#87 | 446km For 446,000 People suffering | ISP

Cameron is a heavy diesel mechanic by trade but has something a little different on his plate.

Cameron shares his story of what is it like to live and watch his grandparents battle dementia. Cameron has dedicated his run of 446km for the 446,000 people suffering every day with dementia.

Enjoy the Episode 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Staff. You're tapping on the desk a little bit. Oh, was I? Yeah, well, pretty much every time you speak, you're tapping, but it's way more noticeable. Because I'm cold as well.

SPEAKER_05 0:10

Jim, does that mean I have to stop holding them?

SPEAKER_06 0:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Welcome back to the NSTAC podcast, the number one trading podcast in Australia. Um JP.

SPEAKER_05 0:27

Today we're talking about. What were we talking about?

SPEAKER_03 0:32

I have no idea. I've actually forgotten a little bit. Um oh dementia. That's what it was. That's what it was. I'm sorry. Sorry, we had to love it. Um and then yeah, we have a guest on actually doing something absolutely amazing. Um, I just wanted to let you know that uh my dog Ava, she's at home, she's nice and safe. Um, and no one dies from wet socks. So And then my dog's name is Ava as well, so that's crazy. That M told me to say that, just saying.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

You're not dog not A. I thought you were fucking tripping then. I was like, holy shit, that's name too.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

No, no, M told me to say that, so blame M. Um, just saying, but no, we have we have a guest on that is doing something uh super remarkable, something that we don't have the balls to do, uh, especially JP because he can't bend or run for shit.

SPEAKER_05 1:22

My tires are flat. We talked about this before.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Um, but Cam, I want to know. Um, tell everyone about your story, what you're doing, um, because yeah, it's super inspiring and I want to know more about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, so pretty much we're here. We're rocked up in Jero today. Um, this next challenge of mine is doing 446 kilometres for dementia. That number's sort of come from the 446,000 people in Australia are affected by dementia. So that's kind of where that whole sort of thought process came from. And yeah, seeing my grandparents sort of suffering with the disease has sort of been my driving force into wanting to do something, and running's been my thing. So I thought, what a way to sort of tie it all in together.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Yeah. Beautiful. How how did you get into running?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

It was kind of a a whirlwind of a lot of things. Like it probably fully started, like the whole journey kind of started from when I was younger. Like I had a pretty serious head injury when I was 12. Um, so I was doing a lot of sort of all sorts of sports up until that point. Um, and then obviously had surgery that kind of you know stopped a lot of things. I was doing Taekwondo mainly, so it was like getting kicked in the head wasn't really high on the list. And then so I sort of just did what I could until till then and started my trade real young. So heavy duty is a mechanic. So sort of that took the the heavy drive explained it. Yeah, yeah. It was like maybe not thinking straight of why you go into that nuts and bolts, and yeah, not the smartest tool in the shed. But um, yes, it did all that, and then it was literally uh what did I do next? Well, it was I started training in Ninja Warrior gym, so doing all the obstacles and all bits and pieces, and then that was kind of a slippery slope of doing the TV show in Oz, and then I went over and was competing in the States and doing all the yeah TV shows over there. I went to France last year and that caught kind of came out of the blue. But yeah, so that all happened, but pretty long, pretty much long story short, was COVID happened. Everything I was training for was either in America or over East for Ninja. I went, what can I do? So I can run around the block with my dog. And that's what I did. And then, yeah, my old boy he ran Ultras back in the day, so that seed was already planted. Like I sort of started running and doing like the tie between, like the obstacle course, like true grit kind of stuff. So like five Ks. And then yeah, like three months later, I ran my first 75. And then it just sort of was a slippery slope of then to just keep going. And about six months after that, I ran my first hundred miles, so and then it's just been an ongoing course from there.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

Bro's done some stuff, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

It was quick, and I've had all the injuries in between. Like I sort of learnt that the hard way of stress fractures and bits and pieces, and just sort of rebuilding and and coming back off them. And yeah, it's just ended up kept getting bigger.

SPEAKER_05 4:15

Jesus. What do you think your oddometer's at?

unknown 4:17

Oh fuck.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

It's a 40 series at this point, I think. No, no, I'm pretty young in the sport, man. Like, I don't know if yeah, how many people have seen sort of the ultra marathon thing, and it's becoming more and more of a thing on Instagram or you know, seeing all people doing charity runs or, you know, ultras and big K's, like that was never the case. But you go to races and like my first hundred mile, I ran with two guys and they were both late 50s. Like, you know, those dudes are running like three to hundreds miles a year, like another three to four hundred miles a year. Like my odometer is not even fucking touching anything that they're close to. So yeah, like I've done some K's and I've done some stuff, but in in the actual scheme of things, it's it's still pretty low.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

So for us retarded folk, how much is a hundred mile in kilometers? 100 miles to 160. 160 kilometers. Yeah. Damn.

