Main image

42k for 42k - Running a Marathon in One Year to Fund My Sister's Transition

$4,932 of $42,200 goal
Given by 67 generous donors in around 8 months

I'm running my first ever marathon to fundraise for my sister's gender affirmation care. Come with me!

Auckland

$1 = 1 step in the final marathon on September 1st. We've got 6 months left to hit our goal, let's haul ass!!

A bit of backstory:

Roughly 5 years ago, my younger sister Vi came out as transgender in her early twenties, and everything finally made sense. Despite a ton of love and support from friends and family, there's one remaining barrier she has to finally living as herself, and that's accessing surgery.

Surgery is both VERY expensive and difficult to access here in Aotearoa, with a public waiting list for some specialists over 10 years long. 10. YEARS. Vi resigned herself to waiting that long, and intends on working hard to save for gender affirmation care...

But as her older sibling, I can't just sit here. I want to help, in any way possible. So, despite absolutely no distance running experience and a fair amount of millennial back pain, I'm taking on the challenge to run a 5km, 10km, an 18km, a half marathon (21.1km), AND a marathon (42.2km) in less than one year. With your help, I hope to raise $42,200 - $1,000 per marathon kilometre - to give to Vi so she can finally access affirmation care that will allow her to live fully as herself.

If you donate anything at all, share, or support this page in any way, thank you. Thank you a million times. You cannot imagine how much it means, and how much of a difference it's making in a young woman's life.

Follow the journey to the finish line on any of the social links!

Dale Nel's involvement (page creator)

Vi is my younger sister, my only sibling. Despite virtually no distance running experience, I'm running because transition care and gender affirming surgery is so difficult to access, yet so important for those loved ones in our lives who need it.

Use of funds

Every single cent will be spent on gender affirming care for my sister. She will choose exactly where, when, and how. Even if I don't raise the full amount, anything given will mean so much to both of us.

Read more

Activity tracking

Time spent exercising: 23 hrs 24 mins
Total distance covered: 159.2 km

Latest activity

15km Long Run  24 May 2026

2 hrs 3 mins
15 km

15km at a conversational pace

View 26 more activities

Read more
2% Effective Fee
On average, fundraisers pay just 2% to use Givealittle. This is one of the lowest effective fees in New Zealand fundraising. We charge a 5% platform fee to cover the cost of running the platform. Because most donors choose to top up their donation to cover this fee, the effective cost paid by fundraisers is about 2%. That means around 98 cents of every dollar raised goes to the cause. Learn More

Latest donations

Robyn
Robyn 1 hour ago
$10
Sarah
Sarah 1 day ago
$50
Nimbus
Nimbus 3 days ago
$20
Tya
Tya 5 days ago
$17.40
Nicole
Nicole on 17 May 2026
$50

Who's involved?

Dale Nel's avatar
Created by, and paying to a verified bank account of, Dale Nel on behalf of Violet Winter, my sister
Page Moderated
The page has been checked by our team to make sure it complies with our terms and conditions.

Help Fundraise

You can create your own page to help fundraise for this cause.

Any concerns?

Report this page
This campaign started on 20 Sep 2025 and ends on 31 Dec 2026.