In 2021, Kalkadoon man Derrick Cusack was stuck in a rut, spiralling down a bad path.
"I didn't know where I was going but I knew I wasn't headed in the right direction," he said.
"From 18 to 22 [years of age] I was very reckless, hanging around with the wrong people. I knew I had to change my ways."
Since then, the 26-year-old has become a business owner, an athlete, a mentor, a father.
He hopes his story can motivate others who may feel trapped in their own lives.
The road to recovery
At 22, wanting to get away from the toxic scene he had become embedded in, Mr Cusack set his sights on his home country in north-west Queensland's Mount Isa.
A friend recommended he try out for world marathon champion Rob de Castella's Indigenous Marathon Project (IMP).
Each year, just 12 Indigenous Australians are chosen to take part in the program following a competitive recruitment drive.
"I didn't know anything about it, all I knew was that you had to run a marathon and you got to go to New York," he said.
To his shock, Mr Cusack was accepted into the program and began the gruelling training.
In the first six months of the program, he clocked up over 1,200 kilometres while working full time at Mount Isa City Council and running a backyard barber shop on the side.
"It requires a lot of discipline. That's where I fell in love with the marathon, because I'm working crazy hard but I'm getting the most fulfilment out of life," he said.
What Mr Cusack didn't expect was to have to face up to his own mental health struggles in the program.
"I learnt to use my voice, to talk about my mental health issues. It's something I never did before the program," he said.
"I unravelled a lot of trauma."
As he got to the roots of his mental health issues, Mr Cusack decided he wanted to be sober.
"That was a very big part of changing my life," he said.
The first race
The pandemic hampered the tradition of IMP participants heading to New York to complete their first marathon.
Instead, Mr Cusack's class ran the Alice Springs Midnight Marathon.
But he described the change as a blessing in disguise and a breakthrough moment.
"There was a smoking ceremony and I had a really personal chat with an elder beforehand," he said.
"I got taken to a place mentally I've never been to before, the head noise was pretty full on during the race.
"That's where all my training came in, where I found my strength and my resilience.
"It was very powerful, very spiritual."
Inspiring kids to feel worthy
Since completing the Alice Springs race, Mr Cusack has run marathons in Athens, Greece, and on country in Mount Isa.
He completed his home effort in three hours and 52 minutes.
"There's a saying in the Indigenous Marathon Project that the finish line is only the start line," Mr Cusack said.
That has rung true for him, now sober for three years and recently becoming the proud father to a baby boy.
In between training, work, family life and his business, Mr Cusack finds time to train local Aboriginal kids at a boxing gym.
"A big problem for our people is talking up, so when I'm teaching the young kids it's important to make them feel good, make them feel worthy. That's very important," he said.
The greatest lesson Mr Cusack has taken away from the past few years has been the importance of mental health.
"I didn't realise before this program you can be as physically strong as possible but if you're not mentally strong, you're weak," he said.
"I'm just trying to be the best version of myself for my family and for my community."