SPEAKER_05 5:11

You reckon you could run that? I could do a hundred nautical mile. That's 1.8.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

You can do shit. In a boat, obviously. Yeah. You did the ninja stuff as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

That's um, that's cool. That's sick.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah, it was um that was sort of a thing to just put all my time and energy into, really. Like I sort of by then, by the time I sort of got a bit better at ninja and started like yeah, traveling and doing that sort of stuff, I'd finish my trade and could sort of just go and yeah, train and got to go to America like three times, I think. For it, for Ninja, yeah. So went like got flown to Vegas when I was 20 and for Team Australia, and there was like five of us that got picked to go compete against like all the Americans and Europeans and stuff. So that was, yeah, real cool. And a couple other events, and then yeah, I kind of stopped and I was literally just running and in the like mix of all this last year. I was like, yep, my running's going good. I was coming off another injury from running, and then got a call from France, and they're like, we want to fly you to France to go compete over there for ninja. I'm like, I haven't touched ninja in like three years, and they're like, Yeah, no, we want you over. So, and then I ended up tearing all the ligaments off my ankle, so then that was like that put me back in running again. So then I was just like a rebuilding phase again, and then sort of started doing all the um Neddy Brockman's uncomfortable challenges. So, yeah, two years ago did 50k a day for 10 days, and that was while working too, um, which was fucking stupid. Yeah, it was and like I'd split it up to like do 25 in the morning, 25 at night, but it was so much easier just doing it in one chunk, and then you had that full like 19 hours or whatever to recover. And then uh last year I did half Iron Man every day for 10 days. Um, so that was I didn't work for that. But yeah, swimming's not fucking no joke, man. I hate swimming, like I didn't train swimming at all. Like I hadn't been in a pool since I was in high school, probably, and I just went, I'll figure it out when I'm there. Yeah, and yeah, did and and that was fine. But so it's sort of, yeah, as as a collector, I sort of just found something and then it's you sort of just pursue that.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah. So you love pain? Yeah, I guess you can, yeah. So yeah. What's what's the worst injury that you've you've had? Heartbreak.

SPEAKER_06 7:34

Having a leaf when a dog at home.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Um the the stressy so stress stress fracture that is in my tibia, so just below my knee. That was probably my worst and ongoing thing. So I did a a backyard ultra, which I'm not sure if you guys have circles. Two circles in your backyard. Yeah, pretty much just it's like 6.7k loop every hour on the hour, just until there's one person left. And it was around Herdsman Late back in Perth. And I just had a shocking, like, so I did my first 100 miler in November. This race was March. So I was like, yeah, I should be right by then. Like done 100 miles, so I should be able to push pretty hard. And then was just having a heap of leg dramas, and I was like, this is I'm just gonna pull the pin early, had a heap of you know, ITB and everything locking up. And I was like, it doesn't mean anything. I'll I'll drop. And then I signed up for the same hundred miler I did the year before. Because I was like, oh, it was a fairly good time year later. I forgot about all the shit it was, and then um, yes, it did that, but the build to that was fucking horrendous. I just couldn't string a week together where it just wasn't painful, my leg wasn't giving me grief. So, but then I was like, well, fuck, I've signed up. Like, what's the worst that can happen? Kind of thing. I was like, saw some physios, and doctors are like, well, your ITV's sore, that's about as far as it'll go. I'm like, well, all right, I can deal with that. So the race I did was a midnight start, so it was get dropped in the middle of the bush, run back to Perth pretty much. And I got like 20k in, I was like, Yeah, we're in for a fucking long day here. Like it's not good. Like I was already sort of limping. I got to 70k was the first place I saw like my crew and and dad. I was like, just I don't care how much fucking tape you use, just tape my whole fucking leg up. Like, just let's see what we can do. And then the next 50k took me ages. It was like 11 hours just like walking through the bush. It was yeah, not nice. And then by then, like stupidly, I sort of went, I got to 130k. So it was like just hustled it till then, and I was like, well, maybe I can try and avoid like long-term damage here, like something's really off. It had been for the last 20 odd hours. Like, let's just call it a day and see what's going on. And sort of promised everyone around me that because I don't like doctors and hospitals and all the fuck around of that, but promised everyone around me I'd go get a scan. So when I got a scan, they're like, Yeah, you've fractured your leg, um, which was a stress fracture probably about three months ago when that backyard was, but then I've kept running on it and they're like, You've pretty much made it into it, you've pretty much broken your leg. Um running, just from yeah, continuing to run on it. So I'd say that's definitely up there for the worst injury and just time, like the bone bone takes a long time, like muscles fast. So if you tear them, like tear your hammy, it can be sort of sorted pretty quick. But that was a long process, and then having to trust it again and get it out of your head of feeling it was a big one.

