Completing the Cairns Ironman is a great achievement in itself but imagine doing the race with only 30 per cent lung capacity.

That’s the challenge Brisbane’s Russell Winwood has set himself.

Russell was diagnosed in 2011 with a progressive condition called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and will do the run and cycle legs with an oxygen tank in tow.

Russell is hoping to raise $50,000 for the Lung Foundation and he tells Mark his race will be a world first.

https://lungfoundation.grassrootz.com/run-for-lungs/copd-athlete

Queensland has some of the country’s toughest restrictions on smoking but the Labor opposition on the Brisbane City Council wants to tighten them even further.

It is calling on the LNP administration to add the city’s 2,000 parks to those places that are out of bounds to smokers.

Morningside ward councillor Kara Cook tells Mark families enjoying themselves outdoors shouldn’t have to deal with second hand smoke.

The Monkees first toured Australia in 1968 to be greeted by frenzied crowds that recalled the kind of reception the Beatles had received four years earlier.

Over the years various combinations of Monkees have returned to our shores, but the last time Mike Nesmith was here was when toured as a solo act in 1977.

In December he will be reacquainted with Brisbane audiences when he joins Micky Dolenz on stage at QPAC for the The Monkees Present: The Mike & Micky Show.

Micky joined Mark on the phone from California and says he and Mike are looking forward to the show.. and the great food and wine.

When most people think of taking a cruise they imagine a huge ocean liner, visiting exotic ports and strolling the decks with a cocktail in hand.

While that is undoubtedly a great holiday it is far from the only way of cruising.

Wietske Hattingh from Journeys Worldwide tells Mark increasingly people are looking for something different, everything from adventure cruises to hire-a-boat trips.

Queensland treasurer Jackie Trad is awaiting the response from the mining industry to her controversial offer of a three year royalty freeze in return for a $70 million contribution to a Regional Infrastructure Fund.

The Deputy Premier rejects suggestions she’s blackmailing the industry but if it doesn’t kick in the money she says she’ll revisit royalties next year.

The CEO of the Australian Minerals Council Tania Constable tells Mark the move has taken industry by surprise because it already contributes billions to the Queensland budget’s bottom line.

It has been a particularly horrific few days on Queensland roads with 10 people dying in six separate road crashes.

The state’s road toll now stands at 83 and while that is 10 fewer than for the same period last year it is still far too high.

Ahead of Fatality Free Friday Australian Road Safety Foundation ambassador and Supercar driver Craig Lowndes tells Mark that he often cannot believe some of the things he sees on the roads.

Brisbane has been chosen to play host to Opera Australia’s new production of the most challenging and demanding opera ever written, Wagner’s The Ring.

Each cycle of the opera involves 15 hours of music, spread over four separate performances which are spaced over a week.

Opera Australia artistic director Lyndon Terracini tells Mark The Ring is a mountain to climb for both perfomers and audiences but the production at QPAC will be like no other seen before.

Many of Brisbane’s older suburbs are under increasing pressure from unit developers as the city’s population balloons while at the same time people demand easy access to the CBD.

It’s meant many suburbs are losing their character but now the Brisbane City Council has stepped in to preserve one of the oldest.

The new Coorparoo Neighbourhood Plan doubles the number of properties in the character protection zone to almost 6,000.

BCC City planning committee chairman Matthew Bourke tells Mark the zoning means owners can’t make significant changes.

Australia has the highest incidence of food allergy in the world and deaths related to food allergies are rising at 10 per cent annually.

Disturbingly a new survey done by Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia has found there is a general lack of understanding in the community about the potentially deadly consequences of food allergies.

AAA CEO Maria Said explains to Mark that many in the community often confuse life-threatening allergies with lifestyle choices, such as being vegan.

It was once considered unconquerable, now climbers are literally queuing as they are forced to wait for their turn to stand at the summit of Mt Everest.

It is congestion that is literally costing lives.

11 people have died so far this climbing season and many of those have lost their lives on the descent or after they make it back to base camp.

Queensland’s Alyssa Azar has climbed Everest twice and was the youngest Australian ever to make it to the summit.

She tells Mark the Nepalese government needs to have a serious look at how many permits it hands out and the people it allows to climb Everest.