Fran Hurndall is preparing to run three marathons a day in her Reach Up Speak Out challenge to raise funds for domestic violence

Over the past 10 months, Fran Hurndall has been putting her body and mind through the wringer, running an average of 100 kilometres a week. 

For many, that would be a major feat in itself but for Hurndall it is simply training as she prepares to run 3800 kilometres from Perth to Sydney over 34 days.

She sets off in May and completing the challenge will make her the first woman to run the distance in record time. But breaking records is not why she’s doing it. 

READ MORE: Meghan clarifies her most important ‘title’ after correcting actress Mindy Kaling

Hurndall tells 9honey she received “some really horrible news” from her family back home in the UK last year.

She found out a relative had been “suffering in a domestic violence relationship”. 

The news rocked her family as they helped her relative find safety and grieve – a process that is ongoing.

It also opened Hurndall’s eyes to the reality of domestic violence in the UK and here in Australia. 

READ MORE: Sickening viral TikTok pet trend slammed as ‘dangerous’

In Australia, domestic violence is devastatingly common. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one in four women have experienced physical and/ or sexual violence by a partner an so have one in 14 men.

On average, one woman every nine days and one man every month is killed by a romantic partner. 

“Its hard not to hear the noise in Australia at the moment, just given the amount of people that are dying from domestic violence,” she says.

So when Hurndall decided to take on a new challenge, it was a no-brainer to her that she would do it to raise awareness and much-needed funds for domestic violence. 

READ MORE: ‘Having a meltdown’: Shoppers panic as Easter egg disappears

“I’ve always wanted to do another challenge and obviously raise awareness, and it was quite evident that I would be doing it for domestic violence,” she says. 

“I really just wanted to do my bit.” 

Throughout the gruelling challenge, which she has named the Reach Out Speak Up Challenge, Hurndall will run the equivalent of three marathons a day for 34 days.

She knows it will be a mammoth effort and has an entire team complete with physios, dietitians, chiropractors, masseuses and a mindset coach on board to help her through.

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

“It takes such a village to get something like this off the ground,” she tells 9honey.

Training has involved “lots of strength and conditioning work, lots of eating and lots of sleeping and looking after the body and mind so it’s in a good place for when we kick off in May.”

When she does kick off, Hurndall knows it won’t be easy. 

She will be running 12 to 14 hours a day, covering 110km daily and going through more than 10 pairs of shoes, and in that time she knows “anything can go wrong”.

“It’s such a risk but I just bring it back to [the fact that] we take risks every day,” she says. 

“The body can break down and anything can happen and its just that unknown that terrifies me but it gets me excited too.”

READ MORE: The cooling blanket that radically changed my sleep

It’s not the first time Hurndall has done something like this. Two years ago she made headlines after dribbling a football over 1000 kilometres from Brisbane to Sydney setting a Guinness World Record and raising funds for Women Sport Australia.

Hurndall is harnessing what she learnt during that experience for her next challenge. 

“Your mind will try and talk you out of so much and will try to get you to stop,” she says. 

“But if you just keep going that little bit further, you know, putting one foot in front of the other, you’ll have so much happiness when you reach the end versus if you stopped.”

Hurndall says she will battle “those inner demons when they come up” and “keep pushing through”.

“I’m sure there’ll be moments where it’s easier and other moments where it’s harder.”

READ MORE: All the stars spotted at Coachella 2025

While it will be difficult, Hurndall knows it doesn’t equate to what those experiencing Domestic Violence face and she simply hopes to do what she can to help.

Her biggest focus is to hit her fundraising goal of $1 million for RizeUp Australia. 

“The most crucial part for me is raising those funds,” she says. 

“It would just fulfill me so much just to know that I’m just helping so many people.”

She also hopes the challenge will help prove “what women are capable of and how strong they are”.

You can learn more about the challenge and donations at the Reach Out Speak Up Challenge website.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.