What began as a late-night joke among friends has grown into a bold plan for a 20-year-old farmer to run the entire length of Canada to raise awareness for rural mental health. 

Lachie Young, who lives in Brookton, about 150 kilometres south-east of Perth, decided to set himself the challenge after a night with his mates put the idea in his head.

“It was mid-2024, and I was travelling with mates overseas, and it was a bit of a drunken joke,” Mr Young said. 

“At the time, I had been living on the farm, and all my mates were at uni. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. 

“After that conversation, the plan started to snowball, and two years later, I’m planning on running across Canada in a year.”man standing in front of sheep

Lachie Young grew up on a farm in the Wheatbelt in Western Australia. (Supplied: Lachie Young)

The Wheatbelt producer, who plans to cross the country in 2027, expects the challenge to take about 150 days. 

“The plan is to start in the small town of Sydney in the east, and then the run should take me around 6,500km,” Mr Young said. 

“I am then going to finish in the town of Victoria in the west, the other side of Vancouver.

“I’ll be running through snow, through the Rocky Mountains, passing through bear country.

“But I reckon it is going to be an awesome experience.”

A reason to run

The plan to run across the world’s second-largest country comes from a personal place.

“I’ve seen the effects of mental health in my community, in the country, especially with farmers,” Mr Young said. 

“It’s affected my family, myself, people around me.”man running

Inspired by athletes like Nedd Brockmann, Lachie Young has set out to run across the world’s second-largest country. (Supplied: Bursty/Marty Rowney)

Mr Young believed the conversation around mental health had grown in recent years, but said there was still a need to talk about it more openly in rural areas.

“I went to school in the city, and there was a very strong presence of talking about mental health and getting around it,” Mr Young said. 

“Then you come out here, there is still a small presence of it, but I believe that mental health and that discussion still lacks. There needs to be more resources.” 

The runner hopes to raise $1 million for the Blue Tree Project, a regional mental health care charity that paints dead trees blue as a symbol of hope for those undergoing mental health challenges.

Picture of the original blue tree on a sunny day in a paddock.

The original blue tree was painted in 2014 by Jayden Whyte, on his family’s farm at Mukinbudin. (Supplied: Kendall Whyte)

Blue Tree Project chief executive Kendall Whyte said Mr Young’s project was an “incredible feat”.

“We’re always extremely grateful to those who fundraise for the charity, particularly when putting their minds and bodies on the line for our cause,” she said.