SPEAKER_05 10:44

That's wild. I thought for sure there'd be a mechanic injury in there, but no, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

No, like before Ninja, I've broken all my fingers. Like someone dropped a Road Ranger on my fingers the week before I went to the semifinals for Ninja. Um, and I had, yeah, four or five broken fingers doing that. So that was kind of just uh you went and did it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I didn't tell anyone. And like you have to get medic cleared and all that stuff, and they were like, Oh, hang on a bar and bend your fingers, and does this hurt? And I was like, nah. So, and because they blew up and got all black and stuff, and I was like, No, it's they're fine, just wrapping them up in tape. And yeah, somehow I got cleared for it and let they let me run, and it wasn't from my fingers that I fell, but yeah, it was done.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

That's wild, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

Right, I got well. One question I do want to ask is um when you were training for your your uh ninja stuff, is there like a place in Perth?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

There was, it literally just closed, I think, a month or so ago. Yeah, I was gonna say we should do it. But I think there's another one, sort of it's kind of got bought out and it's starting building. So if it if it all comes through, I'll flick as a message and we'll go down.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

We will we'll come down and we'll just make a day of it and just you can make us look like shit. Oh yeah, I'm fucking retired anyway from that stuff. So you guys will be sweet. Um, all right, now I'll I want to dive into um the reason why you're here, um, the dementia stuff. When when did you start to realise that your grandparents had had dementia? Because it's both of them, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah, both of them now. So it was it's kind of been like a 10-year kind of process, really. Like it was sort of started with just my pop would forget little things like here and there, and we're like, oh, he's you know, we think he's got it. And then we sort of went down the path of actually getting him diagnosed and and you know, figuring out what's going on. They're like, yep, he's getting sort of dementia. And we're like, okay, but my grandma was still able-minded at that point, and they were just in like a retirement village, so not like a full nursing home, but just had like a little cottage in there. So um they were still able to, you know, live life. And then pretty much Pop started getting a bit worse. We're like, we need to get like some more help for granny here and get Pop into an actual sort of place that can help him and care for him, sort of thing. So pretty much got all that lined up, and then pretty much grandma just went phon and she went down the same slope. And she pretty much has nearly overtaken Pop in a way now, of just like went for it and just went, yeah, like progress so fast. Um, so they we ended up getting them both into like a higher care home together, which is cool that they that they could both go together because it was such a mission to try and find somewhere for one of them, let alone two of them. But yeah, just seeing like how fast like it progresses in people and you know the effects it has on them. And then, you know, it's not even that, but it's like you're almost grieving someone that's still living, and it like it's no one prepares you for it, seeing that stuff or you know, having to deal with that stuff. It's so it was something that was super, yeah, close to me and you wanted to do something to sort of bring it to light a bit more.

SPEAKER_05 13:54

How do you deal with it watching, I guess, grieving someone that is still there, like watching them be physically present but mentally slipping away?

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yeah, it's it's super hard to be honest. Like, I don't think I have a perfect way of dealing with it myself, and I think that's almost why I've sort of dove into this, because I go and see them and I I'm almost don't know what to do or say. Whereas like me running for them, that's my way of being like, I'm I'm here to do something for you. And you know, it's almost like you know, they came over here immigrants as well, and like seeing the sacrifices that they had to make, like Pop was pretty high up in the Air Force where they were from, and um, he moved over here and ended up working at Chicken Treat till he retired because the Air Force were like, you'd have to start at the very bottom again. He's like, I'm not doing that when I was nearly running the Air Force kind of thing. So just seeing the sacrifice he made for the kids of like, you know, I wouldn't be sitting here doing this stuff if it wasn't for the sacrifices he made back then, you know. So I think it's almost like me honoring them and going, you know, thank you for, you know, doing all the stuff you did. Like, yeah, my sacrifice seems a lot in terms of, oh, it's gonna hurt and it's a long way, but I think over time, like in my mind, that's nothing compared to to what they did.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Yeah, I think when it comes to pain and stuff, I always have like the mentality of like pain only lasts a certain amount of time. Like what he went through is a lifetime, and what he's going through now is also a lifetime. Yeah, like it's it's fucked. What's something that you started to notice first? Like obviously the the he started to forget things like small things, but was there anything else that kind of not tickled your fancy?

SPEAKER_00 15:33

But yeah, no, well, like it's you s you know, like you know them as a person, I suppose, and then you see them not like they're not that person anymore. So it's like physically you're like, yep, that's my pop or that's my grandma. But then like when they're not fully there as a person that you've known for my whole life, it's kind of like seeing that person slip away a bit and they've just you see their like yeah, like their personality is there. Yeah, like their personality is not really there. Like, and I think like I've had so much to sort of sort out before the run yesterday, but I kind of went out of my way yesterday to go up to their home and see them. And it was knowing how confronting it is for me and how almost uncomfortable it is for me to see them in that way and in that space. It's like that's what fuels me for doing this shit of like the running's almost comfortable to me in that space because I'm like, I can run, like it's you know, that's kind of where I feel comfortable, but it's doing it for the awareness and in their honour, I guess you could say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

One thing that my so my wife's uh Nana went through it uh before she passed, and she said like her her personality before she got it was like she was outgoing, like happy, smiley, all this type of stuff. And then once she got diagnosed and she started to slip down, she just got like dull almost almost like black and black and grey. Yeah, and it was um she got like angry as well, like a lot of the times because it's like there was times where she would try and remember, but she just couldn't. It's such a weird thing to try and comprehend, especially someone like that isn't going through it, but watching other people like go through, I couldn't imagine what it's like.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Yeah, like you know, I was chatting to my auntie as well about it uh not long ago, and you know, we can't my grandma was known for she talked a lot, like she could talk underwater almost, like she, you know, and everyone would kind of like leave her house. And as much as we loved her, we're like, fuck, that's a lot sometimes. But then like now we look back and you know, we take her out, and sometimes she's just sitting there in the corner, just staring at the floor, and it's like all you wish now is you know, to treasure those moments more, or you know, wish for her to just, you know, have a full-on conversation with you now. And it's you know, back then you kind of it's all the stuff you overlook when it's normal, right? And it's you think, yep, it's never gonna change, and then it hits and it's like, no, it's it's the real deal. Like nothing can prepare you for for seeing your loved one sort of like that, I suppose.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

How did you go? Because you said you had to go through testing and stuff to confirm all this. How did you even go about that? Like, is that like a tough conversation to bring up with them?

