ALL DONATIONS GO DIRECTLY TO YOUTH INSEARCH TO SUPPORT ITS WORK AND DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

When retired stock-broker Daryl Allen (aka Dasher) was told that the charity he’s supported for more than two decades had its federal government funding slashed by $300,000 it was the trigger that sparked another assault on arguably the world’s toughest individual endurance race.

So come May 14-16 this year, Dasher, now 66, will line-up for the 515km World Ultraman Challenge at Noosa hoping to be crowned the oldest person on the planet to have successfully completed the gruelling test of a 10km swim and 140km bike ride on day one, 280.1 km bike ride on day two and a 84.3 run on day three. Adding pressure to the 45 competitors, each day must be completed in 12 hours.

Funds that Dasher will raise will go to Youth Insearch, the Sydney-based organisation that delivers early intervention support for young people at risk aged between 14 and 20. Youth Insearch weekends, alone, have assisted more than 30,000 youngsters since their inception.

“I remember watching a television story in the early 1990s about the great work Youth Insearch was doing,” Dasher recalls. “The next morning I decided to get off my arse and do something about it”.

Shorts of the TV documentaries on Youth Insearch

Dasher’s first fund-raising efforts involved trivia nights he and his finance industry mates held in the Sydney CBD in the early 1990s which raised more than $350,000. Since then, the money he has raised has hit the $1 million mark.

His support later extended to several 24-hour and one 48-hour non-stop bike rides around Sydney’s Centennial Park, the latter finishing with the odometer sitting on 918 kms.

When Dasher learned last year that Youth Insearch’s funding had been significantly reduced by cuts the Federal Government made to the youth services sector, he decided it was time to line-up, this time as the event’s elder statesman, for his fourth, and possibly last, Ultraman.

His first was in Hawaii in 2006 when he completed the course in 32 hours, 32 minutes, easily the best in his age group. Last year at Noosa, nine years on, he remarkably lowered that time by 22 minutes.

His interest in endurance pursuits started by accident during his days working in the city.

“Some mates would go for a run at lunchtime and eventually I decided to go with them,” he says. “My first outing lasted only 500 metres before blowing up and I said to myself I won’t be doing this anymore. But I did because I wanted to challenge myself”.

The first serious event at any level that he entered was a triathlon involving a 500 metres swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run. “I handled the bike and run okay but I had to do the swim breaststroke because I didn’t know how to freestyle,” he laughs.

Nine Ironman completions – involving a 3.8km swim, 180km cycling and 42km run – between 1996 and 2006 had him perfectly prepped for his Ultraman debut 10 years ago.

“For this event, the idea is people or companies donate an amount per km” he says; “Or make a lump sum payment to support the effort”.

“The more who donate just what they can afford the more we will raise.”

“We will start with a $100,000 target. But if I can raise one thousand dollars for every kilometre I cover in this year’s 515km event that’ll mean $515,000 for Youth Insearch!”

Dasher moved to Noosa at the start of April for a rugged six weeks training program.

To find out more about Youth Insearch visit: www.youthinsearch.org.au