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Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

December 07, 2022 / 01:10:25

This episode of Runners Only features Liam Malone, a Paralympic athlete who won gold medals in the 200m and 400m events at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The discussion covers his journey from childhood, the decision to amputate his feet, and his experiences in the Paralympics.

Liam Malone shares his early life in Nelson, New Zealand, where he was born with fibular hemimelia, leading to the amputation of his feet at 18 months. He discusses the challenges he faced growing up and how his parents' decision shaped his life.

The conversation touches on Malone's athletic career, including his training, the technology behind prosthetics, and the competitive nature of the Paralympics. He reflects on his achievements, including setting world records and the impact of his mother's illness and passing on his mental health.

Malone also shares insights into his transition from athletics to a career in technology, emphasizing the importance of persistence and the lessons learned from failure. He discusses his current work at Amazon and his philosophy on pursuing new challenges.

The episode concludes with Malone's thoughts on personal growth, the importance of humor, and the value of hard work in achieving one's goals.

TL;DR

Liam Malone shares his journey from childhood amputation to Paralympic gold medalist and his transition to a tech career.

Episode

1:10:25

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hello and welcome to this episode of

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Runners only with dom Harvey coming up

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Liam Malone throws himself down after

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the line he's thrown everything into it

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he's done the double I'd suggests the

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200 400. one time I was at a tall Blacks

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game my foot came loose during one of

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these three-point competitions my foot

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spinning around I'm on the court and ah

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it's just like so stuff like that would

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happen all the time Liam Malone from

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Nelson became a household name back in

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2016 when he burst onto the paralympic

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scene in Rio and won gold medals for the

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200 and 400 and a silver medal for the

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100. he was born with a condition that

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meant he was unable to walk properly so

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his parents when he was a toddler made

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the impossibly difficult decision on his

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behalf to amputate his feet I would say

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this podcast is a story but that would

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be BS we do cover a lot of stuff but I

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still think we only scratched the

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surface of the driven unique complex

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hilarious and intimidating Liam Malone

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I've known Liam a bloody long time and

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I'd consider him a mate but but I'm

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intimidated by the guy he just he's

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working on a different level to 99.9 of

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us the dude's crazy in a good way just

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before we crack into Liam I'd love it if

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you could do me a favor if your podcast

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platform allows please rate this podcast

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or write a review for it and if you like

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what you hear please recommend it to a

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friend or two who you think may like it

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word of mouth is in my opinion the most

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effective form of marketing there is of

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course there's no pressure to do any of

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this at all ultimately I'm just glad

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you're here and I really hope you enjoy

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Liam Malone on Runners only

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only

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[Music]

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[Music]

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[Music]

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[Music]

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Runners only with Don Harvey and Liam

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Malone uh one of the the baddest men in

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the world on the track I want to talk

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about that yeah I think it's hilarious

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that you can ever identify someone in

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the Paralympics as being as being the

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baddest man I think that's ironic but

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what do you mean it's a Paralympics man

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you were the baddest in that yeah you

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asked Oscar Pistorius he was the baddest

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man in another way

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um but you you eclipsed his times you

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started the sport and you just dominated

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and then you just turned your back on it

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uh maybe I explained why I went to the

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Paralympics

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like double amputee

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um the Paralympics changed the way that

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blades could be designed and the

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Paralympics to me should be the

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intersection of technology and Human

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Performance now the Olympics the

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able-bodied Olympics has gotten to a

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point where it's for the most part a

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measurement of genetic potential

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and there's not a whole lot of

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Technology that's involved besides like

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all the countries that are using

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Statewide doping

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they sponsored doping

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um they're doing a good job on the

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technology side but the Paralympics has

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all this um

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has this giant Gap to fill on the

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performance Side by leveraging

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technology but then you end up with this

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massive Delta between developing

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countries and developed countries where

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developing countries have no competitive

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advantage and so then you end up with

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this Delta gap between

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the performance of people with

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disabilities from say a country of from

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African origin perhaps and New Zealand

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where we are experts in using carbon

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fiber to build Rockets sailing ships

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Prosthetics and so the Paralympics

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changed the rules because it was unfair

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but the downside of that was that

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the Paralympics will Plateau in terms of

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how far people with disabilities can

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perform

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so you you got them you got the medals

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you got the records did what you wanted

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to do and then bounced I feel like

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have you got ADHD

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I don't know you were talking to my

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girlfriend before well I I feel like I I

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do but I'm of an age where these things

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were never diagnosed but I feel like you

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were I mean we're recording this at

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seven a.m on a Sunday [ __ ] morning

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I've been trying to pin you down for

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this podcast for months I'd I'd consider

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you like a friend I guess yeah I've

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known you for many years I've tried so

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hard to get on my podcast and I'm a busy

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guy I'm a busy guy but you've got me 7am

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is my favorite time of the day so you've

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got me okay so not only do you have me

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at my favorite time of the day you have

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me at my most important productive time

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of the day my most precious time of the

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day so you yes it has taken a while to

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get my time but I'm giving you the best

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time that I have to give if you got me

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at 4pm I've been up since four so I'd be

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I'd be useless I'd be miserable and

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grumpy what are you doing today though

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so we're doing this podcast now 7am run

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the dog for an hour yeah uh and then I'm

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gonna go work out I've Gotta Give a

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minute garage no I've got a biker gun

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there right you know what a biker goes

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yeah

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um and then I'm gonna go hit the gym

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and then I'm gonna hit the sauna and

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steam room and then I'm going to come

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back and continue building the studio

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that we're in right yeah this is like um

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we're in a it looks like it's a spare

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bedroom but you tend to get into like a

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vlogging or a YouTube Studio yeah right

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right so how are you

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I don't think

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I don't think what do you make well why

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well I have an awesome dog got an

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awesome girlfriend I have an epic job

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and life's going pretty superbly yeah

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but the only the only downside the only

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downside that I don't have is an

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obsession and that's the thing that I

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need is like an obsession and that's the

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one thing just anything you just need

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something to be obsessed about right

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because because of the because of what

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you identified with I don't think I've

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got ADHD but I'm definitely on some form

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of spectrum with

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attention and no because you you talk

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about needing an obsession one like I

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don't know side effect trade or whatever

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of ADHD is a thing called hyper fixation

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so you say you need an obsession maybe

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you need something to hyperfect maybe

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yeah yeah but um

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anyone listening to a lot of people

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listening to this will probably be like

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well you seem like like you do have

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obsessions like the fact that you're

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you've got a gym at home and you've got

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this and you've got that

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maybe I get stuck into building things

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like all of this is mine this isn't even

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medicine so my girlfriend works in media

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but all of this is mine so I built all

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of this today which to be fair I've

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poorly painted The Walls Black to kind

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of make it look cool which it looks dope

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when it's in shot and the rest of the

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room sucks so I haven't when I say I've

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built I've done [ __ ] all but it's going

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to get there it's going to be awesome

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all right well like you just don't do

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anything by halves

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didn't grow my body completely that was

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by half

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okay all right it would be number one I

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mean the most important did you grow

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your whole body note [ __ ] it okay so

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um yeah let's go right back to the

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beginning so you're from now you're from

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stoken Nelson you're born with you're

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born with your legs

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born with your legs and your feet yeah

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um but they you you were saying I've

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seen I've seen video footage of you

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walking as a toddler and you're okay so

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I was born with fibular hemamily it's

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the absence I would usually lie about

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this by the way but like shark attack

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yeah it was sorts of nonsense but

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everyone knows I only to get more

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creative at this point but I was born

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with fabula him Emilia and I guess if

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someone was like thinking about their

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own leg they would have their tibia

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which is their shin bone they would have

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the fibula which they can't really feel

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but it runs down behind the shin bone

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which provides stability to the ankle so

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when I was learning to walk I didn't

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have my fibulas and but I had my feet

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which is bizarre

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and my ankles snapped and rolled inward

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so I learned to walk on the the insides

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of my toes yeah I've seen like a

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handicap footage of you walking as a kid

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online ridiculous yeah cut those things

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off your feet are sort of like a 90

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degree angle yeah

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outwards yeah yeah yeah so you're you

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see your parents made the call when you

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were like two 18 months 18 months so do

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you do you have any recollection of

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having feet or is it just sort of

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subliminally through like seeing old

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footage I have no recollection yeah yeah

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so they they made the call for you

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um fortunately because I've met guys

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whose parents went in the Opera opposite

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direction so the two Pathways is do you

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amputate the legs and hope that

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prosthetic technology gets better or do

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you not amputate the legs and hope that

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medical insertions of steel rods and

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other surgeries get better now I'm at

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this German guy at the Paralympics who

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is now a double amputee his parents

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didn't go down that pathway and then on

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top of that they did not give him

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consent until he turned 18 in Germany to

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make that decision so he turned 18 he'd

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spent his entire life in crutches

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because there's no way you could go

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through surgery after surgery as you

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grow to put in an artificial bone and he

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was essentially a [ __ ] kind of like

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what I'd imagine like I think there's

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like a character in South Park who's

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kind of like that and and so he kind of

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just went around his whole life kind of

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not being able to move through space and

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time and then he got the amputations and

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now he's he's [ __ ] insane he's doing

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diving he's doing rock climbing he's at

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the Paralympics

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Halo's a very normal life and so I was

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so lucky that my parents decided to

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amputate you can understand it from both

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sides so like um it's a terrifying

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decision it's an awful decision because

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um I mean you you

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can see that your parents made the right

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decision but you know if you were like

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what the [ __ ] you guys you guys decided

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to cut my legs off yeah and I think no

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parent wants to have a disabled

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absolutely and then beyond that there's

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complexities in having a child with a

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disability when then you have to make

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decisions that have like forward impact

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broad impacts on their child's life and

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so you know if a child's born with say

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some sort of disease that puts them in a

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wheelchair well then

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a lot of the time they might not there

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might not be any other decisions that's

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just the way it is but then for me they

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have an onus of responsibility on the

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outcomes of my life because then that's

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where the challenge lies

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so yeah it would have been hard for them

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[ __ ] hard for them yeah

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um yeah how was that was was that

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challenging like what are the earliest

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so devastating from for them for sure

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but the moment they amputated my legs

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well one like you've seen footage of me

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as a toddler and I'm walking on two

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broken ankles

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so they were already looking at me as a

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toddler going like he's determined to do

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things like I'd Chase balls around him

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whatever the moment they did the

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amputation and I got my first set of

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prosthetics

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I was just like running around I was

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walking and I was I was loving life and

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having

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my amputations for whatever reason it's

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extremely painful constantly not now

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while we're sitting down but anytime I'm

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walking if I was to go out on a night

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out I'd have to go I do get extremely

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drunk because I'm in so much pain that I

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have to drink to counter the pains yeah

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so growing up that was that was always

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tough but I

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been fun regardless

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we're like it's been more fun than had I

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had the squid leg tentacle things yeah

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yeah you know that would have been

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[ __ ] disastrous okay well if it's if

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it's painful just to just to walk and go

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about your daily business then I'm

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guessing like training for events and

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running and running yeah long distance

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long distance is horrible so like I've

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done quite a few half marathons yeah and

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you did you did a marathon I mean you

