Jack Thompson smashes another ultra-cycling world record

Ultra-cyclist Jack Thompson has smashed the world record for cycling the Munda Biddi Trail.

Thompson cut five hours off the current record and finished the 1067km ride in 2 days, 12hr 15min.

After just a short rest, Thompson is now on a tour of schools and community centres in the South West.

“Obviously there is a world record that has been broken, but the important part of this project is fuelling the discussion about mental health,” he said.

With the assistance of Mitch Harvey from MBA Sports Coaching and digital mental health and wellbeing platform, Oqea, Thompson gives presentations and answers questions about his work.

As part of this tour, Thompson arrived at St Mary MacKillop College on Wednesday to address Year 8 and 9 students about his life experience.

“I’m here to share with the students the power of having a dream, and how this has helped me overcome battles with drug addiction and mental health issues,” he said.

On the stage of the Saint Joseph Hall at the school, Thompson spoke to the students, who listened carefully throughout.

Thompson’s talk was open, honest, and occasionally challenging, when discussing his drug and alcohol use.

To move on from the dark periods in his life, he explained how he worked with his psychiatrist to develop a goal-focused approach.

There was a lively question and answer session at the conclusion of the talk.

Several students asked questions about the Munda Biddi record-breaking ride.

When asked what was the hardest part of the ride, Thompson said that he had “rode through the night in heatwave conditions, surviving on chocolate bars, and just 17 minutes sleep across the entire ride”.

“The strong headwinds of 60km/h meant these were some of the toughest moments I have ever endured on a bike.”

A final question of: “What will you do next ?” gave a hint of this athlete’s boundless energy.

He replied he would “like to beat the record of 78 days for circumnavigating the globe”.