Berkeley's Brendan Wyatt can't play football, so he's running 160km instead

Wyatt - a New Zealand international who lives in Australia on a Special Category Visa - is unable to play due to an ongoing hearing into Berkeley allegedly having one too many visa players (the maximum is two) at the club. The process has been ongoing for months.

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"Our competition rules, which are line with FNSW regulations, specify requirements in relation to VISA players," a Football South Coast spokesperson said.

"Breaches to these competition rules are currently being reviewed as per our Dispute and Disciplinary Regulations."

As for Wyatt, he wants to channel his frustrations of not being able to play into something positive.

Remarkably, 160km is a distance familiar to the head physiotherapist at A-League club Macarthur.

Just last year, Wyatt attempted to run from Avalon to Wollongong (160kms) in 19 hours and ended up doing it in just over 17 to raise money to Brain Foundation Australia.

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This Sunday, June 30, he will attempt to run the same distance in under 17 hours. He said his goal this year was to overcome adversity.

"It's me versus me," Wyatt said.

"A big part of why I'm doing this is for my mental health. Football has been a massive part of my life ever since the age of five. So to not be allowed to play has been pretty difficult.

"Last year my run was in the media spotlight a lot more, whereas this time around it's just a massive personal challenge for me. Going through that whole journey in April last year, I learned the full extent of how much the human body can be pushed and how much the mind can overcome in the face of massive adversity.

"I know everything I did right and wrong last time and I'm pretty determined to try and beat my time from April last year and just see how much my body and mind can overcome on the day."

Wyatt himself said he felt like he had done all the right things to be able to not be considered "a visa player".

"From my side of things, my desire to play football is because I enjoy it and I love giving back to the local Illawarra football landscape," he said.

"I've got all the requirements of an Australian permanent resident. So the decision to not allow me to play is pretty disheartening."

Wyatt will begin his journey in Avalon around 2am Sunday, and hopes to head into Wollongong around 6:45pm .

He is raising money for the cause. If you would like to donate, visit his GoFundMe page.