Every Australian knows about Gallipoli, and it is particularly significant for our family because my great grandfather, Harry Percival Edwards, landed at Gallipoli on 26th May 1915. Unfortunately, he was shot in the head 17 days later and on 20th June he is recorded as still having a Turkish bullet lodged in his skull just above the right temple. Nonetheless, he survived the war and was discharged on March 21st 1916. Great Grandfather Edwards was an ANZAC, but let’s not forget that Gallipoli wasn’t our first major action.

Sergeant Frank Humphries

Although they weren’t called ANZACs , 606 Australians* and 230 New Zealanders** lost their lives in the second Boer War in 1900-02. The Boer War was the first overseas conflict to involve New Zealand troops and according to the Boer War Memorial website:

The Boer War was the first full commitment of troops by all the Australian Colonies to a foreign war and with the formation of the Australian Commonwealth on 1st January 1901 it became our country’s first military involvement as a nation.

My father’s other grandfather, Walter Edward Frederick James Humphries, was born in Eldorado, Victoria (in the Ballarat goldfields) on May 1st, 1869. He was known as Fredrick James and was reputedly a ‘crack’ shot and a good horseman.

He had been secretary of the National Rifle Association of NSW in 1897 and was recruited at the rank of Sergeant in the 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles (service number 170).

Frank's Queen's Medal with a mini diary he carried throughout South Africa Campaign and a .303 bullet made in the field. Inscription on the medal reads '170 SERJT: F HUMPHERIES N.S.WALES M.R.'

His Queen’s Medal carries six bars:

• South Africa 1901
• Wittenbergen
• Diamond Hill
• Johannesburg
• Driefontein
• Cape Colony

He left Australia, a British Colony, and returned to Australia, a new nation.

He married Pauline Elizabeth Maria Alcock Robins on June 6, 1902 in the Sydney suburb of Paddington.

Frank after the war

During the great depression, we know he worked on Sydney wharves where he collected timber from packing cases and made the family’s furniture from it.

When my father was born, great grandpa Frank made a cot for him that has served the family for generations. My sister and I used it and so did each of my nieces. And I still have a set of 6 dining chairs that he made from packing cases.

My father was his only grandchild and always referred to him as ‘Smoke’ because he was rarely without his pipe.

He died on April 2, 1938 at his home at 10 Watkin Street, Bondi and was cremated at Rookwood Crematorium.

*Australians killed – Australian War Memorial
**New Zealanders killed – New Zealand History Online

Deborah giving me some good advice on conserving energy whilst running

With her fantastic support crew of Karin and Owen (mum and dad); partner, Glyn; and her faithful Border Collie, Maggie, Deborah has jogged over 16,000km of her 17,407km journey to raise money for breast cancer research.

Her tally so far stands at $205,738 and she hopes to reach $300k. If you’d like to support her mammoth effort, you can make a donation via her website Running Pink.

Deborah is a joy to chat to, and as usual the tiny town of Hall punched well above its weight, with many coming out to donate over a BBQ to help her raise money for a worthy cause.

The rules for ultra marathon running state that you must run at least 20km every day, and there have been quite a days where circumstances have colluded to slow her down.

Not the least were the floods across the top end and through Queensland where she spend many weeks running in the rain.

Looking at her running schedule she seems to average around 50km a day which is an incredible effort. The trick she says is to do a Cliff Young shuffle, that way you don’t jar your body too much.

It is all about work-life balance

The last month my focus has been on changes we are making to Life7 (our coaching business).

We have decided to split the business into three specific coaching streams, business coaching, professional development and family and life coaching.

This has meant not only a lot of work on the Life7 website, but a lot of behind the scenes organisation as well.

As you know, my focus is on achieving a good work-life balance, so in order to achieve all this, I had to make some decisions around what was most important and this blog had to drop down the list.

I’ve decided to focus my attention on writing articles for out coaching site, such as this one about different types of business owners, titled: How to Set Your Business On Fire, (which refers to putting spark into your business and your life rather than advocating arson).

One thing that hasn’t dropped down the list is my morning exercise, particularly as I have the Volcanic Challenge coming up in a week’s time.

We were staying in a hotel in Wagga Wagga for a few days and as usual, I’d packed some exercise gear. I don’t like running along the roads if I can avoid it, so the night before, I pulled up Google maps to find a route for my morning jog.

This is the first of three stiles I had to cross. Note the flood debris on the fence.

I was in luck, there appeared to be a good path following along the edge of the river for three or four kilometres in either direction from the hotel.

In the morning I had one last look at the map and headed off toward the river. It didn’t take long to find the path but it also didn’t take long to lose it either!!

The path was not easy to follow, it appeared to join with a road and then veer off into a track. Recent rain meant that there were plenty of puddles to jump over, so my morning jog was a little more of a steeple chase.

It wasn’t long before I found myself in a labyrinth of 4WD trails criss crossing through the bush. The trail went cold and I stood there bamboozled until I spotted a stile over a fence covered in flood debris.

Sure enough, over the stile was the track. The whole area had been flooded in recent months. It was muddy, there were many wash-aways, flood debris, and fallen trees.

One of the wash-aways along the track

Running through the tall weeds covered in heavy morning dew meant that my shoes and shocks were getting wetter with each step.

My return trip was a little quicker, not because I was running faster but because I didn’t have to stop to try and find the path.

When I finally got back to the hotel, I was tired, wet and very muddy but felt totally refreshed and ready for the day.

As I sat in the hotel eating my breakfast, I looked around at the other travelers and wondered if they realised how much of life they missed out on this beautiful morning?

How tired will I be by the time I get to this bit?

I love a challenge, in fact like all of us, I need a challenge, because without it, I just seem to let life happen to me.

Lately my fitness has suffered from a lack of focus. I need to lose a few kilograms and I need to increase my aerobic capacity so, I needed a suitable challenge.

Whilst having a beer with one of my ex clients on Friday night, he said ‘I’ve got just the thing for you.’

And so begins my commitment to run in the Great Volcanic Mountain Challenge.

We all need regular challenges to motivate us, no matter what area of life we want to succeed in, work, relationships, health etc. In my case, I know I need small fitness goals if I’m to maintain a level of health I’m comfortable with.

The challenge is an 11km ‘fun run’ from the bottom to the top of Mt Canobolas, (an extinct volcano near Orange NSW). The hill in this run makes the infamous ‘Heartbreak Hill’ in the Sydney City2Surf look like a minor undulation.

To add to the challenge, not only is it a mountain with some very steep gradients, but it is also at a fair altitude, so the thinner air will add to the level of difficulty.

The run starts at around 1,100 metres above sea level and climbs to to over 1,400 metres which doesn’t sound like much of a climb, but I’m told that the real killer is that route goes up and down a number of times, so the total climb is more like 600 metres.

Anyone else up for the challenge?