Mr Hogan, one of the teachers at my school (Elanora High), has worked very hard over the past few years to get a very popular program going revolving around tackling the grueling 96 km Kokoda Challenge for charity here on the Gold Coast.

This year the school had 3 teams of 4 students and a teacher competing in the full distance (96 km) (I think there were 66 school teams in total) and quite a number of teams doing the half Kokoda.

I was in one of those 3 teams tackling the 96 km track along with:

• my brother Harry,
• friends Ryan and Nathan and
• Mr Hogan.

We Won & Broke The Old Record

We were lucky enough to have everything go right for us – including having an incredible Support Crew of parents and brothers and sisters – and were able to achieve our 2 goals for the trek:

• be the first school team to finish, and
• break the old record of 19 hours and 36 minutes (we beat it by 21 minutes).

We were awarded the Stan Bisset Cup for being the first school team.

Thanks to Mr Hogan, teachers, our Support Crew and the other Elanora High lads who we walked/ran with for most of the way.

An incredible achievement by all teams to finish.

Met Stan Bisset MC OAM MID

Harry and I read up on Mr Bisset – he’s a Kokoda Hero, a recipient of the Military Cross and Order of Australia Medal and Australia’s oldest living Wallaby (Australia’s Rugby team players).

We found out he lives on the Sunshine Coast and called to see if he’d like a visit from a couple of lads who are very proud to have won the Cup named in his honour.

Mr Bisset and his lovely wife Gloria made us feel very welcome and were a real joy to chat with.

Harry and I feel very honoured to have met such an inspirational and giving person.

Mr Stan Bisset and I

Jack

I’m back from flying for a couple of weeks at Tamworth as part of the flight screening to get accepted as a pilot in the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Did a ton of flying with lots of aerobatics, fantastic instructors and a great group of guys on my course.  The flight back home was a little dull after flying rolls, loops and lots more!

I was lucky enough to be recommended.

Ran Gold Coast Half Marathon Yesterday

Arrived home on Saturday and then ran the Gold Coast Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  I did the full marathon last year and thought I’d see if I could do the Half in under 1 & 1/2 hours.

Ran okay and slowed in the last few kilometres to come in at 1 hr 32 mins and 34 secs.

My mum ran her first ever marathon and did an amazing job – her 3 goals were:

1. to finish,
2. run all the way and
3. run under 5 hours.

She did all that and we’re all bursting with pride.

Next up I have the 96 km Kokoda Challenge where my team (my brother Harry, and friends Ryan and Nathan and teacher Mr Hogan) are aiming to break the schoolboy record.

We’ve been training really hard, so we could give it a decent crack.

Then It Gets Easier!

After that it gets easier!

I then have a school trip to tropical Herron Island, the school skiing trip, then a trip to New York to do some work with Big Brothers Big Sisters International.

I’m also going to run the Brisbane Half Marathon on August 1 – trying to get under the 1 hr 30 mins for the 21.1 kilometres.

Still Doing Speeches

I’m still doing a few speeches around the place to:

• Scout groups,
• community and
• business groups – so if your organisation would like me to come along (usually with my dad) to talk about our ride across Australia to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia then I’d love to hear from you:  jack@jacksinclair.com.au.

Cheers

Jack

In January I walked the South Coast Track with my dad, brother and uncle.  It’s a brilliant 84 km wilderness walk over 7 days.

I’d heard the Melaleuca flights were amazing – incredible flight over the wilderness to a gravel airstrip in the middle of nowhere.

Dad has put up a web site about the trip that has over 180 photos, some video and lots more – check it out at www.southcoasttrack.com.au.

I also did my first flight solo on May 17.  Mum and dad came down to Gold Coast Airport to watch and took some video of my landing.

The track was very muddy in parts

My brother Harry picked the wrong place to step

Thanks

Jack

I will be heading to New York in September 2010 after being lucky enough to be awarded a $5,200 RSL Youth Development Grant announced last week.  Thanks!

My friends at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia have arranged for me to spend 2 weeks with Big Brothers Big Sisters New York to work with the charity and see how they do things in the Big Apple.

Regards

Jack

No joy for Jack in the 2010 Young Australian of the Year finals for Queensland.

Jack Sinclair - Finalist 2010 Young Australian of the Year (QLD)

Other Finalists Were Bloody Amazing

It’s weird, but you’d think there would be some disappointment when your kid doesn’t win but the other finalists were just so bloody amazing it was great to just see him up there with these 3 incredible people.

As Jack’s mum Mel said (and even though it sounds a bit soppy, it’s actually true) “Even though he didn’t win, he doesn’t lose.”

