My Majestic Marathon for Marvellous Marine Mammals

Earlier this week, I answered some questions for WWF for an article they are writing about me for their supporter magazine. In lieu of writing a blog post, I thought I'd copy and paste their questions and my answers here :) Q: Can you tell me a little about yourself - what do you do, what are your interests? A: I am a PhD student in the School of Psychology at The University of Auckland. My thesis examines the processes by which a) secondary schools become more environmentally sustainable and b) youth become more effective change agents for sustainability. As part of this, my research team has worked in collaboration with Western Springs College for the past 6 years to help the school achieve a goal of embedding sustainability into all areas of school life. I have also helped Auckland Council evaluate one of their youth programmes ? Make A Difference (MAD) ? which mentors youth to take environmental action in their personal lives, schools, local communities, and beyond. So Ifm very interested in youth leadership and empowerment, and how we can transform people and organisations to care for and preserve the natural world. Ifm also into filmmaking, cycling, yoga, mindfulness meditation, and playing cheesy piano music. Q: Why did you decide to run the marathon? A: I signed up on a whim actually! I have done a marathon before ? five years ago ? so it wasnft a completely bizarre decision. But when I signed up, I hadnft been on a run for months. So I guess it was a way to motivate me to get back into it. My last marathon was a personal challenge, and this one will certainly be too, but I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something a bit more significant with it. Q: How is your training going? A: Training is going quite well actually. Ifm building up to longer distances on the weekends and finding it quite satisfying. I find once you reach a certain level of fitness running starts to feel more like walking, and you can get into a really nice rhythm and headspace. In saying that, every single run I go on is a mixed bag ? phases of sheer joy and contentment, and phases of utter tedium and irritation! But the ups and downs remind me of the impermanence of everything. Whatever the feeling, it will pass. Ifm also really grateful to have an extremely reliable running buddy who motivates me and makes the time pass more quickly. Q: Why do you think it's important to fundraise when doing something like this? A: I think itfs important to fundraise for a few reasons. Firstly, it elevates the importance of the event for you, the fundraiser. It turns it into a more meaningful venture, and inspires you to keep going when the going gets tough. Secondly, it gives your friends, family, and wider social network an opportunity to be inspired, to learn about important issues and to contribute to a broader community of action. Q: Why did you want to fundraise for WWF? A: A couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to fundraise for a charity that campaigns to protect Mauifs dolphins. I am appalled that the New Zealand government is not doing more to prevent these gorgeous, innocent creatures from becoming extinct. So I want to help fund WWF to continue their work in mobilising people from all sectors to care for these dolphins and take action. Secondly, I also have a lot of respect for WWF. Through my PhD research Ifve come across a number of incredibly compelling pieces written by WWF-UK change strategists such as Tom Crompton and Tim Kasser. So I can see that WWF is well-versed in the complex aspects of human identity, as well as the potential pitfalls of conventional approaches to environmental communication and campaigning. As a psychology student, I hope that in the future I can contribute more than funds to WWF :)