SOME people call it completely crazy, James Brougham calls it making the most of his circumstances and giving back the good fortune he has received.
Living in a bright blue sailboat called 'Salty Jocks' off the coast of Dampier, Mr Brougham is planning on running 500 kilometres over October to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
However, this isn't just any run.
Mr Brougham is also pushing his two daughters - six-year-old Halle and Isla, 1.5 years - in a bright blue wheelbarrow (the same colour as his sailboat), so they can come along for the ride.
And why the wheelbarrow?
According to Mr Brougham, it is a matter of efficiency.
"It is amazingly economical and practical even though it looks weird, you just can't get the same versatility out of a running pram," Mr Brougham said.
The two girls love going on runs with their dad, mainly because they get lots of snacks and Mr Brougham is always sure to stop at a playground.
"They jump out and look at things and every time there's a dead kangaroo on the side of the road, we go 'oh, poo smelly roo'," he said.
"They've usually got their shoes on before me."
Along with running close to half a marathon a day, Mr Brougham is also an extremely busy dad.
"I'm doing everything else because it's just me and the girls," he said.
"I do all the boat work, I do all the cleaning, cooking, washing, the story readings.
"I just don't stop.
"I do a lot of weights on the boat, I'll wash the dishes in between doing weights so I have one less thing to do."
The family decided to raise money for the RFDS to give back to the Dampier community and all the regions.
"We've been really looked after by friends, family and strangers - we've been taken care of by people," he said.
"I think we definitely owe some karma.
"So it was high time we put some effort in and did something about it."
The Brougham family have been living in the sailboat since last year and sailed up the coast to Dampier, with plans to continue towards the Kimberley.
"It was either be poor on a boat and sail Australia or be poor in suburbia with two kids that I am going to raise on my own," Mr Brougham said.
"So that was a pretty clear choice."
Isla learnt to walk on the sailboat and sits in a car seat that has been bolted into the cockpit.
She is getting to the age where she is fiercely independent and wants to do everything on her own, such as climbing in the boat and the dinghy.
"Hopefully she will lend a helping hand with all this independence," Mr Brougham said.
He said it was easy to underestimate how important moments exploring nature and spending time with family was as a kid.
"I've got images burned into my head of mom and dad doing the same thing - such as driving at night or driving in the early morning and you see the sun coming up," he said.
"Those places, they're there whether you're there or not, and they will be there for 1000 of years - as a kid that's mind-blowing."
Most other people fundraising for the RFDS Oceans to Outback drive run 42-100km within the month.
There isn't anyone else running even close to Mr Brougham's 500km.
"I worked out that 450km would be a push but still reasonable and then it was sort of close to 500km so I just entered 500km,'' he said.
"I realised later that that's more than 120 kilometres a week - so I'm running 16-20 kilometres a day."
He hopes to raise $10,000 for his efforts and with a couple of weeks left to go has almost raised $4000.
"The original goal was $1000, but we made that within 24 hours, to our surprise, so now we are trying to raise $10,000."
He has been visiting businesses in Dampier to raise money, but would love to increase his total and encourages anyone from anywhere with a few dollars spare to donate towards the worthy cause.
More information: Go to
oceanstooutback.org.au/
fundraisers/jamesbrougham/ or follow @salty_jocks on Instagram.
