text: From the dry, relentless heat of Alice Springs to the icy cold hills of Canberra, a university student will push his body to the limit, running a marathon in each of Australia’s eight states and territories to honour the memory of his late, treasured childhood friend. Although he had never run a marathon before, Callum Ryan, 21, committed himself to the daunting challenge of running eight of them between January and September 2015 - covering a total distance of 337.5 kilometres. His ‘Eight Great States’ campaign is driven by his passion to make a difference after the loss of his friend, Malachy Frawley who died from heart disease in 2013 when he was just 14 years old. Callum is preparing to battle vastly different weather conditions and diverse terrains as he pounds the pavement right around Australia, raising funds for not-for-profit organisation HeartKids Australia - supporting thousands of children living with heart defects. Callum posing like international running champion Usain Bolt at the finish line after the Canberra Times Marathon on April 12, with his little sister Josie and brother Henrik . Callum Ryan poses with his treasured friend Malachy Frawley, who sadly passed away when he was 14 . Malachy Frawley brought laughter to the world in his short but wonderful life, showing great courage through his lifelong battle with the severe heart condition Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome . The University of Sydney student has committed himself to the incredible endeavour in memory of a Malachy, who brought laughter to the world in his short but wonderful life, showing great courage through his lifelong battle with the severe heart condition Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. Callum is inspired by the incredible strength and resilience Malachy displayed as he faced the challenges of a Congenital Heart Disease, which severely affected his mobility. Since January, Callum has already faced his first three marathons: kicking it all off with a 22 degree race in Hobart, sweating through the 28 degree heat in the Victoria town of Wangaratta and freezing through an icy seven degree start in Canberra. With each race, Callum has improved on his previous time by at least ten minutes. This comes despite his muscle fatigue with the quick turnaround as he pushes his body to recover and do it all again! The worst is yet to come, as Callum is scheduled to run a marathon in Darwin and then summon the strength to run another in Perth just 14 days later - and another 21 days after that in Sydney. Despite Malachy being five years Callum's junior, they forged a truly special friendship . 'Finished first! (out of all the people running to raise money for HeartKids obviously)' Callum joked after he finishing the Wangaratta marathon in sweltering, 35 degree heat . Eight Great States: One man, eight marathons, eight states and territories, nine months, 337.56 kilometres . Every step of the way, the memory of Malachy is never far from Callum's mind – helping him to find the mental strength to make it to the finish line. ‘At times during the race I thought “it’d be easier to stop now, no one would think any worse of you because a marathon is a tough thing to try”,' Callum said. ‘But I set out to do this. As I run, I sometimes think of Malachy and the thousands and thousands of other kids in that situation.' 'While I was running I thought about kids with Congenital Heart Disease and their families.' Callum is conscious of how lucky he is to be healthy and able to complete a marathon. Every step of the way, the memory of Malachy is never far from Callum's mind – helping him to find the mental strength to make it to the finish line . Malachy was the beloved younger brother of Niamh, Imogen and Seamus, growing up in NSW's Nowra . HeartKids made incredible changes to Malachy's life (pictured with his father Dom and mother Maggie). They supplied him with a segway so he could be more mobile and have his own independence . Hobart was the perfect location for Callum to embark on his first ever marathon - an ideal 22 degrees . ‘Children with CHD struggle to walk around in their day to day lives because their bodies aren't equipped. ‘I had to stick to my challenge because they find that strength every day.’ ‘I disappeared into those types of thoughts and the kilometres fell away.’ ‘With the personal connection none of it feels like a chore or a risk.’ He hopes to make people aware of the plight of children with heart disease and the need to support the children and their families. Every day in Australia, eight babies are born with a heart defect. Every week, four precious lives are lost and vital research needs to take place to work out of how to save them. ‘‘I first came across HeartKids through Malachy. I’d raised money for them before but I wanted to do something significant for Heartkids.’ Every day in Australia, eight babies are born with a heart defect. Every week, four precious lives are lost and vital research needs to take place to work out of how to save them . When Malachy (left) was in kindergarten the pair were excited to discover Callum (right) had also been allocated as Malachy’s Year Six buddy – a mentor and friendly face across the playground . Callum grew up in Nowra in New South Wales’ South Coast, where he formed a close bond with Malachy Frawley (second from left, with his siblings), a family friend five years his junior . ‘The most frightening thing about CHD is that there is no cure at the moment. If you’re born with it, then it’s with you for life. Lives are sadly cut short by it.’ Callum grew up in Nowra in New South Wales’ South Coast, where he formed a close bond with Malachy Frawley, a family friend five years his junior. When Malachy was in kindergarten the pair were excited to discover Callum had also been allocated as Malachy’s Year Six buddy – a mentor and friendly face across the playground. Despite Malachy being five years his junior, they forged a truly special friendship. ‘They had a very lovely friendship. They had the chance to get to know each other despite being five years apart,’ explained Malachy’s father, Dr Dom Frawley. ‘Lucky enough for Callum and Malachy they were paired up and their personalities really gelled. Although he had never run a marathon before, Callum Ryan, 21, committed himself to the daunting challenge of running eight of them between January and September 2015 . Since January, Callum has already faced his first three marathons: including sweating through the 28 degree heat in the Victoria town of Wangaratta (r) and freezing through a seven degree start in Canberra (l) ‘Malachy looked up to Callum a lot as a mentor and Callum took that role seriously and invested a lot of time in Malachy. ‘They got the chance to discover they had a lot in common in the way they saw and thought about things, particularly in the way they were so creative.’ In his fourteen short years, Malachy left his mark on the world – creating, daydreaming and making people smile. Malachy has been remembered as ‘an author, film director, comedian, drummer, raconteur and HeartKids.’ He was adored for his ‘wit and loving nature.’ Malachy was affected by one of the most serious heart conditions, which greatly affected his mobility. Although Callum will be travelling to many marathons alone during his Eight States campaign, he travelled via Camry with his great mate Nick Peters to his third marathon in the ACT . Dom and his family have been greatly touched by Callum’s (third from left) commitment to making a change in the life of other children . He had needed to rely on others to drive or piggyback up from place to place, until HeartKids gifted him with a Segway. ‘The Segway completely transformed his life,’ said his father Dom. ‘He could suddenly get places without having to rely on people to carry him, which was quite a dramatic change from what he’d always been able to do.’ Their boy with a quick wit and limitless imagination now had the freedom of movement and increased independence, able to travel around his neighbourhood and to and from school. ‘I left the training a bit late before my first marathon, frankly. I felt really nervous before my first marathon, thinking “have I done enough?”’. Dom and his family have been greatly touched by Callum’s commitment to making a change in the life of other children. ‘We’re very gratified and we’re touched by it. Hopefully it will help a lot of people with the sickness to raise funds and awareness. ‘It’s great for him to have that awareness. Callum cares a lot about people.’ You can donate to Callum's Eight Great States campaign to help HeartKids here . Callum is preparing to battle vastly different weather conditions and diverse terrains as he pounds the pavement right around Australia, raising funds for not-for-profit organisation HeartKids Australia - supporting thousands of children living with heart defects .
target: Callum Ryan, 21, will run eight marathons in each of Australia's states and territories between January and September this year .
  Callum is running to honour the memory of his late friend, Malachy Frawley .
  Malachy passed away when he was just 14 from a Congenital Heart Disease .
  Callum wants to raise funds for HeartKids Australia and awareness of the impact of children's heart disease .
  He had never run a marathon before when he set himself the challenge .