On Sunday the 12th of October 2008, a good family friend, Maryke, took on the
Melbourne Marathon in aid of raising funds for Felicity.
From Maryke
(before marathon):
"The run is 42kms. I am an ordinary person
with no great running ability - I have been training consistently for 6 months. I like having goals and committing to something...
I started slowly - building from running 10kms per week to up to 70kms per week now. I have been running 4 times per
week and fitting it in around my family, 2 kids and husband, and my full time other (paid) job. I have done this by running
at 6am and returning in time for breakfast, right through the Melbourne winter, which is an achievement in itself!. My goal
is simply to finish. But if all goes well in 4hrs and 30 minutes.
I will be wearing a t-shirt with a photo
of Felicity on the back and some words about my pledge to donate all sponsorship money raised to Felicity's Son-Rise
Program™
Once I complete the run I will update you
all on my experience and add photos"
This was written on the day:
"OMG - by the far the toughest thing I have ever experienced (I
have had 2 kids without drugs and I rate a marathon as harder!), Very tough conditions for my first marathon - oh dear - the
HEAT and the WIND - arghhhh, such a struggle all the way back - I felt great and strong until the turnaround in Sandringham
(28km) and then everything just seemed to fall apart - nothing specific, just general pain everywhere from the waist down
and my FEET were in agony. When I took my socks off afterwards I could see why - Massive blood blisters on semi-healed blisters
and new blisters and and... OUCH.
My goal today was to finish and I did it and I am absolutely THRILLED to have done
this - it took me 5 hours and I know there is so much more work to do but I believe I have the ability to go a lot faster
- I will be doing another marathon!
A highlight was having people run with me and talk about the impact of Autism in
their lives - their kids, themselves - 2 people patted me on the back and said "Good on You for Raising Awareness!"
I thought about Felicity a lot today - I felt her on my shoulder, it helped enormously to keep going.
I loved the start,
the volunteers were awesome and the people along the way are just INCREDIBLE - things to remember:
# The guy running
with 1 leg
# The barefoot woman with the gnarly feet
# The fellow I ran with who has a hole in his heart
Seriously
I could go on and on - people are simply inspirational and I am humbled to be around and in such company on a day like today.
Anyway - I did what I said I was going to do! Happy. I smiled a lot today.
The best part BY FAR was running into the MCG and seeing my family and
friends - then I just cried and cried!!! UNREAL!!!!"
Running Tally - Sponsorship raised so far:
$100 - donated 5th September 2008 (paypal)
$20 - donated 18th September 2008 (paypal)
$25 - donated 18th September 2008 (paypal)
$50
- donated 22nd September 2008 (paypal)
$25 - donated 22nd September
2008 (paypal)
$42 - donated 22nd September 2008 (paypal)
$75 - donated 23rd September 2008 (paypal)
$50
- donated 23rd September 2008 (paypal)
$50 - donated 23rd September
2008 (paypal)
$50 - donated 24th September 2008 (cheque)
$42 - donated 24th September 2008 (paypal)
$100
- donated 25th September 2008 (paypal)
$42 - donated 26th September 2008
(paypal)
$50 - donated 29th September 2008 (paypal)
$20 - donated 29th September 2008 (paypal)
$50
- donated 29th September 2008 (paypal)
$30 - donated 2nd October 2008
(paypal)
$30 - donated 2nd October 2008 (paypal)
$100 - donated 6th October 2008 (paypal)
$20 - donated 7th October 2008 (cash)
$50 - donated 9th October
2008 (paypal)
$50 - donated 15th October 2008 (paypal)
$200 - donated 16th October 2008 (cash)
$500 - donated 30th November 2008 (paypal)
Total amount raised so far - $1,771
Your
sponsorship directly supports Felicity and her family in the following ways:
•
Providing funding towards sending Felicity with her family to the United States for the ‘Intensive Program’. This
entails 40 hours of personalised parent training, and one-on-one work with Felicity to further enhance the effectiveness
of her Son-Rise Program™.
• Helping to provide fees for Felicity’s family
for the 5-day ‘Maximum Impact’ training course held at the Autism Treatment Center of America™.
• Providing ongoing bio-medical treatments for Felicity.
Thank you