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you have me out for some advice and then

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you took none of it and you ran a

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marathon with no training and it got me

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and there wasn't because I got to the

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end I was like I should never have done

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it because I was uh because I was an apt

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and that's the reason I thought I failed

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and then I did I trained properly for

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the halves and I went through them like

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119. and I was like ah you know you

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actually have to you can't just roll up

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to a full marathon it's a more enjoyable

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experience if you trade yeah so yeah the

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Hawkes Bay Marathon you did on your

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blade uh with very very little training

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zero training no but you must have done

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some runs no I didn't do any runs I did

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why did a like a 4K because at this at

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this point I hadn't felt the bottom of

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the Soul

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the sole on the bottom of the blade is a

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Nike track pad that gets like super

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glued to the bottom of the blade and you

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can't wear a track pad on the road and

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so I didn't have anything any solution

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to adapt at this point for the the

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marathons I didn't know how I was going

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to be able to run in the end what I did

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for the Hawke's Bay Marathon you know

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those like thick sponges that you might

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wipe down the bench with in your kitchen

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I duct taped a bunch of those to the

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bottom and they lasted like I don't know

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2K and then the rest of it I was just

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like destroying the bottom of my blades

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anyway so I got into this half marathon

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and I was smoking everyone for the first

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not everyone but I was smoking the

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average person and I think I went

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through the first half including stops

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to get duct tape uh more Sponge and

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everything so I probably had like a

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couple of two to three minute stops I

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went through the first half for like an

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hour 30. wow and I was like that's

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pretty good yeah for like not training

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and then I just hit the wall and I was

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done man 2K after that halfway mark on

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that full Marathon it wasn't anything to

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do with being an amputee I just was

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unfit and

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and then on top of that I had extreme

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pain so I had to have a doctor bike

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alongside me feeding me Tramadol and

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nerve blockers so I'd done something to

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the bottom of my stumps and so in

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through the first half of this this

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marathon and I'm in like probably the

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top 25 percent

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by the last five kilometers I had an 80

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year old grandmother passed me in the

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back like I think last 50 and she runs

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past me she goes I never thought I'd

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beat an Olympian and I'm throwing up on

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the side of the road and this doctors

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with me telling me to give up and I'm

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thinking [ __ ] this grandma and uh she

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bit me and anyway I get to the end of

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this it's really humbling hey yeah it

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was a great extremely humbling I get to

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the end of this thing after crawling for

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parts of it I get through in like four

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hours something I run to the end they're

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like how do you feel I feel great

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goddess I feel great in this poor report

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I just throw up everywhere in front of

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them and that was my first experience

00:14:32

and last one and done well of the four

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I've done heaps of halves but the reason

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you have to like most people would have

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believed me they would have given up

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yeah I was in so much pain and that's it

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you're sort of nasty yeah well you have

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to finish stuff like that you have to

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get to the end and the next day like the

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bottom like it'd be like the Soul on the

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bottom of your heel like ripped off from

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the bottom of my stump it was I had to

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take like a week off work and it was by

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the way the only reason I did it was

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because a bunch of my work colleagues

00:15:03

were like hey let's all do the marathon

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together and then six weeks out I'm like

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have you guys started training they're

00:15:09

like no but we're still doing it and

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then then I it was like two days before

00:15:13

and I said hey you guys going down where

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are you staying and I was the only one

00:15:16

that entered from work so I got stitched

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up so where were you working then I was

00:15:20

working at a company called Soul

00:15:21

machines which is a soul machine Soul

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machines which is a New Zealand

00:15:25

technology startup that is building

00:15:28

autonomously animated digital human

00:15:31

beings and they're built on top of

00:15:33

artificially intelligent natural

00:15:35

language generation engines which would

00:15:37

be the type of technology that would

00:15:40

underpin something like Siri how old are

00:15:43

you now you've already had so many

00:15:44

different careers I've been a runner and

00:15:46

I've worked in technology now you work

00:15:48

at Amazon now and I work with Amazon but

00:15:50

that's that's Amazon web services it's

00:15:52

still within technology okay gotcha

00:15:53

gotcha I want to try and go on some sort

00:15:55

of order here so so you're growing up in

00:15:57

Nelson your parents make the very

00:16:00

difficult but correct Call to

00:16:02

um amputate your feet and your ankles

00:16:04

when you're 18 months old I'm guessing

00:16:06

the technology then for Prosthetics

00:16:07

wasn't that good

00:16:09

pretty similar to what a pirate would

00:16:10

have had for like a well they didn't

00:16:12

write anything they would have had

00:16:13

rubber feet so like wood

00:16:15

fiberglass rubber in combination and

00:16:19

there was like a rubber foot and then

00:16:21

there'd be like a weird wood like

00:16:24

separator that the wind would connect to

00:16:26

the fiberglass anyway the wood between

00:16:29

the foot and the fiberglass uh served it

00:16:32

for like a screw to go through the

00:16:33

bottom of this rubber foot into and the

00:16:36

screw would always come loose so like

00:16:38

one time I was at a either a tall blacks

00:16:41

or a Giants game and you know how they

00:16:43

have like the half court competition or

00:16:46

like the three-pointer competition for

00:16:48

like the kids my foot came loose during

00:16:50

one of these three-point competitions my

00:16:52

foot spinning around I'm on the court

00:16:54

and oh it's just like so stuff like that

00:16:56

would happen all the time

00:16:58

so the technology was useless and then

00:17:00

like every single sport I sucked

00:17:02

swimming Sports start out parallel I

00:17:05

wouldn't kick my [ __ ] feet would

00:17:06

absorb the water and start out Aqua

00:17:09

jogging you know it's just it was one

00:17:11

terrible

00:17:13

set of events to another you would have

00:17:15

been the only without a doubt the only

00:17:17

kid at your school with well fake legs

00:17:18

yeah there weren't a whole lot of us

00:17:22

Nelson's Nelson's not brilliant did they

00:17:24

feel quite lonely what were you like I'm

00:17:26

guessing you were quite popular I mean

00:17:28

you're you're just a normal kid because

00:17:30

I mean my my school was awesome my

00:17:32

friends were awesome my parents treated

00:17:34

me as normal and then

00:17:37

the most important thing is that

00:17:39

nothing's like if you want to be treated

00:17:41

as an equal your legs have to be the

00:17:43

target of jokes if you want to be equal

00:17:45

you cannot put like a kid for whatever

00:17:48

reason and some cotton wool for whatever

00:17:51

characteristic that separates them and

00:17:53

so like yeah early on where my legs are

00:17:57

better jokes and continue to be but like

00:17:58

it was slightly challenging I'd say by

00:18:00

the time intermediate came around us

00:18:02

probably like the case of like the

00:18:04

bullied becomes the bully but like not

00:18:07

so severe were you the bully no one

00:18:10

tells the bully but I was you know like

00:18:12

I was

00:18:16

[Music]

00:18:19

were there moments where I would go home

00:18:22

like after [ __ ] cross-country or

00:18:24

Athletics days and I would you know be

00:18:26

five to nine or ten and I would cry

00:18:29

because you know I wish that I had

00:18:31

really absolutely

00:18:34

what but I think those events are good

00:18:36

to go through

00:18:38

well because I build like resilience

00:18:40

yeah the character and character yes oh

00:18:43

it's it's still rough though we used

00:18:45

like a

00:18:46

self-deprecating like did you get jokes

00:18:49

and before anyone else could were you

00:18:50

there yeah the curtain yeah absolutely

00:18:52

as a as a defense mechanism and also

00:18:54

it's just smart it's kind of like you

00:18:56

see Eight Mile and Eminem

00:18:58

in the rap battle that he wins he goes

00:19:01

it himself harder first before you know

00:19:03

yeah the other guy can and then he

00:19:05

robots the the other guy so it's kind of

00:19:08

like stealing someone's Thunder yeah

00:19:11

that's the way to think about it it's

00:19:12

the same way that like in a debate you

00:19:15

know you would you would look for what

00:19:17

the uh you know counter team would would

00:19:20

hit you with first yeah it does feel

00:19:22

like it's a kiwi thing though like you

00:19:24

need to get in before someone else does

00:19:25

which which kind of sucks in a way I

00:19:27

think it does and it also sucks because

00:19:29

we do it not just in things that

00:19:32

unfortunately we're bad with but things

00:19:35

that we're great with as well have you

00:19:37

made well I just like with success and

00:19:38

stuff I think there's it's just like the

00:19:40

Kiwi attitude right yeah I think you're

00:19:41

right

00:19:42

we're just not downplaying what you've

00:19:44

done correct yeah I absolutely

00:19:46

absolutely uh yeah otherwise it's just

00:19:48

seemed braggy or egotistical or

00:19:50

something exactly your mum your mum got

00:19:52

sick well like when you were 12. yeah

00:19:55

stage three going on stage four bowel

00:19:57

cancer

00:19:59

um [ __ ] you mate you went through some

00:20:01

[ __ ] well I had no idea what cancer

00:20:03

meant like conceptualizing cancer as a

00:20:04

12 year old the first question I asked

00:20:06

was is it contagious so I was like

00:20:08

looking across the table at her like in

00:20:10

part terrified that my mum was going to

00:20:12

die and then in part like can I catch

00:20:14

whatever she has uh and then they had to

00:20:16

kind of like run me through what cancer

00:20:17

was and then go through this explanation

00:20:19

that she was going to have to go down to

00:20:20

Christchurch and undergo all the surgery

00:20:22

have her bowels cut apart get a

00:20:24

colostomy bag it cost me back for those

00:20:26

who don't know is when you go through

00:20:27

bowel cancer they'll typically remove

00:20:29

the part of the bowel that has the

00:20:30

cancer

00:20:31

they will put a hole in the side of your

00:20:34

abdomen and you'll have this bag that

00:20:37

your bowel connects to and like that's

00:20:39

essentially your [ __ ] and then you

00:20:40

have this bag and it's you know socially

00:20:42

awkward it makes sounds it's like having

00:20:44

an ass on the side of your stomach it's

00:20:46

it's does it makes it what sounds does

00:20:48

it like girdling noise

00:20:50

digesting noises right but it's slightly

00:20:52

louder because you don't have the

00:20:54

insulation from the abdomen and so for

00:20:56

her you know that was extremely tough

00:20:58

from a social point of view

00:21:01

I don't want to see an adult go through

00:21:03

those things and then you know I watched

00:21:05

her get cleared of cancer the first time

00:21:07

and you retain so much hope and then the

00:21:10

cancer comes back and you lose that hope

00:21:13

and then it's cleared again you get a

00:21:15

little bit of Hope back you have that

00:21:16

element of doubt and then the third time

00:21:17

actually realized when I whether a way

00:21:19

that I found out she was going to die

00:21:20

was I read this letter from a specialist

00:21:22

that said the cancer had metastasized

00:21:24

throughout her body and was in her vital

00:21:26

organs and so how old were you then 17

00:21:30

17 I was in the last year of school and

00:21:32

I was learning in biology how cells

00:21:34

spread throughout the body and so my

00:21:36

understanding was like I was learning

00:21:38

biology and how cell spread and we were

00:21:40

cancer so relevant so that's usually

00:21:42

like a topic of like case studies and

00:21:45

then you know I'm seeing it play out in

00:21:48

real life and the consequences of that

00:21:49

so that was she was she's she's living

00:21:51

with it for five years six years for six

00:21:54

years yeah

00:21:55

yeah she died when I was 18.

