Monday, January 22, 2007

Skateboarder makes it

A British man who has travelled almost 6,000 kilometres across Australia on a skateboard says he has set a new world record after arriving in Brisbane this afternoon.

Welshman Dave Cornthwaithe left Perth last August for a journey that raised about $4,000 for charities to help disabled and poverty-stricken people.

The blistered and bruised 27-year-old arrived at South Bank in inner Brisbane this afternoon, with local skaters joining him for the home stretch.

Mr Cornthwaithe says the ride beats an American world record for the longest skateboarding journey.

"It's really been hard sometimes and I'm not going to say that I haven't wanted to throw my skateboard against the wall a few times, but we're here now," he said.

He says one of the toughest legs was through the Nullarbor Plain from Western Australia into South Australia.

"I've just skated almost 5,900 kilometres and the Nullarbor was a huge section of that - almost 1,500," he said.
"It was empty, it was a long stretch, it was very hot and there were barely any turns. So I had to put my head down and really try not to focus on the end of the road, purely because I couldn't see it."

A camera crew travelled with the 27-year-old. He says his feet are blistered and bruised but he would be willing to do the journey again.

"I'm just an ordinary guy who's just done something amazing," he said."It just takes a bit of determination and it doesn't matter who you are. "Just find what you want to do and go for it and a couple of years later, you can go back to normal life."

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