Mon's Marathon Mission for Family Works

I'm lucky enough to work for Presbyterian Support East Coast as the Communications Manager (I do the fun stuff!).

I hear daily of the arduous work our Family Works social workers and counsellors do for victims of family violence, child abuse and mental illness. I also hear their struggles and frustrations with lack of funds. Being a charitable organisation there is always a shortfall we have to raise each year.

I'm inspired to raise money for this worthy service by running the Auckland Marathon on Sunday, 28 October. I committed to raising $100 per kilometre – that’s $100 x 42 kilometres =$4,200.

However, if I can raise $5,000 it will give 10 more children access to much-needed counselling and social work.

- Children who have lost a family member and are grieving

- Children who’ve witnessed a family member being beaten or abused

- Children who are victims of abuse

My story:

I’ve always loved running. I started off running a few kilometres to get back into shape as a teenager and then, I suppose you could say, I got the running bug. It’s a good challenge and the runner’s high gets me every time.

I’ve run four half marathons in my lifetime – after completing my first 12 years ago, I added a full marathon to my bucket list. It’s been at the back of my mind but knee injuries kept holding me back, until I actually never thought I’d tick that marathon off my list.

Then I got married, had two beautiful boys, got older, got wiser (slightly), and while running with no particular goal in mind I began yoga to keep my knee injuries at bay. That has made the world of difference and I went on to do my most recent half marathon in May and ran my best time.

Two weeks after that run, my mum passed away after a long, brave and horrendous battle with cancer. She was 66. That changed my perspective on everything. Life really is short and you don’t know what’s around the corner – so I signed up to do the marathon. Because if I don’t do it now, when will I? I’m fit and healthy so I’m making the most of my time while I can.

Being a mum and lucky to have a close-knit family, I can’t help but have a heavy heart for those poor families and children going through hard times due to reasons out of their control. So I thought, if I can make a small difference and give 10 more children access to much needed help, then lets do it!

So there you have it, I’m committed to raising $5,000! I would be ever so grateful for your support. Every dollar helps. Please donate today!