Australian man runs marathon while pushing lawnmower

As runners tied up their shoelaces and stretched their calves for Sunday’s Newcastle Marathon in New South Wales, Australia, one local dad checked his wheels and made sure his catcher was secure, pushing a Victa Corvette 400 gas-powered lawnmower for 42.2 kilometres while raising money to help Australia’s Youth Mental Health Foundation.

The idea to do something special came to Daniel Robinson while he was mowing his lawn. He has previously done other challenges to raise money for the same foundation; for example, last year, he spent 12 hours running up and down Newcastle’s Mount Tomaree, doing 40 push-ups at the top, on every lap.

“I wanted to run a marathon while doing something that I haven’t seen before,” said Robinson to local news. “It took me a while to think it up, but I loved the idea of pushing myself and my lawnmower.”

Robinson finished the marathon in a time of 4:04:37, crossing the line in 198th place out of 500 runners. Robinson said the hardest part was making sure he didn’t trip or “mow” anyone down.

Youth mental health is an important cause close to Robinson’s heart. “Each year, one in four young people experience a mental health issue, and 75 per cent of mental health disorders emerge before a person turns 25,” said Robinson. “Sadly, suicide is still the leading cause of death for young people in Australia.”

Robinson’s goal is to raise $20,000 for Australia’s Youth Mental Health Foundation, he’s currently about half of the way there. 

posted Wednesday April 19th
by Marley Dickinson