Jack Macartney: Sydney Marathon.

The target was 2:45.

Most people running their first marathon are still figuring out what they’re capable of. Jack had already picked a number. 2:45.

He’d run the City2Surf before, but never a marathon. So lining up for 42.2 kilometres with a specific time in mind was ambitious. Very Jack.

The goal wasn’t simply to finish. He wanted to find out what he could do.

More than a race.

There was another reason for running. Jack was raising money for Beyond Blue, with a $5,000 target to support men’s mental health. Friends and family got behind him, and he ended up passing the goal.

So there was a number on the watch, a number on the fundraising page, and 42.2 kilometres between him and both. No pressure.

The months nobody sees.

The marathon itself took a couple of hours. The training took months.

At its peak, Jack was running more than 100 kilometres a week, following a structured plan with the help of an in-app coach. Early starts. Long runs. Plenty of kilometres when nobody was watching. And no music.

For Jack, running without headphones became a kind of meditation. Just breathing, footsteps and whatever was going on in his head that day.

There’s something appealing about that. When you’re building towards a big goal, sometimes the best thing you can do is spend a few hours alone with your thoughts.

Then the calf went.

Somewhere along the course, his calf started causing trouble. That’s where the plan changed. Every runner knows the calculation: back off and protect the leg, or keep pushing and accept that there may be a price to pay later.

Jack kept the pace.

He finished in 2:47 — just two minutes outside the original target. On paper, that’s a missed goal. Knowing what happened somewhere between the start and the finish, it feels like a pretty good result.

Why goals matter.

The marathon is only one example of how Jack approaches things. He likes having something to work towards. A target that gives the work in between a reason to exist.

It’s the same instinct that’s taken him offshore as a sailor, into business, and eventually into building Cannafox from the ground up. And exercise plays a part in all of it.

For Jack, getting out on the water or going for a run isn’t another thing to tick off the list. It’s a reset. Time to clear his head, get some perspective and come back ready for whatever needs doing next.

Recovery is part of the routine.

After 42.2 kilometres, the work isn’t quite finished. Recovery has become part of Jack’s routine, too. Active Recovery Cream goes onto his legs after a big effort, massaged in when everything is feeling a little worse for wear.

The magnesium gives that familiar cooling, tingling sensation, while the ritual itself is a simple reminder to look after the body that’s doing the work.

Move well. Recover well.

For Jack, after the Sydney Marathon, that wasn’t marketing copy. It was the next thing on the list.

What he’d do differently

There was one thing Jack reckoned he’d change. He should have joined a run club.

Training alone had got him a long way, but running a marathon is different. There’s something about having other people beside you — sharing the kilometres, the early mornings and the inevitable bad days — that solo training can’t quite replicate.

It’s a good lesson to take from a first marathon. You don’t have to do all the hard stuff alone.

Same Jack. Different limit.

Two-time Rolex Sydney Hobart winner. Ocean Race sailor. Co-founder. And now marathon runner.

The environments change, but the approach is remarkably consistent: set a real goal, put in the work, and see how far you can take it.

Sometimes the limit is the ocean.

Sometimes it’s building a business.

Sometimes it’s 42.2 kilometres — with a calf that has other ideas.

The number on the watch might change.

The person behind it doesn’t.

For life in motion.

That’s the driving philosophy behind Cannafox. And for Jack, it’s something he passionately believed long before we put it on the homepage. That’s what we like about Jack’s story.

It’s not really about running 2:47 instead of 2:45. It’s about getting moving, setting yourself a challenge and seeing what happens when you commit to it.

There will be setbacks. There will be days when things don’t go to plan. There will be moments when you have to adjust the target.

You keep moving anyway.