to shut down its first ever solar farm. Like it's not even I don't know. I think it's. Someone will give me shit or tell me I got the numbers wrong or whatever. It's like 18 or 22 years old or something, and it's the maintenance and the cost to repair it is outweighing the cost of leaving it there.
Speaker 3:So not even counting, not even taking into account the actual windmills themselves, or whatever they're called, they're now going to leave over 200,000 tons of concrete in the ground.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just. It's so ridiculous I think that the planet's in trouble. I really do.
Speaker 3:We keep going the way we're going.
Speaker 1:I don't think we're connected? I don't think that and I don't think it's by accident either. I don't think we're connected to the planet in the way that we should be. And when you start talking like that, you kind of get ridiculed for it or made to be a fool. And it's like you know of get ridiculed for it or made to be a fool and it's like you know someone's going to worry about whether it's 18 to 22 years old, not the fact that it's failed and it's crap and it's leaving this massive footprint that nothing's going to grow on for, I don't know, probably ever and the amount, like just the amount of everything that had to go into making that and the land that was destroyed to build it and now it's just going to be left there to deteriorate and fucking look like an eyesore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, I think it's disgusting, but I like I can't believe how many, like I don't know how long ago it was we met.
Speaker 1:It wasn't that long ago two months, two or three months maybe yeah, but um, you've listened to a lot of podcasts in that time I do a lot of driving and sometimes when I'm running I think I've been off podcasts for such a long time because I used to listen to a lot of running ones and you know, I guess after a while, but you're bringing in so many different people I'm kind of like, what's this one about this time? And you know that book. I'm talking about the Confessions of an All-Night Runner. It wasn't about running. I mean, yeah, he ran. I'm talking about the confessions of an all-night runner. It wasn't about running. I mean, yeah, he ran.
Speaker 1:But this guy was on his 30th birthday, pissed, hated his job, was thinking of kind of like there's this moment where this bird says he wants to dance for something about being married and he said, I'm sorry, was sort of dancing with him. And she asked was he married? And he said yeah, and she goes, I don't worry, so am I. And he's gone home and put his work clothes on and just ran 50 kilometers and from that moment he said, oh, I've got to change my life, this is what I want to do. And he was in a really high-paying job but he was dying inside. And I just think there's so many people that are doing that with their lives and it's like you only get one crack at it. So you know, I mean I'm kind of, am I lucky?
Speaker 3:I don't know if I'm lucky with what I do. I feel I don't think any of us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like I'm really blessed and I feel like you're gonna create your own path, totally, and I feel like you know you're running along and next minute I'm talking. Well, I didn't tell you about the japan run, so, yeah, that would that. Sorry, that's where we started, wasn't it?
Speaker 3:Look, definitely let's tell the audience about the Japan run. But, mate, I think it's important to get people like yourself on this podcast and for you and I to connect and have these conversations, because I am so committed now to showing people that if you're not right, nothing around you can be right. So I'm on a mission my mission is definitely well and truly taken off for creating a new building industry, but the answer is not in getting, like learning how to run a better business or understanding your numbers. The answer is in you, and so that's why I like these stories and meeting people like yourself, because it's all relatable, it all ties in and I guess it shows people.
Speaker 3:I think life has to be a heap of experiences. So meeting you was an experience. I left that conversation, we got in the car and we're like that bloke was unreal, like his energy, he was off the charts, like what a great bloke Like. So you've given me an experience and I think that's how we should live our lives, like everything we do should be an experience that we look back on, we reflect on and we we appreciate the people we meet, the things we do, the food we eat, the places we go and when you can do that, well, everything else just falls into place, yeah, and so I definitely want to hear about your japan thing. But I also want to come back to after that. You said like you're getting your head on those big runs when there's nothing else to do. You like?
Speaker 3:you go to some pretty wild places.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, tell us about japan first, all right, so yeah, so japan, I met you guys. I think probably three weeks. Yeah, it would have been about three weeks before. On that I'll say six weeks, because I know I usually do a 50k run six weeks before a race.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, we started at 5 pm right under mount fuji and um 5 pm on the friday, on Anzac Day 25th, and I finally crossed the line on Sunday morning at about 3 am and in between that it was just brutal. It was just so they don't go up Fuji because they have a lot of respect for their nature and that's their spiritual, like a spiritual home for the Japanese is Fujisan. So we didn't get to go up that, but we went around. I think we went up mountains nearly as big as it. But um, yeah, it was going good for about 30ks and then we hit this 1000 meter climb and it just went on for I think the next 10ks took me three hours and then I thought, oh shit, I'm in for it now and it just went on. From there I met. I met um, another aussie guy during the race.
Speaker 3:That was pretty cool, but so how many people are in a race like this?
Speaker 1:there was two. Well, it's massive over there. The japanese love it 2400 holy shit 1100, only 1300 finished, so 1100 dropped out. Um, yeah, I think I was about maybe 290th or something like that. Not too bad for an old fella.
Speaker 3:Mate, you've killed it. So how do you start with that many people? It's all in groups, they do groups.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they did groups, four groups of 600. We had to get bussed to the start for about an hour and a half. So it was really hard because I mean, you guys, when you did your walk you would have started in the morning, in the morning. Yeah so we, you know you had to get up, you had to get to the start, do your race beeps, go home. I sort of sat around for a bit at a cup of tea, then went back on a bloody shuttle bus thing to the start.
Speaker 3:Then we had to get shuttled an hour and a half to the start because you're just, you're starting in a time when your body's starting to wind down. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that becomes tricky at night, especially around that two to three, you're really wanting to have a bit of a doze off, and then, as the sun comes up, it's magic Mate. It's nothing like it the next day when that sun starts to come up. Do you know the energy from sunrise? Yeah, we should be getting that. You know the vitamin?
Speaker 3:Circadian rhythm mate.
Speaker 1:The blue light. Sorry, you know the blue light we should be getting in when we wake up. Yeah, you know all about it now. Um, and that red light at night and watching the sunset again, it's amazing, and and all the bits in between and yeah. So, but going into night two, I thought, oh, this is full on and I had high hopes of being done by 30 hours, so about about maybe 10, 11 o'clock at night the next night and it just went on and it was just brutal. But the japanese are amazing. They have um, checkpoints.
Speaker 1:Like for the first, 100k was hard because I were every about 25ks so I made a bit tricky so I had no crew. It's the first time I've never had crew. Normally you can have a crew person that would like. It's usually my wife, megan. She'd meet me at, say, 25 50 and have my gear and my little treats and stuff that I like. And um, yeah, I had no one this time because we didn't know how to work out with cars and stuff. So anyway, I just did it on my own.
Speaker 1:But it was beautiful because I had like udon noodles and freaking barley tea and little bits of chocolate and all these squishy. I can't remember moshi I think it's called mishi all these bean paste and stuff. So so do you have anything with you you have to carry? Um, I think it was a liter of water. That's your minimum. I had about a liter and a half because I knew it was 25ks and I could see some of the climbs are going to take me a bit. Um, I had a little bit of food I. I used to try and use those gels. I don't know if you guys had that, any that stuff. I can't get it down anymore.
