Champion runner unleashes Indigenous potential

The Indigenous Marathon Foundation
Passionate. Inspirational. Determined

Marathon great Robert de Castella AO MBE is proud of his sporting feats but says his greatest achievement has been helping Indigenous Australians.

The Commonwealth Games marathon champion and Olympian founded and directs the Indigenous Marathon Foundation.

Through its Indigenous Marathon Project (IMP) and five thousand-strong Deadly Running Groups, the foundation promotes a healthy lifestyle and trains young Indigenous men and women to lead the charge.

Each year, 12 Indigenous men and women aged 18 to 30 are selected for the IMP. They train for the New York City Marathon and are provided with mentoring and funding to help them with their careers and personal development and also to establish health and fitness groups in their communities.

Graduates of the program have gone on to set up their own businesses, study medicine and make an impact on health outcomes, with one young man raising enough funds for a dialysis machine in his remote community.

“Indigenous Australians are significantly disadvantaged compared with other Australians, highlighted by an approximate ten-year gap in life expectancy, lower education levels, unemployment and chronic disease,” says Robert, who was Australian of the Year in 1983.

He is proud and humbled to be named a Westfield Local Hero. “It means the work of the foundation is being recognised, including showcasing the resilience and achievement and the beautiful, rich Indigenous culture we have in Australia.”

Robert primarily sees himself as “a mouthpiece for a whole host of amazing agents of change who are very passionate about providing a better future for their children and their community”.

In 2014 Robert was named an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community through programs promoting children's health and fitness, as a supporter and mentor of young Indigenous men and women and for service to marathon running.

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation.

The foundation will use its grant to host a three-day coaching and mental health workshop for IMP graduates.

It will help them unleash their inner potential, says Robert.

__For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here. __