By Jonty Ralphsmith
For Dandenong North resident Josh Webster, running is a hobby that carries a greater sense of purpose.
Currently training for the Nike Melbourne marathon on October 2, Webster’s run will raise funds to fight motor neurone disease (MND).
The former Frankston Football Club football analyst and assistant strength and conditioning coach’s passion for the cause was borne out of a good mate Chris Ross’ diagnosis in 2021, after which he teamed up with former Dolphins’ skipper Josh Newman to create the ‘Run4Rossy’.
That event saw small Covid-19-safe groups of players and staff members within the Dolphins run different distances to fundraise for the Frankston’s former head of high performance.
In total, the event saw about $180,000 raised, and this year’s marathon money will be going towards Fight MND.
“He’s a tenacious hard worker, always dedicated to his craft,” Webster said.
“When he started applying that to high performance sport, he would bury himself into his work and study but was lighthearted and loved to have a joke and laugh around, and we lost him for a bit but he’s back giving us stick over messenger.
“When you text him it is the same bloke you met at the end of 2018 (before the diagnosis).”
While the entire squad ran different lengths last year, Webster was the only person to run an entire marathon.
Having played a smorgasbord of sports as a kid, he got into running again during the 2019 Move for Movember campaign where he ran 60 kilometres over the course of the month.
His passion for that cause came after a different mate took his life in 2019, with the Move for Movember’s ‘60’ representing the number of men who commit suicide hourly.
By 2021, less than eight weeks after the Run 4 Rossy, he ran 60 kilometres in one hit.
Having run last year’s unofficial marathon in 188 minutes, Webster this year is aiming to break the three-hour mark.
To prepare, Webster has undergone a five-days-per-week, 16-week training program to condition himself for the run.
“This year I have done a lot more training and proper training,” he said.
“On a Tuesday, I do a speed or interval session – shorter distances going much quicker paces.
“Thursday sessions are tempo sessions, progressive run, might do ‘x’ amount of minutes at marathon or half marathon pace and you do that multiple times.”
On a Saturday, he has done several consecutive 30-kilometre-plus runs in the last few weeks, before tapering to be in prime shape for the event.
He reels off his favourite running trails, which include Lysterfield Park and Dandenong Creek, like a teenage girl would recite Love Island contestants: with passion and precision.
Running has become as habitual as cooking dinner or making his bed, and on the agenda after the marathon is another Run4Rossy on October 23.
“I love going out for a nice chill run on the weekend, you’re in nature and get a bit of time to yourself,” Webster said.
“It is a form of mindfulness and you focus moreso on the moment, and what you’re doing there, and you often find yourself smiling from ear to ear for no good reason.
“It’s a nice little escape, and I enjoy all the physical elements as well – and Rossy’s diagnosis has taught us to reflect, live in the moment and enjoy the little things.
“The mental health aspect is what I enjoy the most and even the social element where you’re running with a mate and you have a meal or drink afterwards.”
This year’s Melbourne marathon is the 44th instalment of the event, with six different distances, finishing with a lap of the MCG.
In 2021, participants and supporters raised more than $1.2 million for at least 162 charities and causes across Australia.
2022’s premier charity partner is the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre.
For more than 20 years, the non-profit organisation has helped thousands of children and adults living with cerebral palsy live full and active lives through direct therapy services.
To contribute funds to Webster’s cause or find out more about Run4Rossy, visit the following link: https://www.beatthebeast.me/