SPEAKER_00 18:25

And yeah, like I think my grandma was always like, Yep, pops got it, pop's got it, pop's got it. But then she sort of went down the moor, and he was very like from my eyes, like I'm obviously the grandchild, so it was I saw a lot less than what the immediate children did, and a lot of them, like my dad and all that sort of sorted the more, you know, nitty-gritty of it. Um but like it was always pop, we sort of knew he would just sort, but pop is quite happy sitting in the corner humming to himself and just sort of has a giggle and a laugh every now and then. But it was Granny that got the more angry side of the dementia of you get confused and it's like that fight or flight. And she was the one that kind of you know made it a bit more serious and immediate of when we needed to get everything done. Like there was times of having a sedator because she was just you know losing the plot and like seeing all that stuff is is pretty confronting.

SPEAKER_03 19:19

Yeah. Um now that I remember it, uh Papa, which is Michaela's pop, we're laughing at the fucking name, Papa. Yeah, fuck you. When he got really bad, um it's all he didn't go to Nama or anything, but like he he like it's almost like he switched back to like a certain date in his brain, and he thought everyone was like different people. So um her auntie, which is his his uh daughter, thought that she was his ex-wife that passed ages ago. Yeah, so he he was in the hospital and he was like uh she would go there. Um something popped in my head. He was also like super racist. Funny as, but hey, too many cut that up. Um and he yeah, she would like go in and he would call her by his ex-wife's name because they obviously look alike, so he was just confused as to who it was.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

Have they gotten to that point?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

No, like we're still fairly I'm not gonna use the word lucky, but like in that aspect, like I still walked in yesterday and they still like recognized me, knew like I don't reckon they'd fully know my like full name or anything, but know we're related, know that we're family kind of thing, and sort of, you know, go that way. So they're not sort of over that boat yet. But yeah, seeing like had plenty of people reach out after me, sort of announcing doing this whole thing for Demetrian. It's like, yep, my mum had it, and you know, people that are like caring for people in their house that they wake up and they don't have a clue whose house they're in, like it's that's crazy. Like, I take my hat off to anyone that's able to care for them full time because it's such a hard job. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Papa didn't remember me at all. I'm I'm pretty sure I met him twice. He's like, the fuck are you, bro?

SPEAKER_04 21:13

My grandma reverted, she was Polish and she reverted to just speaking Polish. Really? So she went back to the she fully thought she was a little girl at school. She went like as it got older and older. Um, and that's I know the Polish national anthem because my grandma used to sing it so much in her uh dementia. Can we have a taste? Uh absolutely. I was hoping you'd ask. Uh any Polish people are probably gonna say I'm butchering it, but this is how I remember my grandma who had dementia used to sing it. So give me a break. It's Marshmarsh, Dombrowski, Ziemi Wolski, Dapolski, Marsh Polski.

SPEAKER_05 21:48

Put a beat to that.

SPEAKER_04 21:49

Purely only reason I know that is because my grandma used to just sing it nonstop. That's the atro. The Polish national alphabet.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

That's honestly amazing.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah, it's it's almost like that their brain like goes back to a certain time. Like because his um yeah, Papa was exactly the same because he lived in Vietnam and he thought he was in Vietnam.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Which was whack. Uh, and he there was one thing that Michaela used to always say, which is my wife, she used to say, in his room, there would always be like a window that he would look out, and there would be like a big mountain. And when he was in the hospital, he would always look out and just stare out the window and talk about the mountain that he's talking that that he sees. Yeah. So it's almost like they just go back to a certain time in their brain, and that's just where their brain sits.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Yeah, like I remember taking Pop to like a it was like a plane museum because I was like, oh, you know, he liked planes and obviously in the Air Force and stuff. And same thing, like someone who forgot to put a shirt on or brush his teeth when he left the house, but he told me exactly how many hours he sat in that plane for. Yeah. And you know, stuff like that. And it's like there's a certain point of still cognitive ability there, just you know, at different levels of what they remember. That's wild.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

Think my mum's gonna revert to German. I hope not. She's scary as fuck as it is. Imagine that. Should beat your ass. Imagine that she wants her flaws, don't she just yell at you, you mean I don't want to do that.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

Um, did you know that dementia is type three diabetes? No. Yeah. How old's that? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

Timmy, can you fact check that? I don't understand what you mean. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:32

Type three butt diabetes, also known as dementia.

SPEAKER_04 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:35

Maybe it was four. We also looked it up. Apparently, there's also a hundred type of diabetes.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

Yeah, there is a lot of diabetes, but there's 100 diabetes. Yeah, type 2 cash.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Type 3 or type 4 diabetes is dementia. Well, I'm gonna be deep throating lollies on this run, so maybe I'll uh fucking hologram.

