A Q&A with Alex Barbas: Running across Australia for Starlight Children’s Foundation

Meet Alex Barbas – total legend. He’s tackling a 7,800-kilometre run across Australia to raise $780,000 for Starlight Children’s Foundation. Snowy River Caravans is proud to support him on his journey.

We caught up with Alex in the days before his run to find out about this incredible adventure and what inspired him to take it on. He tells us the purpose behind his run, the impact of helping 20,000 sick children, and how small contributions can make a big difference.

Alex’s story is one of resilience, purpose, and an invitation to you to support him help sick kids. And it might also inspire you to take on new challenges of your own.

Alex, running 7,800 km across Australia is an incredible challenge. What first inspired you to take this on?

The first inspiration was when I was volunteering with Starlight. At the end of last year, I had this idea about doing a bigger challenge. I’d just finished running 50km a day for 50 days, and I thought to myself: what else could I do?

The inspiration is the kids in the Starlight Express Rooms, which is where they go and have a little bit more joy and happiness. In that room, we play ball games, face painting, watch movies and put a little bit more joy into their life because they’re doing it very, very tough.

Can you walk us through what a typical day on the road will look like for you?

A typical day is going to be setting off around 5.30am in the morning and aiming for 80km in the day. I’ll run about ten hours a day. It could be more or less – it just depends on how I feel.

What’s the part of the journey you’re most looking forward to, and what do you think will be the hardest?

I’m most looking forward to seeing a lot of Australia. That’s something I haven’t done before. And, spending time with the crew and meeting a lot of people who’ve been affected by Starlight, too.

In terms of the hardest thing. Look, to be honest, getting here has probably been the hardest part. The training, the eating, all while working full-time. Logistically, operationally, having partners and sponsors. A lot of the organising has been stressful.

When you hit those inevitable tough moments, what do you tell yourself to keep pushing?

I’ll be thinking quite a lot about when I volunteered at Starlight. So, trying to draw inspiration from that. That’s going to be the main motivator. Secondly, when I’m doing this run, I’d love people to send me things that that are funny so I can have a bit of a laugh at the end of the day. One of Starlight’s mantras is that happiness matters.

You’ll have a Snowy River SRT22F rolling along with you. Tell us what having the caravan as the support vehicle means for your journey, and how does it help?

Snowy has been amazing. I’m stoked. I’m just very, very grateful as I couldn’t do this without Snowy’s help. There are fans. There’s an air conditioner. A shower. There’s even a big bed. I’m thankful.

This isn’t just about the physical challenge, it’s about purpose. Was there a particular moment or story that made you choose to run for Starlight Children’s Foundation?

Being a volunteer at Starlight and seeing the kids and families go through a lot of stress, both the young one that’s been in hospital and their siblings as well. Being a part of this journey with Starlight for ten years, I’ve seen a lot of families go through hard times. I want to try to give back as much as I can to them.

You’ll be spending a lot of time out there on your own. What do you think about during those long stretches?

I listen to a lot of music. I’ll be tuning into a bit of radio where I can and maybe a few podcasts and audiobooks. But to be honest, I think most about the stories of my life.

Like when I volunteered at Starlight or when I went travelling, or something funny that happened at work. I tap into all these different things that have happened throughout my life. And when I go through the physical challenges. To get my mind off them, I think about these stories that give me a little bit more motivation and put a smile on my face.

Your goal is to raise $780,000 to help 20,000 sick kids. Can you explain how something as simple as $39 can make such a difference to a child in hospital?

$39 will help one sick kid in hospital with entertainment like face painting, games, and Captain Starlight visiting to help provide a little joy to enjoy every day.

For people watching this, how can they get involved or support you along the way?

If anyone wants to get involved and help support the run, the first channel will be through my Instagram, which will be documenting the run and showing every high, low and in between. And on that, there’ll be a link to my donation page. The second thing that I’d ask is that people share this to a family friend, cousin, mate, colleague, so that they can share the word and hopefully donate in any way, shape or form.

What would you say to someone who’s inspired by your journey and wants to take on their own challenge for a cause they care about?

There are two things that I think about which I believe spans everything. And it’s not just in running. If you want to go start your own business or learn an instrument or, you know, pick up a new hobby, it’s all about planning and urgency.

If there’s someone you want to do like take on a new challenge, have a plan and act urgently. I’m not saying everyone has to go out and run across Australia and back, but whatever that looks like to you, have a little plan and create that urgency and you’ll be on your way to doing whatever challenge it is you set out to do.

And finally, if you could leave one message with everyone watching, what would it be?

This might sound crazy, but I still don’t consider myself a runner. I totally understand that I’m about to run 7,800km and run from Sydney to Perth and back, but I was never a runner in school. I was never a star athlete or anything like that. I still consider a runner someone like a Usain Bolt or a Cathy Freeman.

So, if I was to leave one thing to someone it would be that anyone can do this. And I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. Simply, I’ve trained my body to do this. Anything in life you can do it if you want to.

Follow Alex on Instagram. Share, and donate: alexsoutandback.com.au. Find out more on our website: snowyrivercaravans.com.au/alexoutandback/