Speaker 3:So I had fucking bags of lollies, Did you?
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean I don't know if you got sick on that. Did you get sick on it? No, no. So if you're going, usually when you're running with that, you can't. It's hard to digest food, yeah, so if you eat too much, what ends up happening is you'll go tits up and you'll start spewing everywhere and you go green, and all that because you can't digest the food, because it's trying to power your legs and keep you alive, sort of thing.
Speaker 3:And um I smashed my food mate. They can like they. They're like at the halfway point like what are you doing? What are you eating? I was like give me more, I'm starving yeah, well, you got to be.
Speaker 1:You could well, if you're good at doing that. So, um, yeah well, you got to be, you could well, if you're good at doing that. So, um, but we were walking, yeah, so you, so I'm.
Speaker 3:I was trying to make it so I wasn't being a smart ass. Um, when you tell me when you're walking.
Speaker 1:I mean, you guys did 14 hours, 13 or something like that. I had to look at your results so you're sort of doing around about 4k an hour, I think that is. But that's a nice casual walk, so you'll get away with eating I think our average was like 3.6 or something.
Speaker 3:Mate, it was slow. We went into it. I thought we're gonna.
Speaker 1:We'll sit at five days an hour like it's not, it's bullshit, it really, it really um, I love this because when, when we get a lot of people at the runs, they'll come and they like, do their 10k. I do a 50 minute 10. And they think that translates to this distance and it's like next level, anything over that. Where you guys are, and start going on that forget it, unless the elite runners, I mean they are next level. The Spaniard that won the Japanese race did it in 17 hours something, holy shit.
Speaker 3:So he's doing what's that? That's like 7 or 8K, 10K an hour.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Just under 10K an hour, I mean. But these guys are mountaineers. They're spectacular to watch. They look like they're sprinting up hills. You know they're unreal.
Speaker 3:So what keeps you going? Because we started at quarter to eight, I think we went under the start line and we finished at, I think, quarter to 11 or something. 20 to 10. 20 to 10 or something. Yeah, 20 to 11. Yeah, and my knees were hurting and the last eight Ks I had to push hard. And I was like what the? Fuck. And one thing that really put me off was the last, I think six Ks. They had markers, oh yeah, and I hated seeing them.
Speaker 1:I would rather them not be there and just just kept going and when you're doing that average you're talking about, they're coming for you every 20 minutes. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like 15 to 20 minutes, you're seeing each K, so you feel like they're never coming. Yeah, each k. So you feel like they're never coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're almost waiting for it. Hey, it's like so I equated to um, have we gone the wrong way? We fucking missed one. It's brutal. So I reckon every distance is like that. I don't know, building a home might be like that for the builders, you know, like when you get near the end of it, and it's like tiring and stuff. Yeah, I reckon it's like the 800 meters. That last 200 is brutal. 100 mile, you like, for me. In my mind I'm saying the race doesn't even start until 120 Ks. If I can get to that in okay shape, I'm a chance to finish this thing.
Speaker 3:But what do you like? Because you're on your own as well. There was four of us, so the conversation was awesome. Yeah, I think that's since seven years ago, whatever it was seven, eight years ago, whatever it was seven eight years ago when we did um everest. That's what's progressed this journey. I love the conversations you have with your mates or people like yourself that you run into on the on the walking track. Yeah, if someone had told me even in my early 30s, mate, that I'd be walking, I would have just laughed at them, but I really get something out of it. But, like, how do you keep going when you're on your own?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, okay, so I get energy in that race. Being on my own, I've done those style of races that you guys did and the one at Kokoda. They wanted to do the 96K in under 16 hours and I got into this team late and I thought, right, if you want to do it, let's do it. So you know, I knew I'd be able to comfortably do that and by about um, I don't know, maybe say 80k's in on you or thereabouts, and by the end they'll tell me to shut the fuck up. Because I was like, if you wanted to do it, let's do it, like you know. And so I realized that, um, yeah, I wasn't cut for the team thing, like I mean, I'm friends with the guys and that, but they ended up telling me to shut up.
Speaker 1:But, um, but what I think the running for me is, it's a. I had to shift from um. Like I went to aa when I was 25. Um, I I really was obsessed with drinking. I didn't drink all the time. I was enough to get to work and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:I turned up on saturday morning to go to work no, no, no, I didn't.
Speaker 1:I didn't drink during the week well, not much but um. But on on friday nights I'd be like on the piss and I'd have to go and get greens ready on the Saturday morning. I'm sure if I'd have been pulled over. I probably would have been over. I cut electrical lead in half once with a mower because I wasn't concentrating. I don't know if I was pissed, but just wasn't concentrating. And as I was going along I just felt like I couldn't grow up. And then I was like, and I remember being with Megan one day and she said you need to choose between this and Hilda Canna VB and me and I thought, can I have some time to think about that? I mean, we laugh about it now and I mean that's where I was at.
Speaker 1:I mean that's really pouring it Like as a human to be at that point, and she was serious, obviously, oh yeah, I laugh about it now because it's like, you know, more than half my life ago, yeah, but when I was in it I sort of and I remember having that kind of moment of clarity where I thought, man, there's something not right here, that this thing is so obsessive. But I think I drank um, because I I love talking, which you probably already recognized and I've got this mind that races all the time like not so much now, and it's like a board of directors at times and it's like there's different conversations going on and all that stuff. So that's why I feel like we're jumping around here. Maybe we're not.
Speaker 3:That's what I do too. Look, I've talked about this before. There's no agenda on this podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I think this is how we show people how to deal with their situation. Yeah, like if we're sitting here going from this question to this question, to this question, you miss out on all the juicy stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's too contrived for me. I hate that shit. Um, I'd rather just be myself, and if people like me, they do, and if they don't, that's okay too. I've kind of got used to that.
Speaker 3:This is a good story, like keep telling us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when I was 25, I ended up going to AA in Blacktown in Sydney and it was really difficult, like I mean, the big, big questions in my mind was how am I going to go and watch the Sydney Swans play, because all that represented was me drinking piss and watching the footy? How was I going to say me speech at my wedding? I was all these, really, you know, first world problems that were cropping up. How was two he's going to survive all this?
Speaker 1:This bullshit goes on for me and you know I stopped drinking and what I created was a life. You know, um, it's embarrassing. You know, I didn't get, haven't been punched out by maori bouncers for telling them they're racist against whites, for not letting me in a nightclub when I'm blind. You know, like this is the kind of shit that was going on in my world and, um, I share, I'm embarrassed to share it, actually, and I cringe because I know now it's on the podcast and that, but I mean, I think if I reveal who I truly, uh, am the more we share our stories, the more people yeah the more, more.
