Aurukun marathon runner says no to smokes!
“Smoking is not good for our mob, especially for young people. When you don’t smoke you can do those healthy things, like run marathons. This is my third marathon, come on let’s go!”
Everybody in the Cape right now is talking about Waynead Wolmby from Aurukun! Over the last couple of years, Waynead has not only become the first person from Aurukun ever to run a marathon, he’s now completed two and is about to run his third marathon this weekend in Athens, Greece, the official birthplace of the marathon!
Waynead is a graduate of the Indigenous Marathon Foundation (IMF), the organisation that made his trip to Greece possible. Through the IMF, Waynead has participated in marathons in Weipa and Alice Springs and was chosen to run in New York before the trip was cancelled due to Covid.
Waynead attended Apunipima’s Men’s Health Summit in June 2022 and he made quite the impression on our staff with his leadership, respect and healthy lifestyle choices. In particular our Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS), Nutrition and Health Promotion Teams have kept in contact with Waynead and supported him along his journey to Greece. Aurukun PHC Manager, Zeleke Fisher even tries to keep up with Waynead on his regular 20km training runs!
Waynead lives a healthy lifestyle and he has a very clear message for mob about smoking.
“Smoking is not good for our mob, especially for young people. When you don’t smoke you can do those healthy things, like run marathons. This is my third marathon, come on let’s go!”
Health Worker from TIS, Errol and Carl from Health Promotion, had the pleasure of attending Waynead’s fundraiser hosted by the PCYC last month.
“We’d like to give a shoutout to the Aurukun PCYC for inviting us to such a positive event and for allowing us to deliver our TIS education sessions,” Carl and Errol said.
Thank you Waynead for being a deadly role model, sharing your message with us and inspiring the wider Cape York community. Everyone at Apunipima is wishing you all the best for your third marathon we’ll be cheering you the whole way!
More info about Tackling Indigenous Smoking is available on at this page.
Our Health In Our Hands!