00:21:58

but she was you know she was an

00:21:59

extraordinarily tough woman and I took

00:22:01

so many things from her so uh her like

00:22:04

two things she had a very rough

00:22:07

upbringing but she was just like a

00:22:10

cleaner at the hospital for the majority

00:22:12

of her life

00:22:13

she began a landscaping business in

00:22:15

Nelson a small business but it took off

00:22:17

pretty rapidly my mum was just like a

00:22:18

wonderful woman with people

00:22:20

just diagnosed with cancer she continued

00:22:22

it and one of the things that she told

00:22:24

me was like don't wait until you begin

00:22:25

to die to like pursue what you love

00:22:27

because she's just like green thumb epic

00:22:29

Gardener our property was always

00:22:30

stunning people always compliment on her

00:22:32

on it and

00:22:34

it was only until she had that

00:22:36

realization that she was probably going

00:22:38

to die soon that she actually took the

00:22:40

risk of pursuing her dreams so you know

00:22:42

always do that the second thing was she

00:22:43

always wanted to live on a farm so we

00:22:45

moved out to a farm after she was

00:22:47

cleared from cancer

00:22:49

and

00:22:50

you know the cancer came back we stayed

00:22:53

on the farm this woman would she's

00:22:54

insane which would have chemotherapy

00:22:56

radiation should have this colostomy bag

00:22:58

she lost all this weight she must have

00:23:00

been like 50 kilos and she would be out

00:23:03

there at 5am in the morning moving cows

00:23:07

yelling at the dogs yelling at the

00:23:09

animals she would be you know watching

00:23:12

my dad and I attempt to try and fix

00:23:14

fences and so her capacity for dealing

00:23:17

with pain was extraordinarily high and

00:23:19

then her capacity to just continue to

00:23:21

work extremely hard was extremely high

00:23:23

and when I was a teenager you know that

00:23:27

um

00:23:28

didn't necessarily have a profound

00:23:30

effect on me but now I look back and I'm

00:23:32

like it's such a shame it's shaped me

00:23:34

for sure and it's also shaped my

00:23:36

tolerance of other people's whinging

00:23:38

because I'm not that empathetic and I'm

00:23:41

not that tolerant to other people

00:23:43

because I've witnessed what oh but both

00:23:47

from her and just like people I've met

00:23:48

in the Paralympics and people have met

00:23:49

through life who have gone 40 reasons I

00:23:52

you know have encountered all of these

00:23:53

people have gone through extraordinarily

00:23:56

tumultuous times

00:23:58

and continue to work extremely hard

00:24:00

that when people whinge and moan I I

00:24:03

don't have a lot of sympathy which is

00:24:05

not a good thing because like a Little

00:24:07

Bit of Sympathy can help people through

00:24:08

things but I'm not I'm not a good person

00:24:11

to I I carry the weight of things I've

00:24:14

known you for quite a few years I've got

00:24:15

nothing but admiration for you if you

00:24:17

would have like wins to me about a

00:24:19

relatively minor problem even if it was

00:24:20

probably significant I don't know if I'd

00:24:22

be that empathetic yeah yeah

00:24:24

I won't tell you about my uh my knee

00:24:26

injury at the moment so so who is in

00:24:29

your family you your mum your dad any

00:24:30

other siblings uh-huh I got a secret

00:24:32

family

00:24:33

yes I what yeah I know it's wild so I

00:24:37

grew up thinking I had a half brother in

00:24:39

Perth and

00:24:41

I moved to Perth when I was 18 right

00:24:42

after my mum died

00:24:45

um eventually found out that my half

00:24:47

brother in Perth was a methamphetamine

00:24:49

addict anyway so he went into rehab I

00:24:51

moved back to New Zealand I went into

00:24:52

University whatever

00:24:55

go to the Olympics I moved to London I'm

00:24:57

working with sewing machines

00:24:59

and I get this phone call from my dad

00:25:00

saying hey I'm coming to London my dad

00:25:02

arrives in London and I'm like all right

00:25:05

that's weird but my dad's always

00:25:06

traveled globally with work he shows up

00:25:08

he shows me a photo of this young kid

00:25:09

I'm like oh have you sponsored a child

00:25:11

and he's like no it's your younger

00:25:12

brother I'm like what and so I had a

00:25:15

secret family that I never knew about

00:25:16

for three years and with a younger

00:25:20

brother and who I now lives at my family

00:25:23

home so you so your dad um had another

00:25:25

family after after your mum passed

00:25:27

correct but never told me about it why

00:25:28

didn't why was it a secret

00:25:30

well from the Philippines and I think he

00:25:34

felt conflicted about it and

00:25:37

for whatever reason he holds on to

00:25:39

things like he still has all my mum's

00:25:41

stuff at home and like it's nice but

00:25:43

it's like I don't know if he just knew

00:25:45

how to bridge it and I'm also

00:25:47

a jaded individual but anyway I have

00:25:50

this beautiful younger brother named

00:25:51

Tyler and he's the most gorgeous young

00:25:54

kid super handsome super charismatic

00:25:56

super bright anyway so I find out I have

00:25:58

this younger brother and I say to my dad

00:26:00

this is while he's telling me have you

00:26:02

told Paul yet who's my half-brother in

00:26:05

Perth yeah he goes why why would I tell

00:26:07

Paul he's not he's not my son

00:26:10

and I'm like huh

00:26:11

and so I find out that Paul's not my

00:26:13

biological half-brother and the same day

00:26:16

that I find out that I've got a new half

00:26:17

brother

00:26:18

even though we you know I still think of

00:26:20

Paul as my older half brother but it's

00:26:22

just one of those family things that's

00:26:24

part of life and it's it'd be easy to

00:26:27

get caught up on but I just think it's

00:26:28

all I think it's all one funny and then

00:26:32

pretty wonderful and we have a great

00:26:33

relationship on on all parties so it's

00:26:35

it's fine and my older brother who you

00:26:38

know sadly got involved in MF

00:26:40

amphetamine he went through rehab he's

00:26:42

out of it and uh he's just written a

00:26:44

book about that journey and he's a

00:26:46

phenomenal guy sir props to him as well

00:26:48

are you good with these things at the

00:26:50

time or is it just the time has passed

00:26:53

30 minutes

00:26:54

um

00:26:55

no 30 minutes I'm jaded a lot of

00:26:59

expletives coming out of my mouth and

00:27:00

then past 30 minutes I'm good to go

00:27:02

right just got to get it out of the

00:27:03

system a little bit so you you know you

00:27:06

lose your mum when you're 18 who's like

00:27:07

one of you you're one of your one of

00:27:09

your cheerleaders one of your biggest

00:27:10

fans one of you you like your North Star

00:27:12

how's that at that age well that was

00:27:14

probably the hardest part like so losing

00:27:16

my mom in combination with at like 12 to

00:27:20

17 as

00:27:21

pretty self-conscious about my

00:27:23

Prosthetics right it's just like natural

00:27:25

selection they're having a disability is

00:27:27

like not good for for mating so like

00:27:30

finding a girlfriend is hard either way

00:27:32

they're in my own mind or in reality and

00:27:34

I think it's both but so I'm super

00:27:36

self-conscious about my legs and and

00:27:38

whatever else and then my mum dies and

00:27:40

that's you know she's a foundation of

00:27:41

confidence for me as a child and I'm

00:27:43

kind of by myself I'm working in Perth

00:27:45

as a forklift driver

00:27:46

not really knowing how to comprehend and

00:27:49

deal with death and mourn someone

00:27:52

so extraordinarily tough and I think

00:27:54

more than anything it would have been

00:27:55

easier

00:27:57

had I been more myself in like the

00:27:59

pursuit of

00:28:00

the pursuit of goals and like just like

00:28:02

the pursuit of obsessing over things but

00:28:05

you know I was just drifting I worked as

00:28:07

a forklift driver not there's anything

00:28:08

wrong with being a forklift driver but I

00:28:09

was just drifting as a courier in a

00:28:11

forklift driver in Perth you have um

00:28:14

I don't know bigger goals or higher it

00:28:17

was just in fact I would happily do

00:28:19

those jobs but the people are surrounded

00:28:21

by in Perth when doing those jobs were

00:28:24

just miserable so they just made it not

00:28:26

very pleasant yeah and um

00:28:28

so that was that was tough it was It's

00:28:31

just tough but it just it passes it does

00:28:34

pass

00:28:35

did you like get any counseling or

00:28:37

anything or how did you how did you do

00:28:39

it

00:28:40

well eventually I dealt with it by

00:28:42

pursuing my dreams and that's what I

00:28:44

think makes life yeah wonderful so it's

00:28:46

lucky you didn't um like really go off

00:28:49

the rails or like you're the guy you

00:28:50

thought was your half-brother or start

00:28:52

taking meth or I don't know yeah

00:28:56

at school right being a child I was

00:28:59

always a dreamer of wanting to go and do

00:29:00

things which were

00:29:02

unrealistic in many senses but I don't

00:29:05

think I ever would have gone down the

00:29:07

complete wrong path for sure at that age

00:29:09

and stage of life like 18 you you could

00:29:12

have a lot to be angry about if you want

00:29:13

if you chose to be like you lost your

00:29:14

mum you had fake legs

00:29:18

[Music]