Speaker 1:I can be the better version of myself because I don't have to hide these bollocks at who I am. When I stopped drinking 27 years ago, I was and I've got this life. Now, you know, I don't need money for grog or smokes or anything like that. I grow some of my food and you know I eat good food. Yeah, and I don't need tons of it anymore because I eat good stuff. I mean, you know, I listened to the last Jamie's podcast. He literally was spelling that out for people and I think I mean I can see it in you, I can see it in Shay, because I didn't recognize shape. First, because you guys have changed shape since I've seen you there a few months ago, because obviously you're eating well. You're eating well, which I think's the key yeah, it is. And then training and you're training slow.
Speaker 3:Well, jamie said, mate, like your six-pack's made in the kitchen, not in the gym, bloody oaf it is because you can't.
Speaker 1:You can't expose it unless you've cut all the fat off it. Yeah, you do that by eating protein and fat. And my training shifted, if you add into what they're saying, and my training is based on a guy called Phil Maffetone and he works on this theory of your heart rate, 180 minus your age, and if you fit, you add five beats on subtract five and you basically don't go over that training. So when I train now I don't go over 133 beats per minute. So my little watch starts beeping when I go over that. So I'm running, walking all the time, but I can go forever. When I race I don't do that because I can run faster.
Speaker 1:But, um, yeah, and it's an amazing way, it's called heart rate training and it's an amazing way it's called heart rate training and it's been going since the 70s. But this guy's never taken off. Like he said, you're never going to put that on an ad next to Gatorade in a running magazine, are you? Because he's saying make your own food and eat real shit, make your electrolytes out of honey, salt and water, it's perfect, and all this sort of stuff. So he said it's not going to sell running magazines, so they can't put it in.
Speaker 3:Is that what you use? Honey, salt and water?
Speaker 1:No, I use basically just salt and water. I do use a product called Infinite that we get sponsored by the guys, but I found it a long time ago. So anything that is connected to Run Queensland, queensland, sponsor wise, I either wear it or I take it that's, that's so so I don't have anything on there that I don't.
Speaker 1:So if you look for a sponsor, brett's involved with it, yeah, so, um, even, uh, red bull sometimes supplies with stuff which, to me, I wouldn't drink it every day, but I have that later on in a race and I gotta say it literally gives me wings. So, um, yeah, it switches my brain back on, yeah, when I'm kind of in that cloud and yeah.
Speaker 3:So, um, so do you, do you think so? You, you said you use the alcohol to to slow you down and and stay focused. Yeah, like, what is that? Does a running do that now?
Speaker 1:yeah, so um, yeah, it definitely switched my brain off because I, you know, I'd black out and not, uh, remember stuff and um, yeah, and I, and I started to get really unwell with that because I'd wake up paranoid wondering what have I done now, what have I said, who have I offended and all this sort of stuff. Yeah, at least now I know who I've offended. Yeah, so I sort of found the running and the longer I kind of went, the more peaceful I felt. And even though you're talking about the knees and the pain and that it's really weird, it's a weird thing to explain to people, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Because until you've done it thing to explain to people, isn't it because, like, until you've done it the the pain I experience equals joy to a degree it's a bizarre, it's it sounds stupid to say it, but um I'm with you, honestly, that last eight k's and the last kilometer, because those stupid signs they had there like, um, the last two k's was all downhill and some of it was quite steep and so it definitely slowed me down, but like I could and that was, I think, the last five or six k's we come back onto the same track that we started on.
Speaker 3:so I knew what we had to go down, yeah and uh, it just it made it really hard. But and like, by the finish line, like I was, I think I even said to one of the boys I'm literally gonna burst into tears when I cross this finish line. I can't believe we've done it. I've never done anything like that, but my knees were hurting. But then, like you just said, like I wanted to keep going, like I sat down, I had a bite to eat and I was like what's next? Like are we still going? Are we doing the next lap? Like what's? Um? But for me, doing these things and even, just like I said, the training to do these things, I believe is what's making me a better, a better dad, a better partner, a better business person, because it's building my resilience.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like I'm, I've got to keep pushing through pain, yeah, and I think it. Like I've definitely got bloody adhd and all that shit. I guarantee if I got tested I'd have that, but, um, my brain doing those walks because my brain doesn't stop either.
Speaker 3:My wife tells me all the time like just stop, yeah you're all over the place like, yeah, let's just finish the conversation. Um, let's finish this idea. Before we get on that idea like and but walking, and even like the training just leading up to it. Like we got some hills around home here and like on a weekend, one or two mates coming over, um, and like we're doing like on a sunday morning. Now we'll smash out 14, 15, 18 k's and we'll do it like it might be three, three and a half hours, but I come back from that walk just feeling like magic, yeah, like feel lighter, feel fresh, don't feel exhausted, and I think it's not only the walking, it's the conversation.
Speaker 1:Don't you get into it? But the other thing too is like I've ran with random people, like literally random people, um, and the things people reveal to you. Yeah, on those walks and I don't know whether it's the action of just walking that breaks that down and there's that there's definitely a um, like that metronome sound for me, like when I got on the trail you hear the your feet, so there's a peacefulness in that for me to start with, and then the conversations you get into. I've had wonderful things that I'm sure people I'm thinking surely you've not shared that with other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know about really kind of deep stuff, like you know things that are going on in their world and that, and I'm like it's pretty cool that you can kind of have that and I understand that. You know, I guess when you're in the conventional world it's always best foot forward. Yeah, you know, and I and you've, you guys, talk a lot about that on this and I can hear it with a lot of the guys that are sharing. You know the despair and stuff in what they've done. You know trying to set up businesses and you know, um, you know the ability for someone like you guys to come and share, like, some information with people and that, as though because you know, we're all being brought up with this, competitive, competitive, competitive and it's just such shit to me it's like man.
Speaker 1:That's just not creating a great community. It's just like there's enough for everyone to go around. But you know there's a few that want it all, I guess, or don't have enough.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not sure what it? Is mate. But I'm just so like I want to help the world, like I, just like you can see it in you, like I want to get to where you are, Like you're buzzing, like you're happy, like you're living the dream.
Speaker 1:Well, you know that call that I was on. So that's one of my friends, right? Because I'm going in a race in two weeks. Is it two weeks? Something like that 20th of June or whatever it is. That's less than two weeks, isn't it? Yeah, two weeks, whatever. And it's basically you've got to do 6.7 kilometers within the hour and be ready to go again on the top of the hour, and you keep going until only one person does one lap on their own. So I've done this a couple of times now and I've done 31 loops and 36 loops, which is 36 hours. So I've run 242 kilometers. Holy shit. But I was in the race where they first broke the world record.
Speaker 1:So, these guys, I was in a race I dropped out. I think I was about seventh or something, or no tenth, at 36 hours. The winners went for 102 hours. But over four days I've dropped out two and a half and was proud of myself. But one and a half, sorry, put a bit of GST on that.
