Running to America (ATOM Study Guide)

Four young men from outback Australia are chosen by marathon legend Robert de Castella to compete in the New York City Marathon. He's convinced that Indigenous Australians have a natural talent for distance running, but have never been given the chance to excel. Now that opportunity has come. The four men from isolated communities in Arnhem Land, the Kimberley and Alice Springs are thrown into a rigorous eight-month training regime. Ultimately, they hope to be the first Indigenous Australians to run the iconic footrace.

As de Castella knows, competing in the New York City Marathon can offer Juan Darwin, Joseph Davies, Caleb Hart and Charlie Maher a lot more than just a free trip to a big city. The young men have grown up without the everyday opportunities that many Australians take for granted. Participating in the Indigenous Marathon Project offers the young men the chance to change their lives and to inspire others in their communities to do the same.

Under the watchful eye of de Castella, the team undergoes elite athlete training at the Australian Institute of Sport. For eight months they pound desert roads in isolated, but magnificent landscapes across Australia's harsh interior. It's an exhausting and often lonely regime, and a world away from the crowded streets of New York. The runners are beset by fatigue, injuries and the challenges that come from the host of social and environmental problems that trouble remote Indigenous communities.

Running to America is a story of sweat, ambition and personal transformation, stretching from the dust of the Australian Outback to the streets of one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities.

Running to America may be of interest to students completing TAFE Certificate courses in the areas of Community Recreation, Outdoor Recreation, Sport and Recreation and Leisure and Health.