SPEAKER_04 23:54

So type 3 diabetes is an unofficial, controversial term used by some researchers to describe Alzheimer's disease. It's based on the theory that Alzheimer's is caused by insulin resistance and impaired insulin signaling occurring specifically in the brain.

SPEAKER_05 24:09

Wait, what's the difference between the same thing?

SPEAKER_04 24:11

So it's slang.

SPEAKER_03 24:12

Slang, slang Alzheimer's. Yeah. Is Alzheimer's and dementia the same thing? It's same family, same sort of yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:19

Ooh, you're about to say absolutely not.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Yeah, well, I don't understand either of them immediately. I don't so what is so can you hey Toby, can you just quickly look up like that?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Check that for sure. I believe it's different diseases, but same kind of family of disease.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Crabs and um, what about what's the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's? Is that the same thing? Can we get a definition of what Alzheimer's and dementia is? Please, big to me. Because from my understanding, dementia is just they forget.

SPEAKER_05 24:53

What's Alzheimer's?

SPEAKER_03 24:55

They forget so it's like crabs and and lobsters. Could be prawns. Same, same family.

SPEAKER_04 25:05

So dementia is an umbrella term for a set of cognitive symptoms, while Alzheimer's disease is specific physical brain disease that causes those symptoms. So Alzheimer's causes dementia. Yes. It gives an example. Think of dementia like heart failure, a general description of a problem. Alzheimer's is like the specific underlying condition causing it. So in heart failure, it could be Connery artery disease. So it's pretty much the same.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Same same same, same. If they die from it, you're still gonna say they died from it.

SPEAKER_04 25:43

So there's different types of dementia. Like there's Alzheimer's, there's vascular, there's Lewy body, different terms that fall under the umbrella of dementia, just like you have heart failure. Yeah. What's the specific thing causing the heart failure? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:56

There's crustaceans, and then you got crabs, and then you've got can we get it in mechanic terms, please, JP?

SPEAKER_06 26:02

Well, let's hand over to the other mechanic for a change.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

Like, I'm retired. I'm a runner. Just give fuck mechanics. Yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_05 26:13

Can we have it in mechanic terms? So, car is dementia, and brand is the Alzheimer's definition. Good enough for me.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Diff oil to engine oil, maybe. Still oil, but different vestiges.

SPEAKER_05 26:26

Oil and then engine diff oil, yeah. That's an umbrella term.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

You heard it here first, folks. All right, we got you. Don't you worry. Alzheimer's and dementia, same thing, just different. All the mechanics listening, and oh, I get it.

SPEAKER_06 26:40

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:41

In their workshop, it's just the podcast turned it.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Oh, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_05 26:46

Right. It's like the first time you understand imperial to metric conversions, you're like, oh, that's it.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

I still don't understand. I never got that either.

SPEAKER_05 26:55

Oh one fucking. So give more plant, mate.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

Give us a give us a rundown. Of the the a difference to Imperial and metric. What's more, what's more superior? Metric, obviously.

SPEAKER_05 27:06

Okay, so give us a like if I say if you had to get out, I'm gonna buy you an Imperial tape measure. Like one with like the really like accurate measurements is the gayest thing to use.

SPEAKER_03 27:17

So Imperial is gay, is what you're saying. Americans. Again, you heard it. We're just an educational podcast at this point. All right, we can't make it up.

SPEAKER_05 27:26

I need a spanner.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

What's I when it comes to things like this? Like this is uh like a pretty uh dramatic thing that is uh happening in the family. Do you think it's hard for men to open up about this type of stuff? Um, especially seeing as it's someone that like you, I'm sure you're close to your granny and Poppy.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Yeah, yeah, it's yeah, granny and pop. Yeah, granny and pop. Yeah, yeah, Poppy's a bit weird. Sorry to anyone that calls that pop poppy.

SPEAKER_05 27:58

Um what about Papa? Fuck you, Papa's gangster.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

But no, it definitely is. Like it's you know, like I've got some people come around to the finish at at the end that you know that run with me or you know, friends or whatever. I guaranteed no one has seen me cry. But I guarantee me finishing this run and seeing my grandparents sitting there is gonna Oh, absolutely. I think anyone wouldn't sort of, you know, have a check on your heart or whatever. But um, no, it's it is hard to talk about because like you said, like it's something that's close to me and you don't really like it's almost easy, not easy, but like you think the less you see of it the better. Yeah, and the less you bring it up and the less you talk about it, like you kind of push it back, no pun intended, but you forget about it. Um but I like that. It's you know, it's a hard one to go to your because you know, you say to people like, oh my parent, my grandparents got dementia, ah, that sucks, but where does the conversation go from there? Like, what can they say any more than that? So I think it's you know, something that if more people, you know, the whole base of this was if more people are aware of what the actual disease is and how um present it is in so like 446,000 people is a lot as a standstill. But then, you know, think of how many family members each of those people have, and it affects the family as much as what it does the person, if not more the family, because you're cognitively there, and they're just you know, not saying it's not hard for them, but you know, it's they sort of just live their life and forget things, yeah, like in a very broad term. Um, so yeah, there's a lot of people that are affected by it, and I think since announcing this, like no one knew before this that my grandparents had dementia. Um, it was only now that I'm sort of doing a run for it and and bringing the light to it that it's that it's there. So it is definitely a hard topic to to talk about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:54

Do you think joking about the topic makes it easier and better?