Speaker 1:But the fellow that rung, I just rung him up and I said look, are you guys going out to this race? Because if I can get into night two, which will be over 36 hours, megan will want to have some sleep because she'll come out and hang out and do a bit of food for me. So it's like I'll get to hang out with her and all that. And he's just rung up and said look, we've booked a motel. This is what he's telling me. There. We're coming out, we can help with Megan for night two. So these two people that I'm friends with, that I've met through running and a common interest and all that sort of stuff. We've had great conversation. They're now coming out to help and I'm just like and simply asking I always found it hard to ask for help.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've ever been like that. Yeah, I don't like asking for help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do it all, try and do it. You were talking about Jack does this, jack does that in the other podcast. I was one of those. I'm doing all of it and I'm setting up for our race next weekend. I'm like I'm that guy. Yeah, I've got enough great guys in our team. That like sort of contract because it's smaller, um, just races every now and then. They could literally I could just say, go and do that, but I, I'm there, I don't know what I'm trying to demonstrate like I'm here, I'm part of it, love it, mate like that's, but I could.
Speaker 1:But I could, I don't have to. I could be doing other stuff, you know, and um.
Speaker 3:So what's what's run? Queensland, like what? So you're just, you're, you're organizing races at different locations, and so is there. Is there no other thing like that in Queensland? Oh?
Speaker 1:there's tons. I mean Kokoda's moved into the Sunshine Coast where we are, um, yeah, like we were probably one of the earlier races and I got motivated by a race called the Glasshouse 100 and then that race in America. I went to with that, dean Karnasas, I raced the race you talked about called Western States. Is that the one where you got your buckle? Yeah, the belt buckle mate Look.
Speaker 3:It's a bit of a lie.
Speaker 1:It says 100 miles in one day. Mine did 28 hours there, but you get a bronze buckle for that. I was trying to get the silver one. I just didn't have 24 hours in me on that day. But, um, you know, and I met that fellow there, dean canassas, and um, yeah, there was that inspiration to try and share my love of trail and then like, yeah, it's sort of blossomed, I guess, and it's pretty. I think it's a cool story and it's yeah it's sort of blossomed I guess, and it's pretty.
Speaker 1:I think it's a cool story and it's doing what we love and I know I actually you know, these are the kind of reasons why I meet people like you and and stuff I don't think it's like by chance anymore and I'm kind of.
Speaker 1:When I was coming down here I said to megan, you know we're trying to stop aquari expansion and stuff in the glasshouse. And I said you know, I don't even know really where we're going to go with this. I said you know, I know that I connected with duane and I've had a couple of texts with shay about different things over there, um, where he lives and um, you know, there's certain people you kind of meet and you feel like you, you know each other a bit or you get each other.
Speaker 3:It's that. Yeah, I just felt that. But I think I really connect with people that are the real deal and walk the walk and you can tell you do that because, like you're not just you weren't just there early on a Saturday morning going for a run. Like you're doing the growing your own food stuff at home and then like I want to talk to you about this other stuff, you got going on too. Like you're doing men's, you're doing something with men's yeah, yeah, look, I do.
Speaker 1:I do a men's group called common ground where we meet every. I mean, that's everywhere that's been going since 1996. Um, I meet every second monday and basically sometimes we'll just do processes and that. But then my youngest son and my son's 20, that you met Noah, he's 21 and I've always felt that one of the things my dad passed away a couple years ago that I regret is I just didn't have a great connection with him. Like it was always just I don't know like talk about the footy or whatever. There was no depth to anything. Yeah, and as he was passing away, I got to talk to him because I knew he was dying. He didn't think he was, actually, he thought he was frigging. Once they fixed his gut, he's right, I'm like dude, you're yellow, your liver's fucked. And he went fairly quick.
Speaker 1:But I started interviewing him, doing what we're doing and just sort of chatting and asking questions and asking about regrets and and they were all like nothing around money and and so I really try to connect with noah as much as I can. So we started a little group on every second sunday at our place and it's sort of um gone a little bit quiet at the moment because we'd been away, so it should kick back in this Sunday and we just sort of sit around and yarn up and then, like, basically what we'll do, a topic comes up, but you know, like we have a yarning stick and you listen to that person while they're sharing, like check in how things are going, and then usually from that a topic arises and then all of a sudden we're you know, we've had conversations with young blokes how to meet women, and I'm like what and how to communicate, because for them it's on phones and shit. And I'm like how would you do that? And they're saying how weird and how hard it is. And then I'm thinking, well, it must be like that for women and that too. And so all of a sudden I'm sitting there with this. You know, you don't know what. You don't know until you find out, sort of thing. And so all these great conversations are coming up.
Speaker 1:I'm learning more about my son there's. You know we've had from 17-year-olds to 72-year-olds sitting in circle with each other and you know we just go for about an hour and a half from about 3.30 to 5. Sometimes we'll have a feed after it if we feel like it. But yeah, everyone usually goes on their way, and yeah.
Speaker 1:I think it's just sharing, kind of pooling your resources, what you're doing with people.
Speaker 3:You're pooling people's resources. Everyone's just gotten so busy and everyone's lost. I feel like we've lost focus. We're so busy the world is so busy, trying to keep up with the Joneses that you've got yeah, mum and dad both working flat out. Kids doing everything they possibly can. Everyone buying shit that they don't need, that they can't really afford.
Speaker 3:So then, everyone's working more than they really need to be working, because if they don't work long enough, they can't buy what they want, because they need to buy what they want because they've seen it on social media. And everyone else is living this incredible life. Yeah. Like it's just all just fast paced, Like, whereas in reality, exactly how you're living your life is really what most people are trying to achieve.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, but it's not conventional thinking, it's sort of like frowned upon. It's like, well, like, I'm sort of like frowned upon. It's like well, like, I'm sort of. You know, it's funny because we mentioned about um, what did you say the other day? It's not a cost of living, it's a. What did you say?
Speaker 3:the problem was, it's not cost of living, it's there's not a cost of living crisis, there's a um there's a spending crisis right, yeah, and I had a discussion with um megan about that.
Speaker 1:Like I said, hey, what do you think of this? And she was like, no, no, I don't, I don't think that's right. And I said yeah, but this is the context. And we spoke about the context and I thought it is that because, if I like, I'm driving around in an old uh, I think it's a 2012 Colorado. I don't know much about cars, but it's useful for my races. I need a four-wheel drive and I've got a little van that I use when I want to go camp, a little express, you know, and it's perfect. Went around Taz in it. But I don't like you know, I'm not interested in owning a $100,000 car because I do not want the debt, because I know as soon as I'm done, I'm enslaved by it. It's a fucking slave mentality that I'm not willing to go down anymore. I've been there done it and it's brutal.
Speaker 3:It's all the way through society now, mate, like it's just a way to control. Like young people now don't have older vehicles. Like you're lucky to see a younger person driving around a vehicle that's more than 10 years old. Um, and then, like we see it, with apprentices like they, they all want to have the the best of everything.
Speaker 3:Like they'll go into debt to buy a fucking tool trailer yeah like, um, and then they deck it out with brand new tools and then they they still. But, but on top of that, like it's not, like that's good, they need that stuff to have their job. Yeah, but then on top of that, they want to eat out three, four nights a week. They want to be out all weekend with their mates, bloody, doing whatever you do like, there's this whole um like it.
