Issue 151

Record breaker

29th January 2007

Monday 22 January, Dave Cornthwaite entered the record books at the tender age of 27 by becoming the first person to skateboard across Australia.

With only his daily skate to and from work to look forward to, the former alumni and Waterfront Editor decided that there had to be more to life than a simple nine to five office job. So, Dave decided to couple his new passion for skateboarding with travelling.

"I saw a Lonely Planet guide to Australia, and there was a map on the back. Perth was on one side and Brisbane on the other and I thought, that'll do"

In order to prepare for skateboarding across Australia, Dave completed a 1,450km skate across Britain in June 2006, from John o'Groats to Land's Ends, taking just over a month to complete; becoming the first person to skate the length of Britain.

Dave's journey across Australia first began on August 20 2006, when, after three days of preparation, he and his team of seven people (who trailed him in a four wheel drive, including, Dan Loo, Becky McKinlay and Bev Blackburn) left Perth heading for the Great Eastern Highway with his trusty board 'Elsa', which he completed on 3 September.

Dave's journey then took him south, along the Coolgardie - Esperance Highway. Four days later Dave turned Eastward along its third road. The Eyre Highway spans the Nullarbor Plain and is renowned for its hostility, and also ends in Southern Australia.

Hoping to raise £50,000, the money would be donated to three charities which include, the Link Community Development, Lowe Syndrome Trust, and Sailability Australia.

Swerving around snakes, Dave successfully completed his skate of Western Australia on 23 September.

He then went on to complete his skate of the Nullarbor when he reached Ceduna, Southern Australia on Friday 29 September.

In mid October Dave pushed into Adelaide where he was met with a setback after injuring his foot on a piece of metal during a photo shoot. After two weeks, Dave relentlessly carried on and headed around the coast to Melbourne, which he completed on November 16.

A dozen tubes of sunscreen later, blisters and aching ankles, Dave eventually completed his journey on 23 January when he reached his destination of Brisbane, after travelling 5,823km across Australia. Dave triumphantly smashed the current record for long distance skateboarding which had been set by American Jack Smith, when he completed a stretch of 3,000 miles across the United States of America in 2003.

Dave not only managed to wear out 13 pairs of shoes and accept dares, but also successfully won a race with an emu.

"People have been daring me to do things in return for a donation. A bloke in Manchester, wanted me to race against a wild animal, so when I saw an emu by the side of the road in Western Australia. I thought this is my chance."

Although Dave's journey has finished, he has not ruled out that another long distance journey is on the cards.

Dave now plans to write a book and give motivational speeches.

"I am certainly not going back to the day job."

Jason Sannegadu