00:29:19

it's life life's not this night I'm not

00:29:22

you don't get dealt and even hand and I

00:29:24

was very fortunate as a young person to

00:29:26

travel a lot and so I've you know went

00:29:28

to Mexico with my parents and I can

00:29:29

remember seeing this young kid in Mexico

00:29:31

and Tijuana who had no legs from above

00:29:34

the knees begging for money which I

00:29:36

believe you know now is like funded by

00:29:38

the car the cartels on there or

00:29:39

something it's like it's very juvious

00:29:41

but it's a scam it's a scam his leads

00:29:44

are folded underneath him

00:29:46

um

00:29:47

get my ten dollars back

00:29:50

um you can always compare yourself to

00:29:51

someone worse and make yourself make

00:29:53

yourself feel good

00:29:55

um yeah

00:29:57

there is always someone worse offers

00:29:59

yeah yeah

00:30:01

um so yeah I mean I had worldly

00:30:02

experiences that just I've never felt

00:30:04

the need to be angry or like resentful

00:30:07

to the world or feel like the world owes

00:30:08

me anything that's such a good attitude

00:30:10

where does that come from is that from

00:30:11

your mum from your dad both yeah yeah I

00:30:13

mean they're both just hard-working

00:30:15

people like grew up you know with modest

00:30:16

means and

00:30:18

worldly experiences and you know they've

00:30:21

both been through a lot and

00:30:23

and I think it's just partly genetics

00:30:25

right like just like I got lucky

00:30:27

so your mental Health's always been good

00:30:29

well no like I mean after no like

00:30:31

through I'd say 15 through to

00:30:35

19 probably not yeah definitely not

00:30:38

understandable though they're not good

00:30:39

yeah I mean like self-doubt anxiety you

00:30:42

know after you my uncle and my mom died

00:30:45

within three months six months

00:30:48

somewhere around there

00:30:50

you don't have coping mechanisms

00:30:52

there's a lot going on you don't have

00:30:53

any career path per se like I never

00:30:55

thought I'd go to university or anything

00:30:56

and

00:30:59

that was extremely tough so until the

00:31:02

ball got rolling in a certain direction

00:31:03

I was like life sucks right like in

00:31:07

every capacity possible

00:31:09

so that that was what was up

00:31:11

so yeah and then at that point you're

00:31:13

extremely unhappy you're extremely

00:31:14

miserable but it's like the mental

00:31:17

health thing is and this is just my

00:31:18

point of view like I've never accepted

00:31:20

any form of external help my philosophy

00:31:23

around that is is like the the more you

00:31:25

take externally the more you need and

00:31:28

I'm not saying that's true of everyone

00:31:29

but for me I think that's certainly true

00:31:31

and so like I just had to search deep

00:31:33

within myself and external help as in

00:31:36

like Pharmaceuticals yeah counseling

00:31:37

yeah Pharmaceuticals like I would never

00:31:40

ever I think that's a very slippery

00:31:42

slope and it's an it's extremely easy to

00:31:45

go to like it's easy to pop a pill and

00:31:47

I'm not saying this is not for anyone

00:31:49

else I'm not making recommendations but

00:31:53

it's just an extremely easy path to go

00:31:56

down whether it's mental health or

00:31:57

normal health I think

00:32:00

there's you can always find a a way from

00:32:02

within yeah

00:32:04

wow you're so disciplined aren't you so

00:32:06

so when when the always just pointing to

00:32:09

an Afghan oh calm down you're eating in

00:32:12

Afghan at seven o'clock on Sunday

00:32:13

morning you've got hours to burn it off

00:32:15

mate

00:32:16

um so when did the running come into

00:32:18

your life did you show some sort of

00:32:19

natural Talent at school absolutely not

00:32:21

no well I didn't run for seven years so

00:32:23

after my mum died and I came back from

00:32:25

Perth and went to University I was just

00:32:27

a I was an idiot so I was at University

00:32:29

I was drinking probably three nights a

00:32:30

week I was going to these I I was just

00:32:32

I'll share some like stories with you

00:32:34

okay one night sky came to University

00:32:37

um so like massive University gig

00:32:39

there's I don't know like

00:32:41

a couple of thousand people in the crowd

00:32:43

for whatever reason I'm super drunk and

00:32:45

I get this idea that I'm going to get on

00:32:47

stage with net sky but but I don't just

00:32:49

like run up on stage because immediately

00:32:51

I'm going to get tackled right and so I

00:32:52

run back my University dorm room I grab

00:32:54

my DSLR and I bring it back with a GoPro

00:32:57

on my chest and there's that gap between

00:32:59

the stage and the crowd with the

00:33:00

security set yeah so like they just

00:33:02

allow me to walk up and down there and

00:33:04

I'm like getting the security to take

00:33:06

photos with the crowd as well and

00:33:07

they're pulling Shuckers and like

00:33:08

security guards I build trust with them

00:33:12

and like no one no one is like none the

00:33:14

wiser and all my friends are cracking up

00:33:16

laughing they think it's like the

00:33:16

greatest thing ever and then I get on

00:33:18

stage and take photos and then I go to

00:33:20

get a selfie with knit sky and all you

00:33:21

hear is like he's not allowed to be on

00:33:23

there and like security rusts the stage

00:33:26

and I'm running back through the back of

00:33:27

my like University events venue and I

00:33:30

run out stage and there was this like

00:33:31

fire truck that one of the University

00:33:32

societies had bought and I scale this

00:33:35

fire truck and I'm extremely drunk at

00:33:36

this point I've had a whole bunch of

00:33:37

vodka red balls and I'm 19 I've got no

00:33:39

idea what I'm doing the security guards

00:33:42

surrounding the fire truck and as they

00:33:43

go to run off it like dumb fake legs

00:33:45

they trip and so I fly off this you know

00:33:48

uh fire truck that's like a couple of

00:33:50

meters high can you know land on my head

00:33:53

have this huge concussion

00:33:55

devastating so that was like a dumb

00:33:58

event number one luckily like didn't

00:33:59

severely hurt myself another event

00:34:02

um just extremely drunk and Nelson fall

00:34:05

out of the back of a taxi and I smacked

00:34:06

my head on a curb starts pouring out

00:34:09

with blood I wind up in hospital

00:34:12

uh with a game with a concussion uh in

00:34:16

Perth I Got King hits woke up the next

00:34:18

day at home so this is

00:34:20

yeah yeah wow yeah and so

00:34:24

um was that a car accident and so there

00:34:25

were all these different events and then

00:34:27

it just got to a point I was like I have

00:34:29

to do something to turn my life around

00:34:31

and I had to like give in to the idea

00:34:34

that I had these unrealistic dreams and

00:34:36

Pursuits and I didn't know how to get

00:34:38

there but I had to figure out a way to

00:34:39

make them happen and then there was just

00:34:41

like

00:34:43

um somewhat of a strategy that came into

00:34:44

play which was

00:34:46

what can I do that's unique to me that

00:34:49

is hard to replicate for others but is

00:34:52

actually kind of easy to do and I

00:34:54

couldn't really think of anything and

00:34:55

the short of it is one of my friends

00:34:56

suggested going to the Paralympics and I

00:34:58

just walked into the offices in

00:35:00

Christchurch and said I'll go to Rio in

00:35:02

three years time and I'll win the 100

00:35:04

200 and 400 and they were like maybe aim

00:35:06

for Tokyo in 2020 why because it wasn't

00:35:08

enough of a lead up yeah who couldn't

00:35:10

train for the Paralympics in three years

00:35:12

they're like Oscar Pastorius just won

00:35:13

the able or not one he got to the

00:35:15

semi-finals and they bought it Olympics

00:35:16

yeah and his times are faster than

00:35:18

anyone in New Zealand for the 400.