Speaker 3:To me, it's it's okay to not have the best of everything. You don't need to have a new car all the time. So many people say that, like I, don't all my cars have a purpose. Like, I've had a few toys and that was probably a bit of a waste over the years, but every car I've ever had, even my big F truck now, it's all got a purpose. Like we have. It's always been to tow big trials or to do other things, and when I don't have that purpose anymore, I'll get rid of that vehicle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like, and I've never I've only ever had one new car in my life. Um, and every other car has been second hand. Like I don't need to have the best of everything. Yeah, it's okay. And I think the other thing is like, mate, I can't think of anything better. Like if it's not that I ever sit. Like if there's a time where I haven't got anything planned or I don't need I'm not working the yard or whatever. Like it's okay just to chill out at home and spend some time with the family. Like you don't need to be going out for breakfast and out for dinner and out for lunch and catching up with people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think people's brains have gone to mush because of the you know doom scrolling and and I mean I catch myself doing it and I'm like what? I mean it's funny because, um, mate, I might as well be advertising your podcast. You know, I listened to the one with jamie. Um, I find them really interesting because they're always different, but they're similar, they're similar themes and they're really motivating me to question things. Again. I start looking at my phone. I said to Megan are we watching this Netflix? Like? We spent about, I reckon, 30 minutes. We're getting the shits with each other because we can't pick a movie, because they're all shit. You know what I mean. Like they're so crap.
Speaker 3:Now there's too much to choose from, and they're crap because they're so fast made, like crap.
Speaker 1:Now much to choose from. And they're crap because they're so fast made, like you know they just quickly, because we're consuming, consuming, they have to try to keep up with us, yeah, and then I start looking and I thought I'm paying 12.99 a month or something for apple. I said have we got apple? Being gone, this is yesterday netflix. I said that's 19 bucks. I said you're kidding me and then I said when do we get prime again? So I looked and I think we're paying like $50 a month for shit. We're not even watching. I'm just like gone.
Speaker 3:Can you imagine how many people around the world are doing that? And those companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars just because people have got something there in case they want to watch something.
Speaker 1:I mean, fine, if you want to do it, but for me it's like I'm asking myself, like what am I doing with this stuff? Like I could be, like that money could be going towards another trip to japan or something like that, because as far as I'm concerned that's where it's at.
Speaker 1:you know, like just experiencing all this planet while I'm here and while everything's functioning like I'm like man, I want to see it, it's so good and um, yeah, so I'm sort of thinking we've got to question things and I think the other thing, like you said, like the keeping up with. Jones is one of my friends used to say if you want to impress someone, impress yourself yeah fuck it.
Speaker 1:I'm sick. I'm sick of trying to, like, make people happy and you, I'm sure, in your job. I mean the amount of emails we get. And we had to postpone a race, um in march because it was just flooded too wet. Yeah, it was fucked and we and national parks closed the park. There was a wet weather event, mate, the abuse I got and we offered people um partial refunds when I say partial was almost all of it. You could go to the new event, you could go to next year or we'll give you a credit to any one of our races, full credit. And, mate, a triple c this, a triple c that, and I thought great.
Speaker 1:So then, with our old friend, chat gbt, pt, is it um, now put it in. I find out all the documentation and a triple c stuff and I'm like, mate, we're going above and beyond what we need to do in this situation, but it's. But I've learned a lot from this where, like you know, I don't know if you've got the people, please a part in your like we'll do a survey. Say 400 people answer it. I'll get two negative feedbacks. Oh my God, it's like the end of the world for me. I'll focus on those two. I don't look at the 350 that had a brilliant time. They'd recommend it to their friends and all that, yeah, and it does my head in and I'm like like I've got better.
Speaker 3:I've had to really question a lot of the things that are driving this meat bag around I, um, I like the, the two, two, three weeks leading up to my event last friday, um, I went into overdrive with one of my coaches and, like I, because I knew like we had the, we bought these guys out from the states. One of them's very famous in the construction world, and I knew I was gonna just open myself up to something that I hadn't been exposed to before. And it happened, like we like, from wednesday to um friday, like over a three-day period, he's still releasing videos now, like a week later, um, that he took while he was here, but like over that three-day period, whatever, it was four or five videos that he released with me talking about things. Like there was over 800 000 views on instagram and so, obviously, with that many views, there's a lot of comments and we've got the odd bit of flack before, but, like I was like holy shit, how'd?
Speaker 3:you get brutalized. Oh, there was a lot of people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just giving it, giving it to me I'll have to make a cup of tea at home. I love that shit. I love the comments on that stuff and um, yeah, yeah it did.
Speaker 3:It hit me pretty hard and was like fuck it, I don't even need to read any of these, I don't even need to respond to them, but just it's that tall poppy syndrome. Like people just not. Oh yeah. And I felt bad about two of the videos because literally mate to give a bit of background like this is the thing. People don't know the context of things. So like I've been following matt for like 10 years or more.
Speaker 3:He, he's the one that's inspired me to do what I'm doing now. Yeah, he's your dean carnasas. Yeah, and like, all of a sudden, like I've met him in brisbane for the first time, I've picked him up from his hotel, he's sitting in my truck and like it was literally 15 minutes from when I first met him, or 20 minutes to when we're on our first job site, and like, mate, I didn't even know the videos were gonna start, but like he's, that's just what he does. Like he's into it. Like I'm walking around to show him the job. And next thing he's like, hey, duane, I turn around the camera's on and he's like, what do we got here, like talk us through this.
Speaker 3:And I did. There's a few little like there's two videos where I was like he asked me about timber and windows and stuff. I'm like, oh, mate, I'll have to check on that. I was fucking nervous as anything. There was no. Like, hey, dwayne, let's walk around this job. Once we've had a look, we'll choose what we're going to do. Some videos on no time for preparation, and I'm over it now. I've had the weekend to work through it. But if you're going to put yourself out there and you're going to make a difference, people are going to give you shit Especially when it's new, because it freaks people out because it's like, oh shit, we can't do this differently.
Speaker 1:We've always done this and because it's comfortable. Fuck that, that's the other thing with the long running Get you out of your comfort zone. You're gonna be uncomfortable, but I mean, I'd love to like as the guys sitting here ask you about that, because I from the event space yeah, this is another thing we've definitely got in common. This was your first event and you just said you've flown a bloke out from america. We got to do that with dean carnasso, so I got to sit in the car with, yeah, he came out when I went to the race I'll quickly, just quickly. When Dean came, I went to the Western States in 2018 and finally got to, and you have to go in a lottery to get in this race. It's hard to get in. Fucking thousands of people try to get in it. Now. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare, yeah, and you build tickets up each year. You have to qualify and build tickets up.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we got in and I'm sitting there with Noah and he knew Dean and he said, hey, is that Dean up in the stands there? I said, yeah, he must have got in on the wait list. Anyway, we run out and take a photo and I throw one of our event shirts into his bag and I'm sitting at home and I and he said I've got a space in my calendar the next minute. This huge thing's rolling and this guy that you know, I've read his book and you know he gets starstruck. We're down at the airport now waiting for Dean Karnasas at Brisbane airport in 2019. And he rocks up, you know, and I've got him at my house and he's crook and I go for a run with him. To Gungny I said, mate, I just love to go for a run with you and he's as sick as a dog because he's traveled three time zones, but he's that kind of guy goes for a run with me and runs our race, crook.
