Project Blackjack

21x 21km off road half marathons over 21 weeks. Am looking for 100 GC’s (Good Citizens) to sponsor a dollar per half marathon for the Asthma and Respiratory Society.

I’ve been an asthmatic all my life. 56 years old now. My early memories are several annual trips to the children’s ward at Wellington Hospital. I started with Intel as the inhaler as a young person. All the normal meds (Alupent, Ventolin, Bricynal, Pulimcort) plus the occasional nebulisers. I grew up in an age / era when kids with asthma didn’t do sports. They stayed inside or did activities that didn’t require a lot of exertion. As an example – in third form of college it was easier to say to mum that I had detention for two evenings a week than say I had rugby practice. It was only after they came to my first game that they saw I could do it and allowed me to play. As I got older (and able to make my own decisions) I picked up a few sports. I’ve done the Coast to Coast multisport race twice (two dayer – not yet the single day), have competed in running (including ultra’s) road cycling, mountainbiking and kayaking events. For about six years I competed as part of a team in the New Zealand multi-day Adventure Racing series. We raced in Australia in their 10 day XPD event.

I’ve never been a great athlete. I have been a capable one. Occasionally (in terms of results) a surprising one. Mid pack for most major events. If I had let the (then) norm for handling asthmatics (lots of medicines, minimal exertion) I would never have had the fun and experiences that I have had. And the Asthma Foundation has been a key part of my personal journey – helping to change those attitudes about people with asthma as well as treating asthma better. So my being an asthmatic and running the 21 x 21km over 21 weeks is my way of showing that asthmatics can do this – and raise funds to continue the good work the Asthma Foundation is doing.