Trainer Lee Campbell heads B Firm, which runs obstacle courses and fitness programs. He and Frank Papa, of L and F Group, staged the Bravest “obstacle adventure race” at Stromlo on March 14 2015, promoted by Mr Barr, who also took part.

B Firm was supposed to pay a $25,000 fee upfront, before the race, according to government emails. But only $5000 was paid and the event didn’t go to plan.

The plan had been for 4000 participants, but on April 14 2015, Mr Papa wrote to venues development manager Rod Florence telling him that only 210 people had raced, 105 paying the full entry fee, leaving organisers well short of the 600 needed to break even. He asked for the outstanding money to be written off or off-set. He pointed out that B Firm had run a schools obstacle course the week before, attended by 300 children at no cost.

On April 20, Mr Florence emailed head of Venues Canberra Liz Clarke, telling her he had met Mssrs Papa and Campbell on April 10, where they “advised that they had discussed the event with the CM [chief minister] (post-event) and that there may be an opportunity for funding of the schools event from a government program. They also indicated that they would like us to consider their cost in running the school community event as a financial off-set to the money they owe for the Bravest event."

Mr Florence pointed to plans for a race the following year, but expressed doubt it would be profitable: “If their fee is waived or reduced in this instance I suspect we‘ll be having a similar conversation next year …

“Importantly, they have still not removed all the large tyres and concrete blocks they left around the park. … There will be a large cost to us to remove these items if they fail to do so,” he said.

“Also, their lack of investment, organisation and preparedness for the event was very evident and resulted in serious safety concerns.”

The debrief says while the obstacles were well designed and built and the risk management plan was very good, incomplete preparation meant some obstacles could not be used and a number were not manned. Sections of the race were not well marked or marshalled and conflict with bike trails was a real safety concern.

The notes say that Territory Venues and Events had told Mssrs Papa and Campbell it could not approve a request for an alternative solution for the debt, and had asked the pair to put the request in writing, "detailing the reason for deferral of payment and an alternative proposal as they discussed with the minister".

Despite Mr Florence’s misgivings about future events, Ms Clarke wrote to him three months later, on July 22 2015, and told him that “Gary has requested we assist Frank and Lee with tidying the site from their event as well as setting up a repayment plan for the outstanding $25k from the event. He’s also asked that we assist in [sic] them with their planned 2016 event.”

Gary’s identity is not further elaborated and no 2016 race eventuated.

In response to Fairfax questions, a government spokesperson responded on June 16 this year that the organisers still owed $22,500 (including GST) and the government was pursuing the debt.

But a few days later, agreement was reached. The spokeswoman said last week that B Firm had now agreed to pay the money through a payment plan.

The organisers had cleaned up most of the Stromlo site, with the government doing “some minor works … at minimal expense”.

Despite the debt, B Firm was given $50,000 in 2016 - $25,000 from the government and $25,000 from Actew – to run a program for school students.

The government spokeswoman said more than 2000 students had taken part in the Swing into Life program in 2016. The program had not been used as a financial off-set for the debt, she said.

“In the 2016 year, the ACT government promoted the Swing into Life program through its distribution network to schools,” the spokeswoman said.

Mr Barr said the 2015 suggestion for a financial off-set via a schools program had been made by Mssrs Campbell and Papa, not by him, but it had never been formally put and never agreed.

Asked why he had discussed the debt with the pair, Mr Barr said, “I can’t control what is raised with me. I am aware that B Firm had a debt relating to the Bravest event, but I am not negotiating that debt with them. Debt recovery matters are managed by relevant government agencies.”

Asked whether he still trained with Mr Campbell, Mr Barr said, “Thank you for your interest in my personal fitness regime. Due to work, travel and other commitments I rarely train with Lee Campbell these days. I also prefer more self-directed exercise.”

He had made a New Year’s resolution to exercise every day, and had done “approximately 250 self-directed exercise sessions” so far this year. On about five of those occasions, he had exercised with B Firm’s group boot-camp style sessions, he said.

He confirmed he began training with Mr Campbell in 2014 for a Heart Foundation charity challenge, and continued occasional group training in 2015, before moving to “a more self-directed exercise regime” and funding other ways to exercise such as letterboxing campaign material.

He paid for his sessions fully, he said.

Asked why the government had funded the Swing into Life program while B Firm had a $20,000 debt to the territory, Mr Barr referred the question to the bureaucracy.

No-one has explained what was meant by an "alternative proposal" or "financial off-set" for the debt other than Mr Florence's mention of a "schools event" that could be funded by the government. It is not clear whether he was referring to the schools obstacle course in the lead-up to the Bravest or whether it was the program that eventually became Swing into Life.

Mr Campbell said he did not know what the references to him having suggested a financial off-set were about. Mr Papa said he also did not know about the mooted off-set.

Mr Campbell maintains he was always going to pay the money and the delay was simply to do with the timing of negotiations and correspondence with the government. He said no timing had been set under the payment plan but the debt would be paid as soon as possible.

Mr Papa said they had never walked away from the debt, but had heard nothing but "crickets" since 2015 and assumed it was off the books. Then about February this year, they had been surprised to receive a letter asking for the money. They had arranged a meeting in April to deal with it, he said.

Mr Campbell confirmed he had applied for Swing into Life funding from the government again in 2017 but had been knocked back because it "didn't fit into their model". Actew was continuing to fund the program to the tune of $25,000 a year, he said.