00:35:20

good luck and the blades you need are

00:35:23

fifty thousand dollars and but I was so

00:35:25

like desperate to succeed at something

00:35:27

so I went back to my University dorm

00:35:30

room I started cold calling and cold

00:35:31

emailing people from the like MBR rich

00:35:33

list to try and raise money for these

00:35:34

blades and um got no yeses and then I

00:35:38

got in contact and met Phil Vine who

00:35:41

used to work at TV3 and he worked on

00:35:43

third degree which was like the

00:35:45

equivalent to Sunday at that point in

00:35:46

time he needed to make a documentary he

00:35:48

flew down he bought down the cameraman

00:35:51

we put this like pitched together to the

00:35:53

New Zealand Public yeah I couldn't run

00:35:54

at this point so I ran in my normal

00:35:56

walking Prosthetics in Christchurch

00:35:57

there was like 60 meters of track left I

00:35:59

ran 50 meters I threw up everywhere I

00:36:01

was wearing stubbies it was just the

00:36:02

whole thing was weird and they put that

00:36:04

to the New Zealand Public and within 48

00:36:06

hours I raised fifty thousand dollars

00:36:08

and that's where my friends University

00:36:10

are like [ __ ] dude you're actually going

00:36:12

to have to do this and I was [ __ ] Pan

00:36:15

the king bro what was I thinking idiots

00:36:19

so I was panicking because well like

00:36:23

what am I what am I doing

00:36:25

real what am I doing I'm just gonna

00:36:27

become an Olympian now yeah what are you

00:36:29

[ __ ] insane

00:36:31

so that's what happened and that's I got

00:36:33

into it but going back to why the

00:36:35

Paralympics made more sense than per

00:36:37

then say like another thing to do you

00:36:39

could like because anyone who's like

00:36:40

goal sitting right you have to come up

00:36:41

with a goal absolutely people are like

00:36:43

how do you choose something and I looked

00:36:46

at doing things like climbing Mount Cook

00:36:47

okay well then let's assess that idea

00:36:49

you climb Mount Cook how much value does

00:36:51

that create now you can think of value

00:36:52

in terms of how much attention you're

00:36:54

going to get how important it is is it

00:36:56

to the people not that important like

00:36:58

what are the consequences or like risks

00:36:59

of going up Mount Cook I could lose my

00:37:01

hands as well to frostbite and now I

00:37:04

look like Patrick Star from SpongeBob

00:37:06

you really want to go down that path

00:37:08

like you're already self-conscious about

00:37:09

getting a good so what do you no so you

00:37:12

can't create that much value the risks

00:37:14

are very high okay start a business do

00:37:15

you have any Capital do you have any

00:37:17

experience do you understand what you're

00:37:18

doing no idea at all going to be a

00:37:20

massive risk I'll probably fail within

00:37:21

six months and I won't make any momentum

00:37:23

incentive structures aren't that great

00:37:25

around it okay let's think about the

00:37:27

Paralympics okay well National success

00:37:29

is like important to the people like

00:37:31

gives like a sense of Pride it attracts

00:37:33

a lot of attention so there's like value

00:37:35

to be found in that what are the risks

00:37:37

well the risks are if I hadn't succeeded

00:37:39

I spent three years of my life in an

00:37:42

environment with these really positive

00:37:43

incentive structures I have a coach who

00:37:45

really cares about me I have my

00:37:47

teammates who you know their integrity

00:37:50

is a reflection of my actions as well so

00:37:52

I have to be accountable to them and

00:37:55

um

00:37:56

and it's relatively easy because not

00:37:59

that many people can go to the

00:38:00

Paralympics you're not gonna like how

00:38:02

fast can you run a marathon uh 257 okay

00:38:05

well yeah could you go to the Olympics

00:38:07

on that [ __ ] no okay

00:38:11

if I told you tomorrow you could go and

00:38:13

become a paralympic champion all you

00:38:15

have to do is amputate both of your feet

00:38:17

you I guarantee you you will win you'll

00:38:20

be able to make a fair amount of money

00:38:21

but I can't tell you it might not be

00:38:22

more than you're making now would you do

00:38:24

it [ __ ] no exactly so most people can't

00:38:27

go to the Paralympics because they don't

00:38:29

have two artificial disadvantages

00:38:31

exactly but there is this weird

00:38:32

perception that the Paralympics is as

00:38:34

competitive as the Olympics and

00:38:37

therefore it gets this you know not the

00:38:39

same amount of attention as the Olympics

00:38:41

by any means but it is perceived as

00:38:43

being super competitive now I'm not

00:38:45

disregarding the fact that it was

00:38:46

extremely hard to become that level of

00:38:49

an athlete because that's all I did for

00:38:50

three years was train in the morning and

00:38:52

train at night for every single day for

00:38:54

three years to get there and then I had

00:38:55

to think about the technology side

00:38:58

but relative to doing other things it

00:39:00

was the most intelligent thing to do

00:39:01

right I think you're being super modest

00:39:03

about it like your times were incredible

00:39:07

I'm not disregarding that but what I'm

00:39:09

saying is is that was still a better

00:39:12

that was the most sensible thing to do

00:39:14

alongside University in terms of picking

00:39:16

a goal and say starting a business or

00:39:19

anything else gotcha so just going back

00:39:23

like to the next guy thing and the

00:39:24

concussions and whatnot do you do you

00:39:27

think with the benefit of hindsight from

00:39:29

where you are now part of that was you

00:39:30

just being a standy 19 year old or do

00:39:32

you think

00:39:33

lashing out because of your mum just a

00:39:35

standard 19 year old and then on top of

00:39:37

that I'm like I'm extremely extroverted

00:39:39

as it is and I do like attention and so

00:39:41

that when you're in those environments

00:39:43

you are the one that does the dumb yes

00:39:45

when you're drinking the other side of

00:39:47

it is you know we have this massive

00:39:49

tragedy and I guess most western

00:39:52

Societies or in most societies where you

00:39:55

have a giant time loss where kids their

00:39:58

life is wasted between 16 and 24 by

00:40:00

spending their time at high school and

00:40:02

then going to University for the most

00:40:03

part which is just Advanced babysitting

00:40:05

and then a scam and so

00:40:08

and so what university is the scam all

00:40:11

of them well I think unless you're doing

00:40:12

like medicine or engineering or maybe

00:40:14

like some form of computer science or

00:40:16

maybe physics and chemistry be like hard

00:40:18

to say I I don't think it's a good use

00:40:19

of your time yeah I think you can

00:40:20

probably just go straight into the

00:40:21

you've got a degree though right yeah I

00:40:23

do yeah I must agree but I wouldn't

00:40:24

anyone but so you were saying this from

00:40:27

a a position of someone that has has

00:40:29

done it so which I think is um exactly I

00:40:32

mean I never went to University so I can

00:40:33

set this game and people can say tell me

00:40:35

to shut the [ __ ] up yeah exactly and so

00:40:37

but and because

00:40:39

because there's no guaranteed outcome of

00:40:43

those of those things of going to

00:40:45

University or spending your time at high

00:40:47

school wisely which is I guess like

00:40:49

focusing on like subjects that you're

00:40:50

not really sure why you're studying and

00:40:51

then going to University and you for the

00:40:53

most part most people take subjects so

00:40:54

they don't know why they're studying and

00:40:55

they have these kind of abstract ideas

00:40:57

or what they'll do afterwards

00:40:59

because you don't have a dedicated

00:41:00

outcome like you'd be going to the

00:41:01

Olympics most people just spend their

00:41:03

time drinking because like you're just

00:41:05

kind of like partying and you're

00:41:06

drifting and it's like you know you have

00:41:07

to balance the

00:41:09

the boringness of University and

00:41:10

everything else I suppose you're growing

00:41:12

up as well and finding your place in the

00:41:13

world finding your identity first time

00:41:14

exactly but I think there could be a

00:41:16

better use of that time and you still

00:41:18

have have all those experiences and you

00:41:20

can still like party and socialize and

00:41:21

everything but I think it's worse

00:41:24

because

00:41:25

on the other side of it no one's really

00:41:28

doing anything productive with the most

00:41:29

productive time in their lives so with

00:41:32

with what you're doing now working at

00:41:33

Amazon is are you using your degree at

00:41:36

all or no no

00:41:38

absolutely not no your degrees you know

00:41:42

your your degrees

00:41:43

sitting and reading like

00:41:46

reading these textbooks which are like

00:41:47

these retrospective analyzes from people

00:41:51

who have never worked in in a business

00:41:52

so like academics

00:41:55

and uh you create your sales and reports

00:41:57

for them and then they like you're

00:41:59

judged by people

00:42:01

have never really achieved anything in

00:42:03

their life and I just don't think it's

00:42:04

that good and so I think for some people

00:42:06

it's a good use of time like going to

00:42:08

University for me just being like the

00:42:09

person that I am not a good use of time

00:42:11

and so I had like I was valedictorian

00:42:14

and I had two speeches one which was

00:42:16

like not necessarily super critical of

00:42:18

the University but like funny making

00:42:20

jokes kind of like you know you've spent

00:42:22

three years being receiving grades from

00:42:24

people who've you know never achieved

00:42:26

anything in the Life blah blah blah blah

00:42:27

blah and I was like oh you know what

00:42:28

it's way too rough to Reign on

00:42:30

everything right yes yeah I don't want

00:42:32

to rain on everyone else's parade like

00:42:34

it's a moment of you know success for

00:42:35

everyone and people's parents are there

00:42:36

but uh yeah so at 19 you know I was

00:42:38

drinking and and

00:42:39

then I decided to become a paralympic

00:42:42

champion

00:42:43

and

00:42:44

I was lucky that it worked out but even

00:42:46

if it didn't that was still a better use

00:42:49

of time than than anything else because

00:42:51

I would have been healthier like just

00:42:53

all the benefits of

00:42:54

as you know being like an athlete

00:42:57

whether it's a runner or whatever it's

00:42:59

so good for you yeah there's so many

00:43:01

other other yeah good strains and habits

00:43:03

that go along with it so you win gold

00:43:04

and though silver in the 100 gold in the

00:43:06

200 and the 400. I think that's when you

00:43:08

first came to my radar because um you

00:43:10

blew up with your speech afterwards

00:43:12

where you said I'm just a kid from

00:43:13

Nelson that like runs around in circles

00:43:15

and reads books is that the quote Yeah

00:43:16

well I mean that's what I was doing at

00:43:18

the time it was hilarious I mean well

00:43:20

it's just funny as hell right yeah I

00:43:22

mean yeah I was 22 at the time and it

00:43:24

was just long yeah long here yeah that's

00:43:27

that's yeah I didn't I didn't really

00:43:28

want to have long hair but you look like

00:43:30

a like a like an anarchist athlete you

00:43:32

know what I mean well part of it was you

00:43:34

look like a super fat yeah but the part

00:43:36

of it was because when I went to the

00:43:38

Paralympics you do a training camp so

00:43:41

for people who don't really understand

00:43:42

the Olympic cycle you spend three years

00:43:44

and you're kind of like National

00:43:45

competitions maybe you go to Aussie but

00:43:47

then leading into an Olympic Games

00:43:48

you'll go and do a training camp

00:43:50

overseas where you try to get a little

00:43:51

bit better competition you maybe compete

00:43:53

against some of the people you compete

00:43:54

against Olympics

00:43:56

I went to the United States to their

00:43:58

Olympic Training Center to compete

00:43:59

against guys that I'd be competing

00:44:01

against in the Olympics

00:44:03

the Americans as we know don't

00:44:05

necessarily have the wider scope of like

00:44:09

Global views and so their view of New

00:44:11

Zealand athletes was all blacks

00:44:13

performing the Haka and Steven Adams

00:44:16

this big giant right right who has long

00:44:18

hair and a big beard and he's a Savage

00:44:20

so I went there and I wanted them to

00:44:24

think that I was a Savage and so I had

00:44:25

long hair and a beard while I was

00:44:27

training and I would train in the middle

00:44:28

of the day so they thought I was nuts

00:44:30

because the Olympic training centers on

00:44:32

the border of Mexico you know it's just

00:44:34

extraordinarily hot they get to the

00:44:35

Paralympics I shave the beard and then

00:44:37

the Olympic Village is just a nightmare

00:44:39

because it's in Brazil and it really

00:44:40

bankrupted the state of Rio and you know

00:44:43

there's just like the Paralympics is of

00:44:46

course filled with diversity and the

00:44:48

people that they employed and you've got

00:44:49

like Barbers with like three fingers who

00:44:51

are cutting here and I'm like I'm not

00:44:51

letting these people get me you know

00:44:53

what I mean

00:44:54

and so that's that's kind of how the the

00:44:57

long hair came about oh it was it was

00:44:59

really good and you and your times

00:45:01

you've got World Records right yeah

00:45:02

correct yeah beating Pastorius correct

00:45:05

and was he was sort of like a mentor no

00:45:08

no no no you had some conversations yeah

00:45:11

I mean I I talked to him in between

00:45:14

uh uh when he when he was released from

00:45:19

uh his year serving for manslaughter

00:45:21

right I had been at the world

00:45:24

championships in Qatar and talked to one

00:45:26

of his best friends and then he just

00:45:28

like reached out to me offering advice

00:45:30

and I was like

00:45:32

wait someone on trial for murders

00:45:34

offering a stranger on the internet

00:45:35

advice most guys mad anyway and then he

00:45:38

went then so I talked to him while he

00:45:41

was on just before he went back for

00:45:42

being on trial for murder never to hear

00:45:44

from him again we were

00:45:46

strangely like he's one of the only

00:45:48

people that I know who were born was

00:45:50

born with the same disability his mum

00:45:51

died at the same age thereabouts and so

00:45:54

very similar experiences growing up

00:45:56

in terms of sports we played

00:45:58

we had very different views on what the

00:46:00

Paralympics should be you know he wanted

00:46:02

to go to the able-bodied Olympics I'm

00:46:03

like dude you would never have made it

00:46:05

to the airport Olympics

00:46:07

if you had real licks there's no way

00:46:09

just like his the type of physique that

00:46:11

he has I have it wouldn't have been

00:46:14

possible so yeah I haven't heard from

00:46:15

him since but I do want to fight him

00:46:17

when he gets out of prison so I'd love

00:46:18

to do a you know corporate boxing match

00:46:21

yeah against Oscar because that'll be

00:46:24

the only even fight that I could have

00:46:25

and that would be awesome and you'd want

00:46:27

to beat the [ __ ] out of him yeah but I

00:46:29

mean he'd have that prison experience

00:46:32

yes so it would be extremely tough but I

00:46:34

think I'd have them I honestly thank God

00:46:36

everyone would be rooting for you so do

00:46:39

you know

00:46:40

embarrassing your records on the track

00:46:43

still stand

00:46:44

no it's after they changed the rules if

00:46:46

you like and you it's like kind of

00:46:48

putting new wheels on Formula One cars

00:46:50

okay so they reseed everything so so you

00:46:52

do you do that so that's 2016. and then

00:46:55

you come home and you keep running for

00:46:56

another couple of years one year I was

00:46:58

just injured for a whole year okay

00:46:59

suffered from nerve damage and a

00:47:03

they don't really know what caused it

00:47:05

the speculation is that I had like a

00:47:07

bone fracture

00:47:09

that then healed with like a calcium

00:47:10

rich that caused the Bursa on the bottom

00:47:12

of my stump

00:47:13

um which lasted for like another two and

00:47:16

a half years and I never got it seem to

00:47:18

and then eventually got my leg

00:47:19

reamputated going into uh going into

00:47:22

covert

00:47:24

so was your was your plan to keep going

00:47:27

yeah my plan was my yeah my plan was to

00:47:29

was to like because I was only three

00:47:31

years in there were two things one

00:47:33

biologically was it gonna improve

00:47:35

absolutely like I was increasing

00:47:37

everything like just miserable things

00:47:39

like my PR and squats deadlifts all of

00:47:42

the powerlifting measurements still

00:47:44

rapidly increasing then there's the

00:47:46

technology side right so making all

00:47:48

these improvements on technology I could

00:47:50

have got an insanely faster

00:47:53

especially in the 200 and 400. the

00:47:55

hundreds what was your time for the four

00:47:59

Ty something 40 uh 46. right yeah but

00:48:03

now it's bad like and then in Rio I

00:48:05

wasn't I didn't perform well so I still

00:48:07

won and I wasn't performing at my best

00:48:09

because I hated the village I had I'm a

00:48:12

very sensitive sleeper like I woke up at

00:48:13

4 3 30 this morning I couldn't get back

00:48:15

to sleep just because like the light

00:48:17

downstairs was only coming through our

00:48:18

door

00:48:19

and in Rio they had blinds over the

00:48:23

curtains they had no real curtains so

00:48:25

the light Shone and they had buses that

00:48:27

would go around the village 24 7 and the

00:48:29

bus stop was outside my room and it

00:48:30

would beep every time it came down

00:48:32

because the bus would decompress or

00:48:35

whatever on the airbags for the [ __ ]

