List of people who have run across Australia

People who choose to run across Australia can choose to run from either of the geographical extremes of the continent, or from directly opposed cities on opposite shores. The western-most geographical extreme of Australia is Steep Point, whereas the eastern-most extreme is Cape Byron. Similarly, the northern-most geographical extreme is Cape York Peninsula, and the southern-most is the South East Cape. The distance between the east and west as the crow flies is 4,030 km (2,500 mi), or 3,685 km (2,290 mi) from north to south†. The western-most capital city in Australia is Perth, and the eastern-most capital city is Brisbane. The northern-most city is Darwin, and the southern to the southern-most city is Hobart.

Runners who choose to circumambulate Australia can follow the National Highway for large sections of their journey. Distances involved are in the vicinity of 14,300 km (8,900 mi) depending on the route taken.

†Distance calculated utilising the resources of Geoscience Australia.

The names of the individuals who have run across Australia have been listed below in chronological order. Sources for data contained within this table have been listed within the body of the article, or where not readily available, directly from the individual concerned.

George Perdon ran across Australia during the 1973 Trans-Continental Run, completing the 4,807 km (2,987 mi) journey in 47 days, 1 hour and 54 minutes. He averaged 100 km (62 mi) per day, and set records for 1,000 miles (1,600 km), 1,500 miles (2,400 km), 2,000 miles (3,200 km) and 2,600 miles (4,200 km).

Perdon became a household name in 1973 when competing in the 1973 Trans Australia race and racing his rival - Tony Rafferty. Perdon was unable to get time off work at the appropriate time and missed the official start, giving Rafferty one week's head start before heading off from Fremantle. Perdon was to end up beating Rafferty into Sydney by a day. They took slightly different routes during the run, causing the run to generate front-page headlines for a majority of the journey.

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