Speaker 1:And um, yeah, it's, it's that moment, isn't it, that you're starstruck and it makes but it makes sense because you've, they've, um, they've created an environment for you to get motivated. Yeah, yeah, like it made.
Speaker 3:I it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday, Like I was absolutely exhausted, but we finished the event on Friday and I, just I, was incredibly proud. I was bloody, the wife and I were just over the moon and just yeah, I can't explain the feeling. It was incredible and just yeah, I can't explain the feeling it was incredible.
Speaker 1:So it was you, Camille, and Shea Shea. You put this thing together, right, Mostly so, mate all.
Speaker 3:I've heard for the last. Well, since the event is how the hell did you do that Like? It normally takes a whole company to pull off something like that. Like you don't know what you've done. Normally takes a whole company to pull off something like that Like you don't know what you've done. Yeah, Like the last two weeks prior to that event it was Mate, Camille and I were up to 10, 10.30, 11 every night like just trying to get shit finished, wrap shit up, make sure everything's all right, Like it was a.
Speaker 1:I definitely underestimated how big it was and I guarantee you would have probably made that or a negative sign on it. I'd be very surprised after all your costs on a first event. If you've made money, you're a legend.
Speaker 3:Mate, we haven't reviewed our numbers yet. After all, your costs on a first event, if you've made money, you're a legend, mate. We and I'd be we haven't reviewed our numbers yet, but I, we, we're probably going to be out of pocket somewhere around 140 thousand dollars. Yeah, and that happened with my first race. But I I went into it knowing that like I went into it knowing like camille was very nervous about, but I went into it with in the mindset that if this event cost me 80 to 100 grand, I'm fine with that, like I it'll hurt, but it's done what it meant to do. Like I wanted to show people that I'm not stuffing around, like I'm serious, I'm on a mission, I want to change an industry. Yeah, and if this is what I got to do, then that's what I got to do. And the feedback yes, it cost us a lot of money, mate, but I guarantee you that will come back tenfold. We've already got people asking about what dates next year. When are we coming? We're bringing our team. It'll be bigger, better, badder.
Speaker 1:Mate, I'm interested in your exhibition stalls because I go to the Gold Coast Marathon and promote and it's expensive but you know we'll get road runners that might see us. But a lot of people will know Run Queensland there and I'm kind of like, okay, I want people to know that you can come and walk out. We're not racing. There's a couple of you know, 10 to 20 fast people that will come and they just carve the course up, but the most people there are people that train a bit and come and have a good time. That's what we're about. Come and this is your thing and you can find that. So how?
Speaker 1:many people do you get at a race? Blackall's 1,000. Holy doy, yeah, it's big. We're not dicking around the one at Yandina in two weeks at the moment it's about 8.30, and that's with like loads of people pulling out and new people coming in. The Rainbow Beach one, it's nearly sold out. That's on the 2nd of August. There's 600 we can take in that. I had to battle to get another 100 because you know they'll let you build on Lake Poonah but they're worried about 200 sets of feet damaging the fucking sand. But you know. So just all the paperwork, you guys know this shit, it's just all red tape.
Speaker 1:I mean and all the people I deal with are brilliant people, but it's the system it sucks. It's so hard to do anything, and I get it. They're trying to protect things, but you know we're talking about people being fit and healthy and having fun. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I feel your pain, like with the governments and things, because we had I won't name names but like we reached out to a lot of people to attend my event- like associations, industry bodies and things, and we pretty much got told no one will come, like as if a trading builder is going to pay to come to a conference, like that, like and um. It's funny because we had a few people from these turn up later in the day and, uh, one one of them in particular was like just walking around, gobsmacked, like drawing the ground, like how have you done this? Like we, we do events for the industry all the time. Like we're lucky to get 40, maybe 50 people. Like how have you ended up with 400 to 500 in a room, like in a shed? I was like because they fucking believe in what I'm doing. Like I believe in them, like we're going to change things.
Speaker 1:Well, jamie said it the other day what did trusted uh expert or something like that. He called you, that was. You used the term twice. It wasn't that term, but it was something like that. Yeah, you've made shay, honestly, yeah, bloody legend. Um, that's because I'm getting old, me memory shit, like most of it sits there, um, it is, and it's like um, you know, you can sit there and you can hear. You can hear people's passion and when, and for me, when I can hear that I'm all ears like I'm, you know when, people's passion, and for me, when I can hear that. I'm all ears. I love that.
Speaker 1:When people are bullshitting, I'm just like I've got no time for it anymore. I'm just like, yeah, and you can hear it. I mean, I was trying to work out how I was going to be able to come down. We had something on on Friday but, yeah, we couldn't get there and I was going to come because I was interested in seeing it, you know. But I want to know about the stall because I'm like if you're going to have, you'll get more next year, I think you had about 600 people or something attend.
Speaker 3:The rain really buggered us up. So the conference part of it, we ended up with 430 odd yeah. And then for the trade show part there was there was another. Well, all up through the gates we had just over 800. So there's nearly 400, or not quite 400, to the trade stalls and stuff as well, but we had, um, I think it was over 1500 registered, but it it started pissing down right in the afternoon.
Speaker 3:but it's um, they will do stuff in the future for sure, like sure, like we'll be doing a level up run. Mate that'd be wicked.
Speaker 1:I think like, and from that it just builds because those people have had a good time. They're telling two, three people and next minute it rolls on and I kind of feel like that. For me when I'm doing my stuff is the big thing. It's like with the garden. It's funny because people come to the garden and I just take cuttings and give all this stuff away and you know where I had to buy it all. And I'm like, mate, if you're going to like regen this planet and put some cover over this bloody thing?
Speaker 1:I'm all for it, mate Like, let's bloody help each other out.
Speaker 3:Mate, collaboration is the only way we're going to fix things, and I'm massive for it, and I'll mention something now that I probably shouldn't, but my event was to just make this movement that I'm creating skyrocket, and so I actually put a message, email, whatever you want to call it, but I realized that not everyone's going to resonate with me.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 3:And just like I talk about all the time with tradies, builders, architects, designers we all have to collaborate to get a good outcome for the clients and a good outcome for our industry. So I did this field deal and, uh, I sent it out to all the other builders, coaches, tradie coaches, mentors, businesses that I that pop up on my instagram, and I basically just said to them exactly that, like, hey guys, how you going love what you do, see your stuff on instagram. Um, not sure if you've seen me before. My name is dwayne pierce.