00:48:36

wheelchair people and so I had beep beep

00:48:39

every five minutes all night and so I

00:48:41

didn't I didn't actually sleep when I

00:48:43

won my silver I had no sleep I did went

00:48:45

the whole night the night before without

00:48:46

sleeping and I still I still came second

00:48:50

and then the rest of the the two weeks

00:48:52

was just a disaster in terms of being in

00:48:55

a physiological optimal space to perform

00:48:58

so I would have performed a whole lot

00:49:00

better at the Paralympics in a different

00:49:04

environment

00:49:05

well you still you still did okay I

00:49:07

started okay yeah but I could I could

00:49:09

have been I could have been a lot

00:49:10

greater yeah so was it a hard call to

00:49:14

retirement just not frustrated

00:49:16

well they changed the rules I was

00:49:18

injured I was frustrated

00:49:19

um and then you have to forward think

00:49:21

like do you want to be 30 trying to make

00:49:23

that transition it's so much harder and

00:49:26

people like over index both the earnings

00:49:29

that an athlete makes and like just for

00:49:32

I was probably making uh like 300 to 450

00:49:37

000

00:49:38

a year between it's like sponsorship

00:49:41

speaking athlete money all of that you

00:49:43

over index on that because like they

00:49:45

think it's so good at the time but then

00:49:47

it's the life cycle of those earnings

00:49:48

are very low but then you over index

00:49:50

like the importance of being an athlete

00:49:53

and the you know your family is so proud

00:49:55

of you and your friends parents uh talk

00:49:58

parents friends like you yeah that's got

00:50:01

to be intoxicating for the other people

00:50:02

not for me it's like for me I'd already

00:50:04

been through enough hard things in terms

00:50:06

of like losing my mum and everything

00:50:07

else at like the ability to like

00:50:09

distance myself and things it's

00:50:11

relatively easy and separate that and

00:50:12

then also I'm an ambitious guy the

00:50:14

world's full of interesting things that

00:50:16

you can just go out and start tomorrow

00:50:17

like I've Got Friends who've just

00:50:19

started Jiu Jitsu and now they're on a

00:50:20

jiu jitsu Journey or whatever and so

00:50:22

there's always new things to do like you

00:50:24

didn't start running until later on yeah

00:50:27

exactly and so why just why just why

00:50:30

just be an athlete well I I and I had a

00:50:33

guy on the podcast last week Garth

00:50:34

barfoot who's uh yeah from his dad his

00:50:37

barfoot from buff and Thompson and he

00:50:39

started doing triathlons in his 50s and

00:50:41

so didn't do an Iron Man until he was in

00:50:43

his 60s which I think is [ __ ]

