Alice Maghami

Help me Move my Butt from the Couch to the Finish Line (Whilst Finding a Cure for Cancer)!

Hi People!

Six years ago I crossed the finish line in the 10km event at the Run Melbourne festival. I was surrounded by fellow CanTooers and I was pleased to have raised a significant amount of cash for cancer research. However, I was miserable because of my very slow finishing time. I don't remember exactly what my time was - only that I was beaten by at least one park bench, which really sapped my confidence.

Still, I was determined not to give up! I was the slowest person in the 10km training group, but I was also the only person from that 10km group to complete the subsequent half marathon training program and run the 21.1kms in October 2011. This was definitely the furthest I had ever run and still is.

Fit and fabulous, I then completed the CanToo swim program and swam 2km in the ocean in January 2012.

I won't say that my fitness training completely unravelled at that point - after all, I continued learning a martial art for another two years, and then spent 10 weeks hiking across the Pyrenees in 2014 and 7 weeks walking the length of Scotland in 2015. Still, it is fair to say that 2011 was the peak of my running career, and since late 2015, my couch and I have been growing more and more alike. Whilst I do appreciate the many benefits of a comfy couch, I really don't want to share its body type. 

Yes, I do have some selfish motives in wanting to run my second half marathon. But wait, there's more! I'll also be raising a decent sum for cancer research. Several people I care about have been diagnosed with cancer. Some of those are now cancer free, and some haven't been so lucky. A lot more research needs to be done in this area. This is where CanToo comes in. CanToo is an organisation which helps people raise money for cancer research, whilst training them to achieve big goals (like running a half marathon). Unfortunately, there don't seem to be enough participants for the usual CanToo half-marathon program, so I'm going to follow their training program without a coach and whip my own butt into shape! I'm looking forward to convincing others to join me. However, even if you're not much of a runner, you can still support me. All you need to do is sponsor me. I've set my fundraising target at $750 and I need YOUR help to achieve it.

Big donations, small donations, even teeny-tiny donations - all will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

xx Alice