Speaker 3:I do this, this, this I'm having this big event and I said I'm reaching out to you because I understand that not everyone's going to resonate with me and they might resonate with you and if we truly want to change this industry, we all need to work together and basically let them know that if they chose to come to the event I was going to give, I was prepared to give them a few free tickets to give to their members and I wouldn't promote any of my businesses there. It was purely just to promote the business. One responded to me to say thanks very much for the invite, but I've already got something on that day and I can't make it. So there's all these people out there saying they want to help an industry, do this, change that, but they're doing it for the wrong reasons, mate. They're not genuine about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's funny. I've seen that like in the running there's people that drive as money. And when I was with the Post I was playing the corporate ladder thing through the middle management bollocks and you know, the guy said money's not a motivator and I was like hmm, and he was an amazing guy, and he even sort of said can you motivate someone? And we all put our hand up, yes, and he said you can't. He said motivation's intrinsic, it's got to come from within. He said you can create an environment for people to be motivated. He said you can try and bash them over the head with a stick and he said try to see how long that works. He said that you know that you'll eventually eventually beat him into submission and stuff.
Speaker 1:And I think that, yeah, like the, the course that you guys are on here by just staying at it changes anyway, it's that way. It's like um, you know, um, where we've got a kind of a I guess a battle, you would say um in the glass house and we cop abuse about it all the bloody time. But I'm kind of like um, it's like with a quarry expansion, which is funny that I'm on this, because I was like, oh, do you talk about quarries on here and I thought well yeah, it's a bloody thing.
Speaker 1:Know, we've got this quarry expansion going on in the glasshouse and it was fought tooth and nail when it was first opened in the 80s and 90s. It got bigger. It's right under Mount Canara and it's literally under the national parks there. You know these things in the, these mountains are in the passports. They're used in all the thing. You know, when it blasts it's like an explosion on our house, it rattles the old house and it's got to be damaging the mountain.
Speaker 1:But no one does any testing or anything like that, because quarries in Australia are self-assessing. Did you know that? No, self-assessing. So no one goes into quarries, especially in Queensland. They just do their own self-assessments and stuff. But they want to expand this quarry to double it. So if you go through Glasshouse I don't know if you guys climb Gungun at all, but you go through the township. At the moment there's about I think it's round roughly. We've counted about 160 movements a day. They want to double that to um, they pretty much 312, so I'd assume more because they say average. So it's a truck every three minutes going past schools, you know, right through new estates and all this sort of stuff.
Speaker 1:And we're sort of saying to the politicians, because everyone thinks we're against quarries, oh, we want to close all quarries. I've never been an activist or anything like that and I'm like I've got a gravel driveway, for christ's sake, like I get it, and we need quarries. I'm not a dickhead or anything like that, but you know, surely there's got to be appropriateness and thoughtfulness about where this is. This is under cultural. You know cultural aspects, health aspects. You know protecting nature it's all national parks, like you know. So we cop a bit about it but we're not saying about there's a quarry 5k's way that no one's worried about and they do the same product. But I got to a point where I'm like if you don't speak up and say something, you're just letting it slide and people walk over you. And if we don't change it and I think that's the other thing I appreciate You're passionate about it.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm passionate about the environment, yeah, and especially you know this one here in the sunny coast. You know, and you know I suppose that's what I love hearing about you guys trying to change how houses are built and stuff and recycling house. You know that one, you. So how cool is that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we've got to release the data on that.
Speaker 1:We've got all the numbers that now, so we'll get a video out on that shortly. But do you cop much shit about or trying to do?
Speaker 3:all this or much flack, or is it like being well received everyone? We actually we've had two emails come in now from um people saying, oh, we're about to start a a build. We've got to knock down an existing house. The builder isn't interested in recycling. Do you want to come recycle it? So might have to start a recycling business. What a great idea, though, but um, oh, look, I, my biggest thing, what I live my life by now, mate, is like I, I walk the walk. If I believe in something, I just I, I go. I don't give a shit about what people think, what people say. Like I'm doing it because I want to do it. Yeah, and it's, there's so many. Like I've got a lot of drivers now. Like doing what I'm doing is allowing me to meet incredible people like yourself. Like my relationship with my wife and kids is getting better the more I get better. Yeah, the clients we work with are getting better and better.
Speaker 1:It's just I don't know. It's a reflection of yourself.
Speaker 3:Well, so one thing I talked about I opened up the day on Friday, obviously. Yeah, well, I got actually Hector. Hector came on stage, introduced, did a little spiel and then introduced me, but, um, my opening spiel on friday to the audience was we've, you've got to believe in yourself, like, really, that's, you've got to believe in yourself and you've got to believe what you're doing is the right thing to do. Yeah, and I feel like so many, and I feel like the reason I can talk about this so openly and honestly is because I've been the person that doesn't believe, and I think the the answer, like there's a everyone thinks it's this secret formula, but the answer is actually you've got to believe in things like how many people and I know I've done this as well like how many people go to a conference and you go there because you want something.
Speaker 3:You see someone giving a spiel or promising that you're going to learn something or that you're going to be able to earn so much money or going to be able to buy investment houses, whatever it is, and so you go there for that. Most people, before they've even got to that event or within the first 10 minutes of hearing the opening speech, are already telling themselves this is bullshit, like it's they've got heaps of money or they've been bought up around money or they this that. Whatever, they're already telling themselves excuses about why it's going to fail. Yeah, if they just flicked the switch and sat there and took notes, went away and implemented what they'd been told and believed in it, it would happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I think that's the programming of school and stuff. I mean, you know, when we used to do exams at school in the olden days, they were actually for teachers to show what the kids didn't know. Now they're to bloody grade you to make you feel like shit because you don't know the stuff, can you? Imagine that like so they turned into something that they weren't designed for.
Speaker 1:They're actually for the teacher to say oh, I'm missing the information for that child not now yeah you just, you know, like a like this, um person that's dumb or whatever like that, and school doesn't suit everyone. I mean, I think school was a waste of 12 years for me, other than partying, and especially in grade 12 in Sydney, because everyone's turning 18. It was like a massive piss up. I just failed miserably. But I was good at year 10 and shit by year 12.
Speaker 3:Look at you now, Matt. You're kicking girls.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I think success is different. Success for me is not about what I've got or anything like that. It's being married for 26 years For me. I find that a miracle because I I was.
Speaker 3:I'm not great well, you chose the right, you made the right decision. She's a good one. But no, when you, when you got the decision from you, the vb can oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah I chose the right one.
Speaker 1:But you know, like we've been from westies out in blacktown, like we didn't have a lot to, to know that we wanted something different.
Speaker 3:And we you know especially megan Megan, she's great with change- but what I say when you're successful, you know what success means to you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you've said that a lot too, haven't you? I reckon that's what most people don't understand.
Speaker 3:They're not trying to achieve their success, they're trying to achieve someone else's.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Society's success, yeah, you're right. The school success oh, if I get a uni degree, I'm successful, but they're not happy still. Or I've done this and you know this. Happiness is not.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there, yeah, yeah and you might agree with this like you're, because you're content with your success. Yeah, you're happy.
