Nedd Brockmann Bio

Nedd grew up on a farm outside Forbes in Central West New South Wales, roaming the property with his siblings and watching his father work through drought and hardship. That upbringing gave him early, concrete lessons about resilience and hard graft.

He attended Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange, NSW, and the idiosyncratic spelling of Nedd honours the family’s German heritage.

He started a pharmacy degree in Canberra, grew uncomfortable with the prospect of a sedentary future, dropped out, and moved to Sydney to train as an electrician at TAFE. The move to the city exposed him to the stark reality of homelessness in a way his country upbringing hadn’t prepared him for, and that experience stayed with him.

Brockmann took up running before the pandemic, mostly as a way to lose weight, and his love for the sport grew steadily as the distances he covered grew with it. In 2020, he decided to run 50 marathons in 50 days and raised close to $100,000 for the Red Cross in the process. He was 21 years old and did most of it while still working as an apprentice electrician.

Two years later, he attempted something considerably larger. In 2022, the then 23-year-old electrician from Forbes ran from Perth’s Cottesloe Beach to Sydney’s Bondi Beach, covering the 3,952-kilometre journey in just 46 days while raising $2.6 million for homelessness causes. He dealt with logistical problems in the outback, trouble finding accommodation, and numerous injuries that threatened to end the run. On day 12, severe inflammation around a tendon in his shin stopped him running entirely. He drove 14 hours for an MRI scan, took three injections to dull the pain, then drove 14 hours back and got going again.

His daily Instagram updates during the run captured the attention of the country, and the whole thing came to a head at the finish line on Bondi Beach where more than 10,000 people welcomed him home. The fundraising total kept climbing after the run finished. Over the course of his journey, Brockmann raised $2.6 million for the charity We Are Mobilise, drawing national attention to homelessness and helping fund Australia’s first direct cash transfer program for the homeless.

The run became a book. Showing Up: Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, published in October 2023 by Simon & Schuster Australia, tells the story of a 23-year-old tradie who put his body “through hell and back 10 times” to prove that anything is possible when you break past your own barriers. The book carries a foreword by broadcaster Hamish Blake, and Brockmann narrated the audiobook himself. Showing Up became a bestseller, was shortlisted for Biography Book of the Year in the 2024 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA), and longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2024.

In July 2024, a documentary film titled Nedd Brockmann: Runn was released about his mission to make a difference as he ran across Australia raising money for homelessness.

Then, in October 2024, he ran again. From 3 to 13 October 2024, Brockmann ran 1,000 miles in an official time of 12 days, 13 hours, 16 minutes, and 45 seconds, averaging 128 kilometres a day at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre. He launched it as Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge, which has since raised more than $8 million to support people experiencing homelessness.

His second book, Fire Up: Live Large, Do Tough Stuff and Give Back, published in October 2024 by Simon & Schuster Australia, shares lessons he’s learned from the first 25 years of his life. It’s a more direct, personal guide than Showing Up, aimed at readers who want to understand the thinking behind his approach rather than just the events of the 2022 run. Reviewers described it as “a motivational read that will send you on a meaningful path of self-discovery” and “a practical guide for young people on how they might challenge themselves, build resilience, set goals, and overcome their fears.”

On 26 January 2026, Nedd Brockmann was named the 2026 Young Australian of the Year. Since 2022, he has raised more than $10.6 million to support people experiencing homelessness, a journey that began with a straightforward wish to help people doing it tough.

Brockmann also founded Nedd’s Milk, a chocolate milk company that donates a portion of its profits to Mobilise with each sale. He writes across sports memoir, motivational self-help, and biographical nonfiction, and that combination found a wide Australian readership quickly and held it.