SPEAKER_00 29:58

I think like jokes and humour are my way, and I think your guys' way of dealing with stuff as well. Like I'd much rather have a laugh about it rather than just being down about it the whole time. And I think, you know, my grandparents were like that, my whole family's like that, like, you know, obviously time and a place, like, but you know, I think joking about it and oh I forgot, or you know, I've got a plenty of schizo when I was doing the announcement videos for this. Oh fuck, I forgot my lines, and it was just like, you know, probably could have thrown that in, but it might be, you know, not everyone has the same sense of humor, but it's definitely I've always been the humor. If you can sort of smile through things, then it makes it a bit easier.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

I do want to ask, and this is real, how are you feeling about it? Because shit sucks. Like, and it's probably hopefully not for a while, um, but they will go eventually. And I just want to know how you're doing, how you're dealing with it. And obviously, this run is big, otherwise you wouldn't really be doing it if you didn't care.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

Um, so how are you doing mentally with all of it?

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Yeah, like it's fucking hard. Um like and I think I have sort of taken a back step from seeing it firsthand a lot because it was so hard to like my grandparents, they lived or their first retirement home was across the road from my school. It was about a 2K walk from home. So I was with the I'd see them maybe twice to three times a week after school, and then you know, every Sunday the whole family used to go there, and it was typical, like, you know, family lunch, everyone rocked up. So it was, you know, going from that to them not seeing them a whole heap and seeing them decline. And it was like fast, like seeing them like, you know, a couple of months later, and it's like, holy shit, like that's that's gone on. So it's been hard. And then yeah, me announcing this run was like it is literally me wanting to do something for them before they die. Like, that's the realistic side of it, is I just wanted to do something and have them at the finish line. Um, because there's gonna be a day, probably sooner than what I'd like, that they won't there won't be a time where they could possibly do that. So I think it's creating those memories of the good stuff, and like, yeah, it is for what's almost taking them in a way. Um, so yeah, it is hard. But and yeah, this fucking runs daunting, man. Like, even driving up was like fuck, I gotta run this. And I've put a pretty short time frame on what I want to do it in. Um, but I think that all ties back into like if it didn't scare the fuck out of me, I'd go, well, if I know I can do it, it's not big enough.

SPEAKER_06 32:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Like I have a fairly good gauge on what I'm capable of doing. Is this pushing the boat? Yeah, maybe, but I'm gonna have a fucking crack.

SPEAKER_06 32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

So that's sort of yeah, where I'm at with it. You think you you give up on the run? No, I think this one's different. Like this one's like like in races and stuff, like it's you know, it's easy to go, it's not my day. Yeah, like it's you know, play the, you know, you've always got the dude on your shoulder going, oh, we can just pull here. Like try and, you know, not get injured, or you know, all that shit. But I think like this one's almost personal for me now of like, well, I've chosen to do this, I've set myself this, even if it takes me six days, I'm not pulling the fucking pin. Cause I'm literally sitting and watching my grandparents go through something they didn't sign up for that they have to keep going every day. Yeah. So I think that's my fuel of like, all right, now we're going into personal stuff. Like, there's no fucking way I'm like, if I walk to per like if I get two days in, I'm like, I can't run. Like, I'm walking. If I can't walk, get me fucking crutches because I'm gonna get there somehow. Like it's sort of like I'm so invested in the cause and and why I'm doing it that it's more like I don't care about the you know 400k. Like I could do it whenever. Like, but like now I'm like, all right, I've signed up for it, I've said I'm gonna do it. Now you do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Motivation. You gave me chills, man. You gave me fucking chills, makes me want to run with you. Yeah, go for it, man.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I'm fucking gonna though.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

When's this coming out? Monday. All right, sweet. Well, I can tell people because I'm starting at midnight tonight, is the plan. Yep. I haven't sort of made that public just so I can sort of go not ghost out of here, but just like you know, fuck you, jury. Like, can't wait to see the back here. I'm out of here. But it's uh how is your germ experience?

SPEAKER_05 34:39

I ran away. You ran back to birth, that's how good it was.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Yeah, don't need a car, I'll get out of here one way or another. So is Ava up here as well? No, no, so she's at home. She'll um she's on my leg, but as a tattoo, that is. Um no, so she'll be at home, she'll be running the driveway with us. I look, I love her to bits, but and she's done a lot of stuff. Like she's a Labrador, so she's not a naturally athletic dog, but fuck, she's done some stuff in her labs. Yeah, she's like the most ripped labrador. Like people are like, oh, she's skinny. I'm like, no, she's just not the typical fat lab that you see around. Yeah, but oh, she would she doesn't give up either that dog, to be fair. Like she's yeah, she'll keep going until they say dogs take after their owners, so yeah. Look, yeah, shit runs downhill as well. Like it's it's um true, you know, autism leads on. So but no, it's um, yeah, she'll be running the driveway with us, she'll be at home, she's um she's holding the ford at home, so that's something to look forward to running home as well.