00:50:45

remarkable insane but just like I think

00:50:48

that's how you should live and so you

00:50:51

should always find a new thing but you

00:50:53

um

00:50:54

from an ego perspective like being an

00:50:57

athlete like it would be easy for you to

00:50:59

be defined as that guy like you know

00:51:01

Liam alone not really because was like

00:51:02

most of my life I went through like

00:51:04

School my league was falling off and you

00:51:06

know at Uni hours Bing shrinking and so

00:51:07

I wasn't really like tied to any

00:51:09

definition if I'd spent like my entire

00:51:11

teen years being defined as the Blade

00:51:13

Runner kind of like how skiposaurus was

00:51:15

or you know you're a child athlete and

00:51:17

you go through school and then

00:51:19

University you get a scholarship to the

00:51:20

States you make it into the MBA then

00:51:22

what do you do because that's your whole

00:51:24

character but if you're me you've got

00:51:26

that you know experience in a three-year

00:51:29

time period after like the worst year of

00:51:31

your life and so to lose it again is it

00:51:34

hard absolutely but at the same time I

00:51:37

like navigate a change and navigated

00:51:39

those transitions before so I was more

00:51:41

like more adapted to going through that

00:51:44

process mentally because it's a mental

00:51:45

it's a mental adaption what would your

00:51:47

advice be to someone that's thinking of

00:51:48

a career pivot cool yeah um start

00:51:51

learning everything online like spend a

00:51:52

ton of time on YouTube but the way that

00:51:54

you want to think about things from a

00:51:55

career point of view is like earnings

00:51:56

going to be super important right but

00:51:58

earning relative to how much effort

00:52:00

you're putting in and the way that you

00:52:02

want to think about it is you want to

00:52:03

look at the the mean earnings

00:52:07

um relative to effort within an industry

00:52:10

and so like let me export let me expand

00:52:12

on that let me expand on that let me

00:52:13

expand on that so like say you're a

00:52:15

police officer yeah and you might have

00:52:17

the idea of like you're already working

00:52:18

kind of like the legal industry maybe

00:52:19

I'll go become a lawyer right well you

00:52:22

could go to law school and you could you

00:52:23

know spend five years and then like sit

00:52:25

the bar but the reality is then going to

00:52:27

go into a law firm and you're not going

00:52:28

to earn that much money you're having

00:52:30

[ __ ] money for the first few years right

00:52:32

yeah for most of it yeah and then you

00:52:34

kind of have to do this like pyramid

00:52:35

scheme of trying to become a partner

00:52:36

okay and it's extraordinarily you know

00:52:39

but that's kind of how it works and it's

00:52:41

extraordinarily stressful like lawyers

00:52:43

are you know just burdened with the

00:52:46

incredible amount of stress well you

00:52:47

okay so like maybe you go and you say I

00:52:49

want to go into Finance well you're now

00:52:51

going up against a whole you know cast

00:52:55

of extremely bright people competing for

00:52:58

a very narrow Market because the

00:53:00

financialization of the economy has kind

00:53:01

of already occurred there's no longer

00:53:03

any growth in that so what else could

00:53:04

you look at well you would look look at

00:53:06

technology for example you know there's

00:53:08

the joke that uh that you know

00:53:10

technology workers have it so hard

00:53:12

because they start their their work at

00:53:14

10 A.M and finish at 3 P.M and the

00:53:16

reason for that is because you know

00:53:18

these these technology companies around

00:53:19

the world are growing at you know 40 a

00:53:22

year and have done for the last 20 years

00:53:24

and uh so technology is probably the

00:53:27

best place that you can go and that can

00:53:29

you could go into anything if you're

00:53:31

like a people person you can go into the

00:53:32

sales marketing side of things

00:53:34

operations or if you're like a

00:53:37

introverted person you can go into the

00:53:39

like Solutions architects devops

00:53:42

engineering side of things and your pay

00:53:45

is extremely high because there's so few

00:53:49

talented people but that stuff's like

00:53:51

pretty easy to learn like you would not

00:53:54

be suited spending your time at

00:53:55

University you'd be best going on to

00:53:57

like say you want to get a job at Amazon

00:53:59

going on to like Amazon's educational

00:54:01

part of our website and just going

00:54:03

through our resources all our free

00:54:05

courses getting certified and

00:54:07

certificates that we provide and going

00:54:10

down that pathway because it'd be much

00:54:11

shorter and much more relevant so that's

00:54:14

kind of like my general advice is like

00:54:15

try to be less competitive in the things

00:54:18

that you do does that make sense that

00:54:19

makes a lot of sense was that terrifying

00:54:21

though to like turning you back on that

00:54:22

no no no yeah but you see you said

00:54:25

before like 350 400 Grand a year

00:54:27

whatever you were getting but I knew I

00:54:28

could go and make that elsewhere like I

00:54:30

know that I can

00:54:31

that's yeah that's not that I feel I

00:54:34

don't think that's that hard to make I I

00:54:36

feel like you're one of these characters

00:54:37

so you have like numerous different

00:54:38

careers in your lifetime I feel like

00:54:40

what you're doing now I hope not oh

00:54:42

really no because I don't think you can

00:54:44

get extremely good at something all

00:54:45

right multiple different careers it's an

00:54:47

incredible life Journey zigzagging but

00:54:49

you won't Master anything are you gonna

00:54:50

get bored though you're gonna oh yeah

00:54:52

that's true but I like my work at the

00:54:54

moment is it's so diverse in terms of

00:54:56

number of business businesses that I

00:54:57

touch and the incredible people that I

00:54:59

meet so it's it satisfies sort of a lot

00:55:01

of those notes just like on the topic of

00:55:03

like going and doing new things I went

00:55:04

and did the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

00:55:05

like so oh yeah that's right I forgot

00:55:08

about that yeah yeah sorry

00:55:10

that is big ball stuff but I think you

00:55:13

have to do these things that's

00:55:15

terrifying that's [ __ ] horrifying um

00:55:17

and so anyway most people like the way

00:55:19

that Fringe works is you'll you'll see

00:55:21

yourself the goal of going to Fringe

00:55:23

you'll spend I don't know a year

00:55:25

developing a show the process of

00:55:28

developing a show for a comic is a

00:55:30

process of elimination where they use

00:55:32

rejection as a tool right they're using

00:55:34

the audience to reject jokes that aren't

00:55:36

funny and so like I've seen Chris Rock

00:55:37

for example when he's working on a show

00:55:40

just go up with a giant notepad and he's

00:55:42

reading the jokes off this notepad and

00:55:45

putting ticks and Crosses next to the

00:55:47

jokes that work and don't work I saw

00:55:49

restart me at the classic do the same

00:55:50

thing exactly okay and so then using

00:55:53

that as a filter using the audience as a

00:55:55

filter anyways usually you do it for a

00:55:57

year I did this in like you'd work on it

00:55:59

for a year and you would have a show

00:56:01

then you'd tour the show and then you'd

00:56:02

finish the Tour by going to the

00:56:04

Edinburgh festival and usually you

00:56:06

wouldn't go to Fringe unless you'd been

00:56:07

performing for four years or something

00:56:08

until you're like a really good

00:56:11

Craftsman and whatever you were doing

00:56:12

because it's like Theater comedy all

00:56:15

sorts of Performing Arts

00:56:17

I did it in six months because like one

00:56:20

of the things I think you should ask

00:56:21

yourself is like how can you achieve

00:56:23

what you want to achieve like a much

00:56:24

shorter timeline

00:56:26

this seems to be like a thread in your

00:56:28

life because then you can like think

00:56:30

about what's like the value what are the

00:56:31

valuable actions to take and not get

00:56:33

distracted by all the other nonsense and

00:56:35

anyway so I get to the French Festival I

00:56:37

spend an entire month you spend you do

00:56:39

30 shows you do a show every single

00:56:41

night and um

00:56:43

you face a ton of rejection doing that

00:56:46

and so in terms of like the crowd not

00:56:49

totally yeah totally so like the

00:56:51

interesting thing was is like the

00:56:52

average audience size for the Edinburgh

00:56:53

Fringe Festival I think it's like four

00:56:55

to seven people you are competing

00:56:57

against thousands of other performers

00:56:59

whether it's theater or comedy so it's

00:57:01

hard to get people to your show I arrive

00:57:03

at the venue on the first night the

00:57:05

staff come out and they say

00:57:07

how did you do it I said how'd I do what

00:57:09

they said you've sold out the first week

00:57:12

and at that moment the Scottish

00:57:14

Disability Association Bus shows up

00:57:17

outside the venue

00:57:20

I just looked at the venue stuff and I

00:57:22

said [ __ ] I've got jokes about these

00:57:24

people

00:57:25

the whole show has jokes about these

00:57:26

people the whole first week was disabled

00:57:29

people showing up to my show for me to

00:57:31

make jokes about disabled people and

00:57:32

they were the best audience that I had

00:57:34

the entire time but you you were making

00:57:36

jokes about yourself though no all sorts

00:57:38

of disabled people jokes about disabled

00:57:40

people in the Paralympics talks about

00:57:41

people in the audience all sorts and so

00:57:44

but they were the best audience

00:57:46

themselves because if you want to be

00:57:47

treated equally you have to be able to

00:57:49

laugh at yourself and

00:57:50

they were the best audience that I had

00:57:52

and then they all left after the first

00:57:53

week and then you kind of get you know

00:57:55

the audience size reduced from you know

00:57:56

70 people a night to probably I don't

00:57:58

know 30 or 40 which was still massive

00:58:00

and Fringe

00:58:02

and you get like hey what do people

00:58:03

coming up to afterwards my sister's

00:58:05

cousin's daughter is in a wheelchair you

00:58:08

can't make jokes about them and you're

00:58:10

like oh my God and so so you get that

00:58:15

sort of rejection you get jokes that

00:58:16

just don't land and some night they work

00:58:17

some nights they work some nights they

00:58:19

don't work and it just it just doesn't

00:58:21

matter it just doesn't matter just

00:58:23

doesn't matter the rejection just

00:58:25

doesn't really matter that much did you

00:58:26

let me let me let me let me caveat that

00:58:28

like you've spent time with Madison this

00:58:30

morning my girlfriend we're on dates

00:58:33

five years ago

00:58:34

ended up like blowing me off rejected

00:58:37

comes full circle

00:58:39

she she said it was a game of

00:58:41

persistence on your part exactly I never

00:58:43

give up but never give up so one way to

00:58:45

think about think about is your

00:58:47

willpower versus their willpower and

00:58:49

most people don't have a lot of

00:58:50

willpower

00:58:51

you guys look like you got a great

00:58:53

relationship as well and she she was up

00:58:55

early have you changed her or no she has

00:58:58

driven as she's even more driven maybe

00:59:01

because you're a media person she's a

00:59:03

media person I don't know how you guys

00:59:05

do it because she's up at 4am to go and

00:59:09

do TV so I uh a huge amount of

00:59:13

admiration you know and then you guys

00:59:15

are up at 4am not just to work at this

00:59:17

job you're trying to entertain people

00:59:18

which requires so much energy and like

00:59:22

not Enlightenment but just like keeping

00:59:24

people's attention is so so difficult

00:59:26

especially at this time uh I don't know

00:59:28

how you guys do it

00:59:30

from um from your your time as um as an

00:59:33

athlete were there any skills that were

00:59:34

transferable all of them so you want to

00:59:36

like change your life I think the most

00:59:38

important thing to start with is just

00:59:39

like changing yourself the easiest thing

00:59:41

to do I think is change physiologically

00:59:43

that's why I think just sort yourself

00:59:45

out physically all those principles can

00:59:48

be then applied to whatever you need to

00:59:50

do academically or intellectually so

00:59:53

just like going to beard early

00:59:55

type of food that you're consuming

00:59:59

you know what you do in your spare time

01:00:01

because you're not out binge drinking

01:00:02

some athletes are but you know most

01:00:04

aren't

01:00:05

all of those are just like the

01:00:07

foundation of which you can build other

01:00:09

things on that those are like you don't

01:00:11

need anything else and then just like

01:00:12

persistence and then you know run slow

01:00:14

to run fast you don't go out and try and

01:00:16

break a PR I mean you run fast I see you

01:00:18

all the time on Tamaki Drive you're a

01:00:19

fast runner but you're not out there

01:00:21

trying to run a whatever two-hour

01:00:23

something marathon every single time and

01:00:25

so you learn that through repetition you

01:00:28

know it's not about a one-off you know

01:00:30

effort in order to to make change or to

01:00:33

learn new things it's about just

01:00:35

repetitively doing things and no matter

01:00:37

where you begin you can end up being a

01:00:40

very different person you started out at

01:00:41

30 running I'm pretty sure you were

01:00:43

overweight at the time massively and

01:00:45

what how do you now 49 40 you're 49 wow

01:00:49

I need your jeans but you're like a lean

01:00:51

healthy looking guy you know you

01:00:54

probably you you probably feel amazing

01:00:56

mentally and but that wouldn't have

01:00:58

happened overnight I'm guessing no no

01:01:00

that was a very slow transition and the

01:01:02

reason I started running in the first

01:01:03

place was to lose weight and then just

01:01:05

after a few months I started feeling

01:01:07

mentally good and I stopped obsessing

01:01:09

about the weight and I just didn't even

01:01:10

bother about it and then it just

01:01:11

happened over time of course let's now

01:01:13

relate that to someone who going back to

01:01:15

your example like uh you know people who

01:01:18

want to maybe change careers yeah just

01:01:20

start practicing the things that those

01:01:21

other people do in their jobs

01:01:23

and you just start and just do that

01:01:25

every single day and eventually you

01:01:27

become that person yeah I mean you

01:01:29

you've I mean I think it's obvious I

01:01:30

think fear fear is the thing that would

01:01:32

hold a lot of people back from doing it

01:01:33

but you've like had so much courage

01:01:36

yeah but I've also had so much

01:01:39

like

01:01:41

I've had so many consequences of failure

01:01:44

like okay so like

01:01:46

a primary school uh we had Athletics

01:01:49

stay up at the intermediate that I was

01:01:50

going to there were like 1200 kids there

01:01:52

so my entire primary school and the

01:01:53

entire intermediate that I was going to

01:01:55

be going to 1200 kids they put all the

01:01:57

fat kids and the kid with no legs All in

01:01:59

One race to like make it even right so

01:02:01

it's like KFC versus disability anyway I

01:02:05

mean this this race starts off and I

01:02:08

is I was stoked with that to be fair I'm

01:02:11

at 50 meters in this race I'm in third

01:02:13

place my leg begins to come loose I

01:02:15

didn't duct tape it up because my mum

01:02:16

missed my my running race right and

01:02:19

my leg falls off in front of 1200 kids

01:02:21

like flies off I do like a couple of

01:02:23

rolls everyone laughs like how can you

