PHOTO
Lenny Iyer is preparing to complete an Olympic distance triathlon every day for 10 days.
Inspired by Nedd Brockmann’s message of “getting comfortable being uncomfortable”, the Forbes teenager has set himself his toughest challenge yet for Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge - all to raise money for Mobilise, which supports people experiencing homelessness.
It’s a big goal, but continues a journey that began a few years ago when Lenny received Nedd’s book Showing Up for Christmas.
Inspired by the determination of Bedgerabong-born Nedd, now our Young Australian of the Year, Lenny started running every day and immediately wanted to support a cause - the first the 86K for a Cure fundraiser for the Children’s Cancer Institute.
When Nedd later launched the Uncomfortable Challenge, Lenny was quick to sign up.
In his first year he ran 8km a day for 10 days and raised about $1400.
In 2025 he increased the distance to 10km a day and raised nearly $2000.
This year, he’s taking his challenge to a whole new level.
Originally planning to complete an Ironman distance across the 10 days through a combination of swimming, cycling and running, Lenny has set his sights even higher after being selected as one of 40 ambassadors nationwide for the 2026 Uncomfortable Challenge.
During an ambassador weekend in Sydney, he met Nedd, heard stories of extraordinary achievements and learned more about the impact Mobilise is having on people experiencing homelessness.
“I was inspired to up it a bit and make it something that when I think about it, it seems, is this possible?” Lenny said.
The ambassadors got to spend time with Nedd as well as Mobilise CEO Noah Yang on what turned out to be an incredible weekend.
They received Puma gear, smart watches and other merchandise, shared their own stories and learned more about the organisation’s work.
On Sunday morning, they joined more than 90,000 participants for the City2Surf, a very different experience for Lenny.
“I’ve only done the Orange Running Festival with maybe 800 people,” Lenny said.
“This was 90,000 people.”
There was also the challenge of the famous “heartbreak hill” 1.6km incline.
“In Forbes there’s not too many hills to train on,” Lenny said.
“That took it out of me.
“I was thinking how badly I wanted to walk for a bit and stop … but I was able to run the whole way and was fairly happy with my time.”
That night, the ambassadors were guests of honour at Nedd and Mates at the Sydney Opera House, hearing incredible stories from people including Hamish Blake, Tom Hunt fresh from his Antarctic Adventure, and Nedd's mum, Kylie.
Lenny and the other ambassadors had the opportunity to meet and speak with Governor General, the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, and to take the stage with Brockmann to introduce their challenges.
“Inspiring is definitely one word,” Lenny said of the event. “That was incredible some of the stuff these people have done.”
But there was an even more powerful motivation for Lenny: he was handed the story of a Forbes mum who Mobilise had supported into housing.
“This is the first household Mobilise has supported in Forbes and we are looking to support many more through Havannah House in the months to come,” the organisation told The Advocate.
“We are also expanding our support across the Central West region of NSW through partners Veritas House and Uniting supporting 14 households in the region out of homelessness through Mobilise’s programs.”
We Are Mobilise started in 2016 with young people who wanted not just to help, but to understand why people were experiencing homelessness in the first place.
A decade on, and following Nedd’s incredible run from west to east coast of Australia and every fundraiser since, it's a national charity with a network of more than 50 charity partners across the country, including in Forbes and the central west.
Mobilise, alongside the University of Melbourne and the Paul Ramsay Foundation, pioneered direct cash transfers in Australia, putting money straight into people's hands through the case workers who already know them.
To date nationally, Mobilise has distributed more than $4.3m supporting more than 1600 households out of the cycle of homelessness for good.
This represents more than 330 years of housing covered through Mobilise’s programs.
Show your support
The Forbes community can get involved this year by doing an Uncomfortable Challenge, or supporting Lenny through fundraising which will go to supporting people in the region out of homelessness.
Lenny’s not only hoping his personal challenge will raise funds for Mobilise, he’s hoping more people in Forbes will get on board with their own challenges.
There’s challenge inspiration on Nedd’s website:
Go on foot – without transport for 10 days;
Go cold – cold showers, cold food, no heating;
Go without entertainment;
Live on $10 a day.
“It’s different for everyone, what makes them uncomfortable,” Lenny said.
Sign up for your own Uncomfortable Challenge online at: www.neddsuncomfortablechallenge.com/
Support Lenny’s challenge, starting 17 October, online at: www.neddsuncomfortablechallenge.com/fundraisers/LennyIyer
Nedd is backing the call to Forbes to support Lenny in his challenge.
“He's supported Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge before and he is back again, this time going bigger and better!” Nedd said.
“It will be great to see him running around the lake with a big smile on his face, flying the Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge flag and hopefully everyone at home gets around him and the challenge. "