SPEAKER_03 35:49

Oh, that's wicked, man. It's um it's awesome to know that there's people out there that actually care because when it comes to social media and stuff, there's like not many people are gonna be posting about it, not many people are gonna be talking about it. So it's it's nice to hear that um there's other people out there wanting to go out and do extreme things for things that are personal to them, but also it can help other people as well.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Yeah, and I think like, you know, this cause, like I'm not, you know, bagging on any of the other causes, but you see so many other people doing, you know, the the cancers, the mental health, all that side, not saying that's not important at all, but I think you know, dementia is that or you know, that um Alzheimer's or that crustation bracket, like we said. Yeah, yeah. Um, like that is again no pun intended the forgotten ones of um you don't hear about them too much, you know. But you know, dementia was announced, I think, a couple of months ago as the leading cause of death in Australia. How does that work? Yeah, how do people die from it? I think it's just degenerative of your whole body shuts. Like it just shuts down.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

Like a crustacean.

unknown 36:56

I think.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Yeah, crustaceans, yeah. Where on? What are they gonna molt?

SPEAKER_04 37:01

I know my grandma, she died from strokes in the end. So we just got Alzheimer's and would get what?

SPEAKER_05 37:08

I don't know. As soon as you go to talk, you went, whoa, whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_04 37:13

Bro's doing a lap spread. We're not picking on me this week, all right?

SPEAKER_05 37:18

I was like, he's on he's on film right now. He's just all right, anyways.

SPEAKER_04 37:23

I'll put my arms down.

SPEAKER_05 37:24

Oh no, you can do it, it's fine.

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Uh so people rarely die from dementia itself. Instead, death typically occurs from complications as the disease damages the brain's regulatory functions. Common causes is like aspiration, pneumonia, cis, systemic infections, malnutrition, that kind of stuff. Because they forget to eat. Yeah, it's just your body's just deteriorating from the disease. That's fuck.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

That's such a shit way to go. Yeah. Yeah. And I think you hear about, you know, heart attacks or, you know, cancer and all these other things that you go, like, you know, there's a lot of people dying from that. And then you go, if, you know, dementia's stemming a lot of more, well, the most deaths in Australia, that's pretty wild. Um, that you don't really, and you know, you a lot of that is older age people, so it's probably you just go, they've died of old age, or maybe it was actually, you know, from like you said, their body sort of deteriorating.

SPEAKER_05 38:16

Yeah, yeah, because you wouldn't even you wouldn't even question it because you'd think, oh yeah, they're old, and then yep, they're gone. It's like, oh, that's what happened. You wouldn't even question the fact that dementia has anything to do with it.

SPEAKER_03 38:25

Well, I mean, that's the thing. Like, when it comes to like heart attacks and strokes and stuff, like there's that, like that is what caused it. But when you like when you talk about dementia and uh like uh Alzheimer's and stuff, it's they've forgotten. Like that's like the the the general basis of it is like thought they just they just forget. They just forget, yeah. But then like what it actually is is it's their brain and their body deteriorating into death is fucked.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Yeah, it's fucked wild. And I even got a family reach out to me and say, Oh yeah, in their soccer team, one of these um kids in there has been diagnosed with like early onset dementia. He's like, I think he was like 10 or 11, man. And like you know, it was like full, his brain's just starting to, and there's no cure, but like the medication just to sort of keep him level, it was like 20 grand a month. Holy yeah. And kids like 10, like I don't know all the ins and outs of the facts of that, but like had a yeah, full article sort of sent to me, and it's it's pretty, I didn't even know that was a thing. Like, even me sort of doing a little bit of research in terms of dementia and stuff, that was never something that came up. And then yeah, having that sort of shown, I was like, that's wild.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

That's a th the thing with kids is like, I mean, I I hate hearing about like just people like getting diagnosed with shit anyway. But it's like when it comes to kids, it's like they haven't even lived it yet, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:46

Like, he's 10, bro. That's fucking so sad.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Yeah, and you know, realistically, like it's looking like he's gonna, you know, be lucky to make it to like his mid-20s. That's and it's like, you know, then for the family, raising a kid that you know's not got yeah, ages, like there's so many sort of like stems of where it could go. Like it's it's super sad.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

I would love for you to give yourself a message for when you like uh finish the run, yeah, like how you think you're gonna feel, how you think the run's gonna go, um, and just a message to people who are out there that are like not the people because they will forget, but the people that are living with other people that are dealing with dementia, I have to, man.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Like a message for me after the run. Yeah. No one cares what you did yesterday. That's spot on. Yeah, and that just can be taken two ways. Break break that down for me, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Well, like I think, you know, I'm definitely guilty of it. I think a lot of people that are you know out doing stuff are guilty of it. Of you don't acknowledge what you have done. So I think that almost you know ties into that as well. That hits me hard. I um won't sort of, you know, you spend so long, let's say, you know, I've set this goal of doing this run, I achieve it. That was like the minimum standard I expected from myself to finish. So if I fall short, I've fallen short and I've failed. But then if I achieve it, I'm like, well, you've achieved it. In my head, I was going to achieve it. Like I set myself that goal. But so my whole point of that is it's a it's actually a campaign's quote is no one cares what you did yesterday because it's a new day. Like that's kind of gonna be a bit of a motto for me with this run being a multi-day thing, like, oh, I did 130k yesterday. No one cares. Like that was yesterday, you're at zero today.

