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Greg Johnson

  • New York here we come....

      21 October 2015

    Our last update was back in August so my apologies for my tardiness in getting this..our final installment, out to you.

    It is so incredibly hard to believe that we are now only 7 days away from boarding a plane to go to New York.

    I can definitely speak on everyone’s behalf and say that we are ready for this!

    Our last big training session was 2 weeks ago, rounding off about 5hrs of walking and notching up around 30kms. On the back of that we had had a couple of big weekends including competing in the 25km Devonport Classic.

    Despite the fact that Greg has a couple of unhappy hamstrings owing to all the hard work, ‘Team Greg’ is in pretty good shape. Our attentions have now turned to getting ourselves organised for this huge day which has included getting our t-shirts printed with our names on them; ready to be cheered on by the New York crowd.

    We have also finalised our team for the event. We are very pleased to have Naomie Lye from Wellington join us as one of Gregs guides and we have also been allocated a local from New York by the name of Margie.

    Fundraising

    Our last sausage sizzle raised about $500 dollars which was a phenomenal effort.

    We also held a quiz night which raised $1700.

    Our Givealittle now sits at a whopping $12,500. Tick…. Target reached!!!!

    It brings tears to my eyes knowing that there are so many fantastic people out there who have helped us raise this amount of money. We have been truly blown away by the generosity and support that you have all shown us. All that ‘s left to do is complete 26 miles of marathon….not much really when you think about how big the journey has been to get to this point.

    See you on the other side.

    Greg, Kath and Marcelle - AKA 'Team Greg'

    Honorary members – Naomie and Margie

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  • 3rd Team Greg Update

      18 August 2015
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    We are now over ½ way through August and are starting to receive constant reminders of how much time we don’t have before we walk the New York Marathon (75 days and counting…)

    I must say that it is a bit of a miserable time of year to be training. Auckland really can’t make up it’s mind with the weather and you take a bit of a chance when you step out the door….as we were reminded of on Saturday.

    Despite this we have managed to tick a few events off. Greg and Marcelle completed the Millwater ½ on the 24th July and then this was followed up with all 3 of us completing the Taupo ½ on 1st August. There were a number of other Achilles athletes at this event, being very easy to spot in our fluorescent yellow shirts.

    We have the Devonport Classic on the 20th September (25km) and are looking to do the Hamilton ½ on the 4th October.

    Our weekly training nights as part of the run fit family at Shoe Science in Albany have continued despite the nights being cold, wet and dark…roll on summer! We are now being joined by Peter Loft, Lloyd and respective partners.

    With all this walking comes the usual aches and pains. Taupo seemed to be our undoing. Marcelle decided to try out flat shoes….they have now been relagated to the cupboard. Greg pulled his hamstring so has been an utter delight over the last 2 weeks, and I developed a blood blister on my heel. All things I’m pleased to say are well on the mend!

    Fundraising.

    The amount now sits at $9,280.00, after some very successful fundraisers in August.

    Fedwa Issa who is a lady I work with at Starship Children’s Hospital is an amazing cook and put on a fundraiser for us making falafel kebabs, hummus and baba ganoush for the staff in Children’s ED. This one day alone raised $800 which was an absolutely fantastic effort. It just goes to show that food is definitely a winner!

    On that note we held our first Sausage Sizzle on Saturday 8th August at Mitre 10 Mega in Albany. We raised $310 for the day which wasn’t too bad considering it was cold and wet! We had a number of people come back for seconds which was largely due to Marcelle’s fantastic caramelised onions.

    We have another sausage sizzle planned on Saturday 12th September, so if you’re around then come by and say hello.

    It would not do without a special thanks to Huttons who sponsored the bread and sausages.

    Finally, and this will be the last fundraiser event for the Team Greg.

    We have a quiz night planned for Wednesday 16th September. This will be held at Carrington’s which is in the Unitec grounds at Pt Chev.

