Meet Australia's Forrest Gump: Dane Waites. Inspired by the Hollywood film where Tom Hanks' character ran across America, this 43-year-old autistic man has run for four months more than a marathon a day, with a smile all the way, across Australia. That's 4000 kilometres, 50 kilometres a day, six days a week (Friday was always rest day).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From Perth, where he left on June 18, to Pambula, his southern NSW home town where he will arrive on September 30 to a hero's homecoming.
"I'm doing this for all the girls and boys, and mums and dads with autistic kids to show we can all have a great life," Mr Waites said. He is also raising money and awareness of the mental health of people with disabilities.
Dane was born severely autistic and didn't talk until the age of six. His mother Junee noticed as a young child he always smiled at the shadows of moving trees but never at his parents. The movement of the trees always distracted him and gave him comfort he later explained. He also loved straight lines, which is why on this trans-continental trip the straight road of the Nullarbor was his favourite stretch. For his mother Junee, whom he greets every day after his run with a huge smile and a sweaty hug, the response from strangers has been heart-warming.
"People can't help but respond to his smile and his enthusiasm, from grey nomads, to truckies to bikies, everybody honks their horns, and people have opened their homes and hearts to us. In Adelaide he was given a police escort into the Adelaide Cricket Ground ... the response has been overwhelmingly positive," she said.
The elite athlete, who won a bronze medal at the 2003 Special Olympics in Dublin, has been training for this run for 14 years. It's always been Dane's dream to run across Australia, but when his father and coach Rod Waites died in 2011 it nearly didn't happen.
Many people suggested a shorter route from Melbourne to Merimbula, or Brisbane to Bega, but his mother remained steadfast in her wish to see her son's dream realised. As the author of the book about her son Smiling at Shadows, published by Harper Collins in 2001, she enlisted the support of politicians and Bega Valley residents. They were well acquainted with the sight of Dane training on local roads, and organised support vehicles, volunteers and other donations.
Soon the dream of the four-month long journey became a reality. The organisers have also been in contact with Tom Hanks via his Hollywood agent, telling him how his character inspired Dane to "run like the wind" across the nation. This week he will run his final leg through the regional Victorian towns of Orbost and Cann River, into NSW on Thursday.
Volunteer Zora Regulic, who accompanied the runner for four weeks in South Australia said it was heart-warming to watch the response to the runner on the road. "The way Dane disarms people is amazing; at first they see a handsome strong athlete running on the road, then he speaks and smiles and they realise he has a disability and they soften when they see his pure goodness and joy," she said.