SPEAKER_06 41:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Um, so I think I need to acknowledge that this is big, and if I finish, like if I finish it, sweet, and I'll you know, sit back and go, you did what you said you'd do. If I don't, I need to also acknowledge that I did everything in my power to get me here in the shape I'm in at the moment. I couldn't have done any more than what I had. Like I was, you know, still working, doing 35, 40k a day while working, and then still, you know, trying to get strength training and recovery food. So I've done everything that I possibly could.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Um but every day is a new day. Fire. I fuck with that. Because it's it's it's so true. I'm not gonna go into it, but it's so true. I I I'm really bad with it. Like a lot of people see all of our stuff and they go, Oh, what you've done is like wicked, but because I'm living it every single day, I'm like, I need to do bit, I need to do more, I need to do better. To me's tattoo. Um go give them a hit. Do more, do more. Do more. I like that. Yeah. So every day, like I'm continuously trying to do better, trying to do more, but people see it in lit in like a oh, what you've done is sick. Like you're you you're building this brand, you're building this thing. I'm like, no, it's not good enough. Yeah, but I need to acknowledge that what I have done is good, it is big, I think.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

It's above course. Yeah, it is. Thanks, man. It's definitely above your own biggest critic. Like exactly, you know, yeah. It's and I think there's so many, you know, of those things like go one more, or you know, the main thing of me going into this run is gonna be can I make one more step? Because if the answer is yes, what stopped me from making another one after that? Like until there's no, I can't take another step, then that's that's when you gotta go.

SPEAKER_03 43:30

Fuck all right, let's I will I want you to if if you get to a point where you can't go anymore, genuinely, I want you to call me, I will drive down and I will walk it with you. Done. Promise.

unknown 43:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

That is a straight up. I mean, I'll I'll probably be shit company, but I'll walk it with you. I'll put you on my shoulders and we will walk together.

SPEAKER_05 43:52

I want you to call them at 350 Ks.

SPEAKER_06 43:57

Just sounds good in the hallway.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Yeah, I will do that. Alright, done. Yeah. Yeah. If you if you get to a point where you're like, I don't I am gonna give up. I don't want to do it anymore. Give me three. I'll do it. I'm free. I will drive down there. We will drive down there. Yeah. There's Rebra. Actually, no, Tumi can do it too. I'll support you in my own way.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_05 44:20

We'll chat him on FaceTime.

SPEAKER_00 44:22

I've got two people that know me very well, um, true and for me. Um, my partner's not one of them because in these.

SPEAKER_02 44:32

He's like, you're the value bitch.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Yeah, like I don't know. Like in long stuff, like you get you've got to sort of turn into a headspace where you're just can you drop the C bomb here? Yeah, absolutely. You're just a cunt. Like, if you hate everything in the world, you're just like, fucking, fuck this, fuck you. I'm fucking hurting. It's your fucking fault. Yeah, I'm fuck the road, fuck the tree, fuck bush, like whatever. You're like just wanting to tear strips. And I think the people closest to you normally cop at the worst. Yeah. And Nina, my partner, she doesn't or never has done any of this sort of longer distance stuff. Both the people that are crewing for me, they both have. So they sort of know that. Whereas as much as I can say this to someone of like, I'm gonna probably call you an idiot, or I wouldn't call, I'd call you a cunt. Yeah, um, you're a cunt. You've kind of got to know that. And I can tell her, but it's not the same as when it actually comes out of my mouth. Um, so yeah, I've got, you know, sh um one of them, her dad, he died last year from Alzheimer's, so it's a you know, it's a pretty close topic for her. And the other one was my coach and has crewed me at pretty much every run I've done. So they both know me pretty much in and out that they know if this happens, then we're doing this, and things that will fire me up and things that'll piss me off, and you know what the right time for a bit of encouragement is and a bit of time of like you fucking signed up for it, so get on with it. Yeah, like I think there's a perfect balance of of the two. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

No, that's um that's strong, strong finish, I think. All right, Senator. Or do you want me to? You don't know the email, fucking shut up. What do you mean? It's at um a wet knife. All right, guys. Well, thank you for watching uh this episode. I hope you guys learned some stuff. We did. Alzheimer's is crustacean. Um thanks, mate, for coming on the podcast. It was it was an honor to listen to your story and have some jokes about it and all that type of stuff. To me, fucking to me. Start singing.

SPEAKER_04 46:44

No, seriously, man, good luck with everything. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Thanks for having us on. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Anytime.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

All right, guys. Um, all the links below, I will chuck the dementia link if you want to send that to me. Yeah, sure. Um, I will chuck all that below. So if you guys want to donate um or if you want to support Cam uh in his run, we'll share everything to our story. Um, and yeah, good luck with it, man. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_05 47:10

Yeah, yeah, fuck. I want to die. It's gonna be like three in the morning. Fuck, man. You could have called me earlier.