Brandon and Max Edmunds complete 100 park runs across Australia despite disability

They both have MECP2 duplication syndrome, which means they are non-verbal, but that hasn't prevented them from becoming a well-known and loved fixture of the parkrun community across the nation and in Tamworth in particular.

Brandon, 22 and Max, 14 brought up the 100 run milestone within a week of each other, and their father Mick Edmunds said the impact it's had on their lives is incredible.

Brandon began running in 2017, and his dad said it was obvious from the first day how much he enjoyed it.

"I think he was pretty much addicted from day one, I remember his first day he actually ran the whole way without walking," he said.

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"It was 28 minutes that day and now he's down below 22 minutes so he's made massive improvements and lost a stack of weight."

Mr Edmunds believes Brandon has lost around 40kg, and the situation is similar for Max.

Several months after Brandon and his dad started running, the rest of the family joined in and just like his older brother, Max grew to love it.

He has become much fitter, shredding 31 minutes off of the time it took him to complete his first run.

Brandon's enthusiasm isn't only beneficial to him, with his love for exercise spilling over and brightening up everyone else's day.

"All the people are great and accept him and he livens up the whole place because he has antics where he dances and carries on and hugs and kisses people - although you're not allowed to do that these days," Mr Edmunds said.

"If he shows up at your park run then people knows he's there because he makes his presence felt."

He has taken his boisterous antics all across the state and beyond too, having run in the likes of Darwin, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.

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