Clinton Walsh will pack up his life and drive home to Sydney on Tuesday with two completed degrees, a lifetime of memories – and some pretty nasty blisters.
Few students have crammed more into their time at Bond University than Walsh, and he lived that mantra right to the very end.
On Friday, on the eve of his final exam block, Walsh competed in the Clint Eastwood Last Man Standing Backyard Ultra Marathon.
By Monday evening, after his last exam, the 22-year-old will have wrapped up 11 semesters to complete a Law and Actuarial Science double degree – a unique pairing he chose because he “didn’t know what I wanted to do” and wanted to keep both maths and law doors open.
“I quite enjoyed the balance of having two subjects from each degree every semester,” Walsh said.
“My marks were pretty much the same in both, they worked in sync. I’m still figuring out how to combine them in my career.”
In January, he’ll start that career in Sydney with a graduate role at King & Wood Mallesons.
But first comes a well-earned two-month European holiday with his partner, Bond alumna Dayna Fewings, who is now the strength and conditioning coach for the Bull Sharks AFLW side.
Busy is an understatement
Over his three and a half years at Bond, Walsh has been everywhere.
He was Vice President (Sport) of the Bond University Student Association where he was a key driver in the university’s return to the UniSport Indigenous Nationals in 2023 after a nine-year absence. He coached the squad that year and returned in 2025 to once again lead Bond, this time in Perth.
He was also a founding member of the spike ball club, and an enthusiastic regular in water polo, touch football and netball.
He’s also tutored Indigenous students through the Nyombil Centre and served as UniSport advisor.
Somewhere in there, he found time to take up running, completing 75km for the 2024 Movember Challenge – 10km every four hours – to raise funds for men’s mental health.
The backyard ultra
Running wasn’t supposed to be a long-term thing. But when a friend asked him to join her in the Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra last week, he said yes.
The format is simple and brutal: a 6.706km trail loop every hour, on the hour – kind of like a long-distance beep test. Miss the start of your next lap and you’re out. The last runner standing has to complete one more lap solo to win.
“She talked me into it and I registered about a week ago,” Walsh said.
He completed 11 laps (73.7km) to finish 88th. The winner lasted 43 laps.
“I averaged a 10-minute break at the end of each lap, but by the end my slowest break was five minutes,” he said.
“It’s pretty crap mentally because you go over the same ground twice every lap. But the overall experience was really good.
“I had a fun time, but I definitely wouldn’t say I’m a runner for life. I don’t think ultra marathons are going to be my thing.”
From blisters to bikes?
However, now he has decided to settle in Sydney, another endurance sport might be.
Walsh’s father Andrew and brother Elliott are avid cyclists and have their eyes on recruiting him for the Peaks Challenge in March – a 235km ride set across three of the Victorian high country’s most famous climbs: Tawonga Gap, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek.
The race, designed to imitate a stage of the Tour de France, includes 4000m of elevation and must be completed within 13 hours.
“My brother and dad are trying to get me to do it,” Walsh said.
“So, it looks like I’m going to become a rider. I don’t even have a bike yet, so I’ll have to get one when I get home.”
Bondies at the ultra
Walsh wasn’t the only Bond face at the Backyard Ultra.
Dr Jane Hunt from the Faculty of Society & Design – President of the Australian Society for Sport History, veteran triathlete and author of Multisport Dreaming: The Foundations of Triathlon in Australia – clocked 16 laps (107.2km), finishing as 11th woman and 30th overall.