He got some terrific recognition for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia as well as the chance to meet and chat with some extraordinary people doing amazing things.

Congratulations To The Winner – Jean Madden

Jean Madden won the Queensland Young Australian of the Year – Jean designs, gets made and has given away over 11,000 swags to homeless people. Amazing.

The other 2 finalists were:

• Alissa Phillips – Alissa works with people with disabilities through a very innovative range of programs.
• Ray Chen – check out Ray in the video below. (Aside from being an amazing violinist, Ray also has the most charming mum in Australia!)

Cheers

Brendon

Jack has been named as one of 4 Finalists for the Young Australian of the Year Award (QLD).

Jack was nominated by the good folk at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia for his community work which has included:

Last year, at 15 years of age, Jack became the youngest person ever to cycle across Australia when he rode from Perth to Surfers Paradise for charity – 4,500 kms in just 30 days – raising $25,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia.

Other Charity & Community Work

His charity work also includes the donation and management of the web site for charity cycle www.sydneytosurfers.org.au, a site that has helped to raise in excess of $200,000 this year for disadvantaged youth.

• Jack ran the full 2009 Gold Coast marathon and the grueling 96 km Kokoda Challenge in July for charity.
• He volunteers two weeks of his school holidays each year to a camp for disabled children.
• He speaks to Scouting groups on the importance of regular exercise and doing your very best.

“…A Special Young Man…”

As legendary Australian cyclist Robbie McEwen said about Jack’s efforts:

“Jack Sinclair is a special young man, who through personal sacrifice, dedication, perseverance and guts is giving his all to support other young Australians.

As a teenager it is easy to be consumed by your interests, wondering what the world is going to do for you.

Jack is different, he’s thinking about and DOING what he can for others in need.”

Winner Announced Thursday November 19

The winner of the Young Australian of the Year Award is announced on Thursday November 19, 2009.

Hi and thanks to everyone who has contacted me through the site.

Had a few people ask what I’ve been up to and what’s next.

• Harry (he’s my little brother – but he’s rather tall at 6 foot 2 inches) and I ran the Gold Coast Marathon a couple of weeks ago.
• We also both did the rather hard Kokoda Challenge – a 96 km bushwalk in the Gold Coast Hinterland last weekend.  Had some great info from First Aid Training Gold Coast expert Scott Whimpey.

What’s Next

I’ve just finished my presentation for Scout groups and school children -the talk goes for 10 minutes and I talk about:

• how kids should do a bit of exercise each day,
• how and why children should eat good things and not tons of junk food, and
• how they can do anything they set their mind to.

If you’d like me to talk to your group please email me at jack@perthtoparadise.com.au.

Dad and I have been talking about having another dinner this year (maybe on the anniversary of finishing the ride) and having some more raffles to raise some more money for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Thanks

Jack

Howdy

Quick update on things.

Jack received a bit of press a few weeks ago to promote the Pride of Australia Awards.  Check the article here.

Jack has also just been nominated for the Gold Coast Honours Award – the Gold Coast Bulletin had an article in Saturday’s newspaper about him and said some very kind things.

Click the article to make it larger.

Click for larger image.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday November 25, 2008

I just realised some of the chronological order is difficult to find on the site.  Here’s the ride in order:

Adventure Begins
Good Luck Message
Day 1 – Tailwinds
Day 2 – More than planned
Day 3 – Rolling Plains of WA
Day 4 – Kalgoorlie
Day 5 – Tough Day
Day 6 – Norseman to Balladonia
Day 7 – Massive Day Gets Us Ahead
Day 8 – Past Madura
Day 9 – Crossing the border
Day 10 – Into SA
Day 11 – To Penong
Day 12 – Hardest Ride Ever
Day 13 – To Minnipa
Day 14 – Reducing tomorrow’s ride
Day 15 – 120 km to Port Augusta
Day 16 – An Incredible Day
Day 17 – Australia Bites Back
Day 18 – Broken Hill Birthday Boy
Day 19 – Broken Hill Flying
Day 20 – Pushing Hard
Day 21 – Lunch Update
Day 22 – Heat, Flies & Exhaustion
Day 23 – Stormy Morning, Hot Afternoon
Day 24 – Cycling Hell to Heaven to Hell
Day 25 – Dodging Snakes, Kangaroos & More
Day 26 – Wet & Wild 101 km
Day 27 – 120 kms of Downhill
Day 28 – 130 km Lumpy Ride
Day 29 – The Kyogle Ranges
Day 30 – It’s Here….Coming To The End
End – Done!