In Australia you're either into arts or sport – you can't do both, right? Performance artist Tristan Meecham begs to differ. He's on a quest to unite these two national pastimes with a high energy event called Fun Run.
On March 12, from 4.30pm in the Arts Centre forecourt, Meecham will run a marathon, 42km, non-stop on a treadmill.
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Golden marathon man hits the treadmill
Gold, lycra and a lot of sweat, a Fun Run of a different kind is hitting Melbourne's streets.
While he does this, 430 performers, from 25 community groups – from hip hop dancers to cheerleaders and Chinese drummers – will do their own thing on a stage around him.
He will wear a microphone and his every grunt is projected on large video screens.
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Plus the MC – on March 12 it will be Melbourne arts identity Eddie Perfect – will interview sports scientists about topics ranging from the perils of nipple chafing in long distance running to the danger of drinking too much water.
A degree of mayhem reigns in Fun Run. Stage performers change every five minutes, but then in the final hour, multiple groups such as boxers, crossfit trainers and sprint cyclists, combine to egg-on Meecham to finish the marathon.
Every hour, on the hour, there is a Flash Mob dance, for which the public can train with workshops at the Arts Centre and Alexandra Gardens on March 5, 10 and 11 (Google "Fun Run Flash Mob Workshops") and by watching an online video.
Fun Run was inspired by the legend of Pheidippides in ancient Greece, who ran non-stop from Marathon to Athens to announce victory in the Battle of Marathon.
In his first performance of Fun Run – in Melbourne's City Square in 2010 for the Next Wave festival – Meecham skipped the bit of the Greek story when Pheidippides dropped dead, but retained the athleticism and sense of theatre.
His philosophy was that like Pheidippides, he was an everyday person achieving a Herculean task – something that can be common to sporting and artistic endeavours.
Meecham, in turn, wants to inspire people to do extraordinary things in their own lives.
He has now performed Fun Run five times, including in Kuopio, Finland, and in front of 30,000 people in Ansan, South Korea. Part way through the latter, he vomited while being interviewed live.
Much of the fun comes from watching passersby who are initially puzzled but end up cheering along with the crowd. On two occasions, in Melbourne and in Sydney, wedding parties joined in the dancing on stage.
Meecham says there is a certain "will he make it or not?" element in watching his marathon run, but both sport and art were often about "reaching past the everyday to inspire people to do new, different things".
Fun Run is funded by the Betty Amsden Participation Program – last year it put on a giant dominoes game through the city – which aims to engage people in the arts.
Meecham was "deeply saddened" at the recent death of Ms Amsden, a long-time arts philanthropist. "It's a pretty amazing legacy she's given to the people of Melbourne. She's an absolute treasure."