    The doors open at 1930 and the quiz starts at 8pm. Tickets are $25 or $120 for a table of 6. Phone 021107014 to speak to Kathryn if you want to book.

    Thanks everyone! I will post our final update at the end of September.

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  • Update 2

      27 June 2015
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    It has been a few months since our last update so we thought it was about time to check in again.

    Greg has now completed his certificate in Sport and Recreation (thank goodness!). He did extremely well, getting an A+ in each of his 4 papers. He was recognised for this high achievement by being accepted onto the Honours roll at AUT.

    Both Greg and Jazz have been busy increasing their celebrity status. Jazz was the poster dog for a 'Dogs Unite' fundraiser for the Blind Foundation whilst Greg and I had a write up in the NZ Women's Weekly.

    Marcelle and I continue to suffer on a weekly basis as we walk with Greg.

    We thought we would spice things up with some deep water running, unfortunately all my attempts to drown Greg failed...next time I will remove the flotation device!

    You will often see us walking around the Orewa Estuary on the weekends. For something different today we went along Auckland's Waterfront, from Westhaven Marina to Kelly Tarlton's....just a mere 18km.

    Tomorrow we will be back at the Achilles fortnightly training at the AUT Millenium facility on the North Shore. This will be a good time to try out Greg's new shoes. These have been sponsored by Mike from Shoe Science Albany - thanks Mike:)

    Fundraising:

    So the amount donated is now up to 7,310.00 which is absolutely fantastic. A big thank you to everyone who has donated. We recently held a fundraiser movie night on the 18th June at the Bridgeway Theatre in Northcote to see 'Man Up'. The night was a great success and raised $1680 which was huge!!!

    We have a few more fundraising events on the calender:

    Sausage Sizzles at Albany Mitre 10.

    If you're around on Saturday 8th August or Saturday 12th September then don't forget to pop in and say hello - and of course buy a sausage.

    Quiz Night - currently in the pipe line....

    Next update - sometime in August...

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  • 1st Team Greg Update

      11 May 2015
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    WOW!

    What a fantastic and unexpected response to our initial fundraising efforts.

    We are truly blown away by the generosity and support from so many friends and family. It certainly puts a bit more pressure on all of us to perform once we get to New York.

    This is the first of our updates to keep you all in the loop about what Team Greg has been up to.

    Greg:

    Since walking the Cigna ½ Marathon in Wellington in February, training has continued. We have joined the run fit family at our local Shoe Science store in Albany, club nights are every Thursday at 6.30pm. Thanks Mike for making us feel so welcome.

    Outside of training Greg is currently driving everyone crazy studying for upcoming university exams. He is doing a course in sports and recreation at AUT and his first exam is looming! He has excellent study partners with Kath being a Nurse Practitioner and Marcelle being a Physio. God help us all if he doesn’t pass.

    On the health front no further operations required this year!

    Kath:

    Kath recently got a week’s holiday away from Greg; unfortunately it involved working in Rarotonga at the local hospital.

    Been on the go since then and organised a Car Rally at work which raised $465. Everyone had an awesome day.

    Spearheading the fundraising campaign for Team Greg, Kath can be contacted on 0211070154 if you have any ideas.

    Marcelle:

    Along with her husband Rob and a group of other mad cyclists have just completed a cycle tour of the South Is (Photo attached). A bloody amazing effort considering Marcelle’s lack of preparation. They really enjoyed the sleet and snow coming over the Lindis Pass!

    Now back at work at Northcross Physio and tending to Greg’s aches and pains.

    What’s coming up?

    Organising our very own movie night on June 18th. Movie is ‘Man Up’ and tickets are $20.

    Cooking sausages at Mitre 10 Albany

    Getting ready for the toughest quiz night ever

    And Greg might even be doing some public speaking –

    And A LOT more walking….perhaps some deep water running just to mix things up!

    Keep you posted?

    Greg, Marcelle and Kath (AKA Team Greg)

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