Sunrise stars Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington to go the distance at Telethon weekend

They’re up before dawn five days a week, but don’t expect Sunrise stars Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington to run out of puff as Telethon’s 26-hour broadcast enters the early hours.

The masters of the morning insist they’ve got the experience and stamina to endure another marathon weekend in Perth for the kids.

“We’re fine as long we don’t lie down. Don’t put us on the couch in a horizontal position,” Barr joked this week.

The 56-year-old has become a familiar face at the annual fundraising weekend.

But just how frequently she’s returned, well, she’s not quite sure.

“I should have started counting how many. That was my problem. I never started and it’s just been ages,” she said.

While the weekend is designed to elicit joy and goodwill, Barr insists her east coast contingent of TV personalities mean business.

With 136 beneficiaries and last year’s donation benchmark of $77.5 million to surpass, every dollar counts.

“From the moment you get off the plane, you’re all in and you’re there to have fun, but you’re also there to work,” she said.

“You’re there to raise money for so many wonderful charities.”

Admitting “every hour is accounted for”, Bunbury-raised Barr admits there’s not even time to return home or see family.

Moving abroad in her early 20s to pursue a career in journalism, Barr is proud to show-off the community spirit binding the State she once called home.

Becoming an empty nester this year, the mother-of-two cherishes the years spent with her sons, empathising with parents whose children have been unfairly compromised by illness.

She had a glimpse into their despair when one of her sons had an accident and was flown to a Perth hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Hoping to provide a glimmer of relief — even for just one weekend — the key to winning hearts and raising funds as network talent is being “vulnerable” herself.

According to Barr, no one lets their hair down like her co-anchor Shirvo.

“He looks like Mr Straigthy 180, but no. Just give him two beers, he’s anybody’s,” she joked.

Suggesting the weekend is a marathon and not a sprint, former Olympic runner Shirvington insists he’ll pace himself at his third Telethon.

Hoping not to “give too much away”, he conceded he’s already started training for his pet event — a lip-sync battle.

After becoming ’80s Tom Cruise last year and a Backstreet Boy for 2022’s ’90s display, the 45-year-old admitted the ’80s are making a comeback.

And no op shop is safe in pursuit of the perfect outfit.

“If you can guess it, I will donate an extra bit of cash to Telethon because it’s going to be a tricky one to guess,” Shirvington teased.

Coy about his schedule, the athlete-turned-presenter believes the unknown is what brings audiences and TV personalities back for more.

“You never know what’s around the corner,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You never know what other sort of surprises are going to present themselves at any time of the day. So it’s always worth watching.”