Speaker 1:So because you're happy, everything else just falls into place yeah, look, and the other thing too I haven't got this um, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow thing because I've got another friend that like owns a really big business and he he's all about like growth. And I said, yeah, I'm not that interested, though I said like I'm happy to make sure that what I do is really good quality and people have a great time and they're safe and we've got the best tracks we can have. But I don't want to be pushing myself all the time like to be just in that space of like wanting more to feel okay you know?
Speaker 3:do you know what I mean? Like it's just, it's that I forget the uh, that story about the fishermen in the village.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, all he wanted to do was go fishing. Yeah, the Greek fisherman in the olive farm.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, like it's true. That's how life works, oh.
Speaker 1:I had a great guy in AA. He told me once he drove from Newcastle off his chops he reckons I don't know if he meant pissed or what he just nightmare drove from newcastle all the way to cairns, right non-stop. He said I was just going nuts. And he said I knocked on what they call a sponsor. I knocked on my sponsor's door and he said he sat me down and gave me a cup of tea. And I'm kind of like wired from all this driving.
Speaker 1:And he said what, what do you want? What is it that you want? He said I just want to be happy. And he said while you're chasing it, you're never going to have it. Yeah, and I'm like it's so true, it's just if you can just stop long enough sometimes and just see it and and these conversations, like I can feel my energy back. I'm ready to do big stuff in this race. I'm ready for my because I'm having a, a meaningful thing. Yeah, and you know, part of me is like there's a part of me in the background now and then saying what he have you been talking about? I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't even know how we've been talking about it. So I'm kind of thinking, oh, this will be interesting because my Lily she's on a bit of the social. You know, dwayne doesn't get that many watches on YouTube. Dad, I see he did with his Jared Renick one the Renick one, he pumped it I said he's well over 12 000 on that youtube. We're not.
Speaker 1:We don't push youtube somewhere where people watch and we don't push that. That's my new netflix, yeah, I know where, but you know what I mean. Like it's really funny. So there's that part of me that it's it's more about what I'm saying about me, like will anyone connect? And then. And then there's a part of me that says, if they do, they do, and if they switch it off, they haven't connected and that's okay.
Speaker 3:And yeah, no, I look like I said before. My brain doesn't stop thinking. I got millions of ideas even just sitting here while we're talking, like we're gonna do a level up run with this bloke like yeah we, uh, we'll have to do something take on, uh.
Speaker 3:but, mate, I really appreciate you coming down. You've driven down from the glasshouse this afternoon and had a chat. I can see this is going to be another long-term relationship, I think. I reckon We'll chew the fat every now and then. I'm keen to get up and have one of these yarning stick conversations.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'd love you to come up yeah, I'll shoot it through to Shea. Have one of these yarning stick? Oh, I'd love you to come up. Yeah, I'll shoot it through the show and um, yeah, it kind of really um thrives when you know there's a lot of different people sharing themselves. The younger blokes are a little bit more reluctant, which I kind of get. I mean, I couldn't imagine doing that when I was 21. Well, I wouldn't have done it, um, but I think it's one of those parts of we don't have that culture here in australia. We don't really have culture in australia, to be honest.
Speaker 1:But um yeah, you know, I think if we can kind of create that space for people to kind of be what we, we would have done that we would have gone hunting and then come back and probably messed around and yarned up and then done a bit more hunting later or something you know. But you don't get to do that. It's just, yeah, you're just that space to just be able to sit and yeah, we've got 10 acres there. Yeah, I did a lot of building or you know, gardening sort of stuff when COVID hit, but I just did it all by hand. I was digging massive amounts of circle pits and everything out.
Speaker 3:How good did it make you feel Loved it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I reckon.
Speaker 1:COVID was one of the best times of my life. I loved it Just at home, nothing to do.
Speaker 3:Well, it was the best time of your life for people that just got back to roots. Basic, but it was a horrible time for people that were scared of losing their privileges.
Speaker 1:Wasn't it. Yeah, yeah, I think.
Speaker 3:If you just went, fuck it, I don't need any of this. Take it all, I don't care. Yeah, you were happy. It was.
Speaker 1:But if you were sitting at home?
Speaker 3:like fuck, I can't go to the movies. It was. If you're sitting at home like fuck, I can't go to the movies. Oh, I can't travel. Oh, I can't go to work like oh, I can't pay like that's all it was. It was.
Speaker 1:That was a perfect example of how privileged we are in this world yeah, it was, yeah, it was brilliant, like because now you're sort of saying I mean, we used to have um, I'd sit one of this lady, um rocked up and lives in a van on our place at the moment, like a Mercedes thing in the 70s, and I'd sit there because I had all the time in the world we'd sit for sunrise and have the sunrise symphony because you've got all the birds. You know the birds were really active and yeah, just all that. You know those little things that you miss when you've got life flying by.
Speaker 3:Mate, one thing I try and do every morning is see the sun come up. Yeah, so I try and do every morning is see the sun come up. Yeah, so I just it's my time with me and my dog.
Speaker 3:Um, I, generally I'm always up before the sun comes up and I, yeah, walk downstairs, get a big glass water, open that door, um, and literally just look through the trees out the backyard and that's what we're meant to do talk to the dog and watch the sun come up yeah being a human yeah, and just reflect on well, I don't even reflect generally at that time of the morning like I literally just sit there and think how grateful I am that I can sit here with my dog and watch the sun come up, yeah, getting the blue, getting the blue light and that beautiful, uh, melatonin, I think it isn't it.
Speaker 1:No, melatonin, melanin melanin. I think it's melanin. Someone that kicks up kicks the uh, kicks you into the day and helps you stop getting skin cancers and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but, mate, we'll wrap it up. I really appreciate you coming down. I love the chat. How can people get in contact with you if they want to have a run and stuff?
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, with Run Queensland, you can find us on the socials. We've got like Facebook for Run Queensland, instagram, then the website's just wwwrunqueenslandqldcomau. Yeah, just have a look at the events and if you need any information about it, just shoot us an email. That's all on the website. Yeah, we just mostly want to get people connected to the land. We have all the first aid and checkpoints with all the different food around it. Yeah, just come out and have a good time.
Speaker 3:Oh, guys, if you're interested and you want to try something different, I'm going to have a crack mate. I think I need to do a little bit more training, but I think it's something I'll really enjoy, so we'll be catching up.
Speaker 1:I was trying to get you tradies to come up for the one at the brewery at Yandere in the next week, but I think yous are busy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, short notice on that one, but, guys, if anyone's listening, reach out to Brett and the team. I know they would do a great job because I know what a legend this bloke is. So, look, guys, as always, like share, comment all those types of things and stay tuned, because look, after the success of our event last week, we will definitely be doing more events, so stay tuned. We'll keep you up to date with what's coming, but please help us continue to make this Australia's number one construction podcast by helping you live a better life so that you can deliver your clients better projects are you ready to build smarter, live better and enjoy life?
Speaker 1:then head over to live like build, comm forward, slash, elevate to get started.
Speaker 2:Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with me, dwayne Pearce, is based solely on my own personal experiences and those experiences of my guests. The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only, and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. We recommend that you obtain your own professional advice in respect to the topics discussed during this podcast.