We are Patrea O’Donoghue and Michael Ford and our goal is to inspire by being examples of healthy mind, body and spirit at any age.

Representing Australia was something that neither of us had ever contemplated we'd get to do, let alone at our age! It just wasn’t on our radar! As the oldest female on the Aussie team at the 2023 World OCR Championships, Patrea came home with two of Australia's three medals!! We have come to learn that age is truly no barrier, and that dreams have no deadline!

At this year’s qualifying Spartan race, we were podium finishers once again, making us eligible to represent Australia in the 2024 World OCR Championships in Costa Rica this August!

We learned a lot from the 2023 championships – as did the whole team! We’ve picked up our training and continue to build our skill in the sport.

For those who don’t know what Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is about – it is a cross between Ninja Warrior and Cross Country running. We are both competing in the 3km / 30 obstacle, the 15km / 50 obstacle races, and the 6km team race. Michael will also compete in the 100m / 10 obstacle event!

We are excited to be representing Australia once again as we continue to train for and do our best at the 2024 World OCR Championships in Costa Rica. As mature aged athletes, this is no small feat!

As a little bit of background information, we did our first Spartan Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) in 2020. This was part of a professional development course (thank-you, Heroic) that Patrea was doing. Patrea broke her wrist really badly in 2017 and part of her recovery was the Heroic course. To graduate from this course, Patrea had to do the Spartan 5km race. This was a massive challenge just considering her age – let alone not even being able to do one chin-up given her injury! Michael reluctantly agreed to do the race, as he had a nasty and persistent back injury.

After that first race in 2020, we swore we’d never do it again. Three days later, we decided to do it again, but with more specialized OCR training and conditioning. We’ve been putting in the training hard yards for Spartan races each year since then, which is no easy task given both of us are in our late 50s and early 60s (age is no barrier)!

We’re raising funds to finance this momentous trip as it is not a cheap undertaking and the last few years have been tough financially. As self-employed small business owners (read – a business of one), when we are not working, we are not earning. The funds will be used to cover airfares, event fees, event accommodation, transport, uniforms, training fees and equipment, and most importantly, body rehabilitation!

If you could possibly donate any amount to help us with our quest, we would be greatly appreciative. Whether or not you are able to donate at this time, please share this link with friends, family and work colleagues - in fact, please share anywhere and everywhere to help get our communities healthier and more active.

Given where we came from, with our respective injuries and age, we would love to be radiant exemplars of what is possible! We hope to inspire change in others to be better versions of themselves, doing more than what they think is possible.



Thank-you!!!