01:02:26

not like if it's [ __ ] funny how can

01:02:28

you not laugh at that I would be in

01:02:30

hysterics everyone was in hysterics

01:02:32

that's a lot of laughter like if you can

01:02:33

make 1200 people laugh cash a check

01:02:36

laughing with you or ain't you it

01:02:38

doesn't matter it doesn't it does matter

01:02:40

it doesn't matter it doesn't matter

01:02:42

either way like without a doubt of

01:02:43

course like I cry because it's

01:02:44

embarrassing and the principal runs over

01:02:47

puts my leg back on

01:02:49

uh my friend's mom Louise makes me

01:02:51

finish the race she's like

01:02:52

she's the most driven person that I know

01:02:54

and I get to the end I get back and then

01:02:58

my mum shows up late for my race with

01:03:01

the role of duct tape and she types up

01:03:04

my legs and she makes me run the 200

01:03:05

right so like there's and the the

01:03:09

it is just like a never-ending series of

01:03:11

stories that I have like that uh where

01:03:14

I've had maximal

01:03:17

embarrassment and it's not that bad

01:03:19

because like the next day you know

01:03:21

someone else embarrasses themselves

01:03:22

they're worried about what everyone

01:03:23

thinks about them and it's just like an

01:03:25

endless cycle of of that and so there's

01:03:28

you know the consequences of failure

01:03:31

aren't as bad as anyone thinks hence why

01:03:33

the fear is typically you know not worth

01:03:38

overweighting too much

01:03:40

yeah man that's such a good attitude

01:03:43

I guess I guess I don't know but I just

01:03:46

I I you know I just what good does you

01:03:49

know just overthinking about things yeah

01:03:51

bring like it never brings any happiness

01:03:53

it doesn't improve the likelihood of a

01:03:55

good outcome and so your males will just

01:03:57

do the thing even if it ends an

01:03:58

embarrassment yeah where are your medals

01:04:00

now from the from the game I mean I've

01:04:02

got one up I've got one upstairs yeah um

01:04:03

and just like my sock drawer uh the

01:04:05

others yeah like I'm not a big fan of

01:04:07

like looking back at things

01:04:09

um even though it was a special time but

01:04:10

the others are just like down in Nelson

01:04:12

in a wardrobe somewhere I don't know

01:04:14

it'd be nice to have them on display

01:04:17

I'm gonna get one of them and I'm gonna

01:04:19

cut the like thing what would you call

01:04:22

it like the thing that goes around

01:04:23

ribbon yeah I'm cutting the ribbon off

01:04:25

because it's orange and I hate it it's

01:04:26

like orange and gold doesn't work

01:04:29

someone with a disability design that

01:04:33

so I'm gonna get that but I'm going to

01:04:35

frame it and have like a nice white

01:04:36

clean slick background or black or

01:04:38

something and I'll put that up on

01:04:40

display but for the most part you're

01:04:41

right I should have done something yeah

01:04:43

um it has been it has been so good

01:04:46

sitting down with you today I've I've um

01:04:47

I've been a fan of yours for years I'm

01:04:49

full of admiration through for

01:04:51

everything you do and everything you've

01:04:53

done

01:04:54

um it has been so bloody difficult and

01:04:56

it's taken so much work to pin you down

01:04:57

though do you do you not really like

01:04:59

talking about yourself

01:05:01

oh you know here's how I would describe

01:05:05

it I'm not trying to discourage you from

01:05:06

doing a podcast like uh and I know

01:05:08

you've written a book and I'm not trying

01:05:09

to hate on you writing about three books

01:05:11

[ __ ] author okay he's like I get people

01:05:13

asking me like oh why wait when are you

01:05:15

gonna write a book I'm like you know

01:05:17

more people should read

01:05:19

I just don't want to put people off

01:05:21

reading if they read my book and so it's

01:05:23

like the same thing people are gonna

01:05:24

listen let that guy he's had no legs

01:05:27

it's been kind of tough they get the

01:05:28

gist

01:05:29

I I don't know this I'm like I don't

01:05:31

think I'm like worthy of being a podcast

01:05:33

of being on like a podcast

01:05:35

what are they going to get from this you

01:05:37

know that's just how I kind of think

01:05:39

about it and then on top of that I'm

01:05:40

just I'm so busy I'm just so busy man

01:05:43

I'm just like I've been I've been away

01:05:44

you know three times a week with work

01:05:46

for the for the last three weeks I

01:05:49

barely see my girlfriend and so

01:05:51

you know it's just a busy time and so

01:05:53

you've pinned me down at the best time

01:05:55

of the day and also you know kudos to

01:05:56

you I've been a fan of yours do you

01:05:58

remember when uh McDonald's we knew you

01:06:00

guys were campaigning to bring back the

01:06:02

McFlurry we spoke on the phone I was uh

01:06:05

15 years old it just got my restricted

01:06:07

license and I called in because you guys

01:06:09

are meant to be not you specifically but

01:06:12

an edge Roadrunner was supposed to be at

01:06:14

the McDonald's in Nelson and it was a

01:06:15

no-show we'd all made signs and I rang

01:06:17

in I said where the hell is The Edge

01:06:19

Roadrunner we're here we want our

01:06:21

McFlurries like hang on and then you've

01:06:23

got someone to come down and we've got a

01:06:24

me and The Edge Road Runner got a photo

01:06:26

with all of my friends from Nelson

01:06:28

campaigning to get the mclares back hang

01:06:29

on pause was that painful by McDonald's

01:06:32

was that was a promotional campaign

01:06:35

a lot of people won't know this but um

01:06:37

the McFlurry there was a period where it

01:06:39

wasn't in New Zealand and we campaign to

01:06:42

brought it back and we McDonald's were

01:06:43

[ __ ] pissed off with us they're like

01:06:45

we've got a marketing schedule mapped

01:06:47

out for the next 18 months we can't

01:06:49

that we can't we can't do it like we

01:06:52

can't bring it forward but um I believe

01:06:55

we were the Catalyst for them bring it

01:06:56

back over they were going oh another

01:06:58

machinery and the you know the snow

01:07:00

freezing machine is always broken yeah

01:07:02

there's some some excuse or whatever but

01:07:03

anyway the mcflurry's back on the menu

01:07:05

now and God bless it so that was our

01:07:06

first correction but if any sense and uh

01:07:09

uh thank you for having me on do you

01:07:10

allow yourself sorry I've just got

01:07:12

another question do you allow yourself

01:07:13

some down time do you have some down

01:07:14

time I mean being busy is good but it's

01:07:16

also good to

01:07:18

my general view was like

01:07:21

um going back to the happiness thing

01:07:22

because I've been in states where I've

01:07:24

like been drifting and being useless and

01:07:27

life has like gone backwards

01:07:31

my general view is like you're either

01:07:33

growing or you're shrinking and so

01:07:36

like that just kind of compels me where

01:07:38

I feel like I need to be doing things

01:07:39

all the time and I feel happy when I'm

01:07:41

doing things because I know that the

01:07:42

likelihood of something bad happening is

01:07:44

less likely yeah there's meds like say

01:07:48

to me from time to time like you need a

01:07:50

chill absolutely

01:07:51

um you know we go to duck Island we go

01:07:53

out for dinner and have a date night and

01:07:55

stuff your dacons an ice cream place so

01:07:58

they're putting in that stuff so good

01:07:59

yeah it's well you know I'll reiterate

01:08:02

um I've I'm full of admiration for you

01:08:04

and I wouldn't get up at 7am on a Sunday

01:08:07

morning to do a podcast with many people

01:08:10

no thanks Tom I really appreciate that

01:08:12

yeah yeah I am you're good dude and um I

01:08:14

I love following your Junior in life

01:08:16

because you got such a great attitude

01:08:17

about things hey like you you and you

01:08:19

you your drive puts other people to

01:08:21

shame it makes me feel like I'm not

01:08:23

doing enough with my own life yeah well

01:08:25

I've got a a boy you should meet who's

01:08:27

uh one of my guys and he will he puts

01:08:31

everyone I know to shame yeah he would

01:08:34

have been up at 4 30 this morning and

01:08:36

and doing something outrageous

01:08:40

what are you doing today why did I have

01:08:43

to come around at seven if what if you

01:08:44

came around at three o'clock I'll be

01:08:45

here I'll be half asleep I'll be

01:08:47

fatigued you're getting me at my

01:08:49

favorite time of the day

01:08:51

where there's like less chaos going on

01:08:52

in the house and it's just it works a

01:08:54

little bit better damn Kanye is a cute

01:08:56

dog look at him why is my dog not your

01:08:58

behavior yeah Ken has been sitting on my

01:09:00

lap this entire time your dog's a

01:09:01

monster like how many kilos 30 kilos 40

01:09:04

kilos 40 kilos 40 kilos of Pure Escape

01:09:06

Artist yeah so he's ended up down at uh

01:09:10

a few of the local Iraqi houses yeah

01:09:13

Madison your girlfriend was telling me

01:09:14

he goes missing like a couple of times a

01:09:16

day and the neighbors feed him and look

01:09:18

after him he loves it you always go to

01:09:20

pick him up and you're gonna growl at

01:09:22

him and he looks so happy you're like I

01:09:23

can't growl at him in front of these

01:09:24

people otherwise they're going to think

01:09:25

he's escaping some you know torturous

01:09:27

home we love him but God he's just

01:09:30

it's four-dimensional chest with that

01:09:31

dog hey um well thank you so much for

01:09:34

your time really appreciate it I'll uh

01:09:36

let you get that workout done and um

01:09:38

yeah really just yeah thank you thanks

01:09:40

Don thanks very much for listening all

01:09:42

the way through this episode of Runners

01:09:44

only with dom Harvey just a quick one

01:09:46

before we leave if your podcast platform

01:09:47

allows please rate this podcast or write

01:09:50

a review for it and if you like what you

01:09:52

hear please recommend it to a friend or

01:09:54

two who you think may like it or even

01:09:56

share it on your social media channels

01:09:58

also any feedback guest tips sponsorship

01:10:01

inquiries or anything else please do get

01:10:03

in touch domharveynz gmail.com is my

01:10:06

email address or you can slide into my

01:10:09

DMs on Instagram domharvey NZ okay

01:10:12

thanks very much hope to see you next

01:10:14

week on Runners only

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Episode Highlights

Liam Malone's Journey
Liam Malone, a double amputee, became a Paralympic champion and shares his inspiring story.
“He was born with a condition that meant he was unable to walk properly.”
@ 00m 33s
December 07, 2022
The Tough Decision
Liam's parents made the difficult choice to amputate his feet when he was a toddler.
“It's a terrifying decision, but my parents made the right call.”
@ 09m 40s
December 07, 2022
A Humbling Marathon Experience
Liam recounts his marathon experience, filled with pain and unexpected challenges.
“I feel great... and then I throw up everywhere!”
@ 14m 28s
December 07, 2022
A Mother's Wisdom
A mother diagnosed with cancer inspires her son to pursue his dreams without delay.
“Don't wait until you begin to die to pursue what you love.”
@ 22m 24s
December 07, 2022
Facing Loss and Identity
Losing his mother at a young age shaped his self-perception and resilience.
“Losing my mom was probably the hardest part.”
@ 27m 14s
December 07, 2022
From Paralympics to Purpose
After raising fifty thousand dollars, I panicked about becoming an Olympian. It was a wild ride!
“What am I doing? I'm just gonna become an Olympian now!”
@ 36m 25s
December 07, 2022
A New Perspective on Education
Reflecting on university, I believe it's often a scam unless you're in specific fields.
“Most people just spend their time drinking because they're partying and drifting.”
@ 40m 03s
December 07, 2022
The Reality of Being an Athlete
Transitioning from athlete to a new career can be challenging, but it's also an opportunity.
“The world's full of interesting things that you can just go out and start tomorrow.”
@ 50m 16s
December 07, 2022
The Power of Laughter
Finding humor in difficult situations can create connection and understanding.
“If you want to be treated equally, you have to be able to laugh at yourself.”
@ 57m 49s
December 07, 2022
Facing Rejection at the Fringe Festival
Performing at the Edinburgh Fringe involves facing rejection, but it teaches resilience and humor.
“The rejection just doesn't really matter that much.”
@ 58m 23s
December 07, 2022
Growth Mindset
Embracing a mindset of constant growth can lead to happiness and fulfillment.
“You're either growing or you're shrinking.”
@ 01h 07m 33s
December 07, 2022
Podcast Appreciation
A heartfelt thank you to listeners for their support and engagement.
“Thanks very much for listening all the way through this episode.”
@ 01h 09m 40s
December 07, 2022

Episode Quotes

I feel like I have ADHD, but I was never diagnosed.
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
I never thought I'd beat an Olympian!
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
Life's not this night I'm not you don't get dealt an even hand.
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
I was just a kid from Nelson that runs around in circles and reads books.
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
The rejection just doesn't really matter that much.
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
You're either growing or you're shrinking.
Liam Malone Paralympian on a mission! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Key Moments

Paralympic Champion00:28
Difficult Decisions00:37
Struggles with Identity27:21
Turning Point34:31
Paralympic Journey42:42
Career Transition50:16
Growth Mindset1:07:33
Call to Action1:09:46

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Ian Winson || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

December 25, 2022

57:12

Ian Winson || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Honey Hireme‑Smiler: Rugby Icon on Juggling Life, Love & Cancer Care

June 08, 2025

01:32:19

Honey Hireme‑Smiler: Rugby Icon on Juggling Life, Love & Cancer Care

Rachel Maia || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

January 08, 2023

01:13:04

Rachel Maia || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Penny Taylor - Surviving Meningococcal, Life as Double Amputee, and more!

August 27, 2023

01:12:19

Penny Taylor - Surviving Meningococcal, Life as Double Amputee, and more!

Nick Ashill on surviving a hit-and-run accident || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

November 23, 2022

56:23

Nick Ashill on surviving a hit-and-run accident || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Shaz Dagg - Amputee & Paratriathlete’s Inspiring Story & Mindset

November 05, 2023

01:23:01

Shaz Dagg - Amputee & Paratriathlete’s Inspiring Story & Mindset

Matt Fenn on his 654km continuous run! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 14, 2022

01:05:07

Matt Fenn on his 654km continuous run! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Rachel Hunter like never before! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

March 26, 2023

01:39:12

Rachel Hunter like never before! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

He Survived an Eruption on Mount Ruapehu - William Pike on Losing his Leg & Life as an Amputee

September 04, 2024

01:39:25

He Survived an Eruption on Mount Ruapehu - William Pike on Losing his Leg & Life as an Amputee

Paralysed at 16 & Surviving Suicide — Lee Warn on Marathons, Advocacy & Purpose

April 27, 2025

01:51:17

Paralysed at 16 & Surviving Suicide — Lee Warn on Marathons, Advocacy & Purpose

Arch Jelley on growing up in Dunedin in the 1920s. || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 17, 2022

52:35

Arch Jelley on growing up in Dunedin in the 1920s. || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Hamish Kerr - This white man can jump! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

November 30, 2022

01:29:39

Hamish Kerr - This white man can jump! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey