I am fundraising for Bravehearts
I am participating in Bravehearts 777 Marathon Perth on Monday 30 June 2025. I am raising money for Bravehearts an Australian child protection organisation solely dedicated to the holistic and coordinated prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.
Did you know that 1 in 4 Australians have experienced child sexual abuse? Please donate to help fight this insidious crime.
My Updates
Choosing to succeed
Tuesday 29th Apr I think this is a great title, it goes to the heart of the message which is everyone can succeed in life. The degree of success may vary but we’re all human and watching other people succeed and believing that you too can also succeed in a passion, a hobby or even conquering our own struggles, will take you far in life. Ultimately how far you go, how high you reach will be up to you.In my recent training block I finally broke a 16 year personal best for a Half Marathon. It was a moment of personal triumph but the hard work went on behind the scenes.
I ran early mornings, late nights, in the middle of the day during the hottest days with no breeze. I ran in rain, headwind and especially on the days I didn’t want to.
I had setbacks.
Last year, 2 weeks prior to the Perth Marathon, I went for this PB in training, blew out my lower back, came agonisingly close to the PB (1 minute out) but then missed the Marathon and sat on the sidelines for 2 months whilst I healed.
But like an ant hill that’s been knocked over, I started to rebuild. I developed a new plan, worked out where I went wrong, adjusted my fueling, hydration, training plans.
My times got better and I felt stronger. My stretching and rehab was on point.
On Sunday, I had that feeling, I knew it was the day and I set out to finally break that PB.
It wasn’t easy, I took it km by km and when I struggled I reminded myself I was on my target time and I’d trained for this. My self talk was constantly reminding me that I knew what I was doing, to stick to the plan and when I was 3/4 in and slightly ahead of target, that I’d never have a better opportunity than now to succeed.
I did!
1 hour 47 minutes and 10 seconds.
46 year old me beat 30 year old me by 38 seconds!!!
It may not be the fastest time, a lot of people are faster, it doesn’t matter, THIS was MY race and I chose to succeed for me!
Success in anything requires change.
To achieve something you haven’t before ultimately means you have to change, you have to grow and evolve.
Change is hard, it’s why most people don’t -
It’s a difficult process.
In those respects, the difficulties abused children will face in overcoming horrific experiences is similar. It is a struggle, it will be hard, harder than nearly any of us will ever realise.
The 777 Marathon in some ways is a reflection of that struggle in the form of running. You have support teams, you develop plans and strategies but at the end of the day it is up to the individual to overcome and succeed.
Success in running is one thing but succeeding in overcoming abuse and embracing your wonderful self again is one of the greatest challenges.
When I have to dig deep, I remind myself that my struggles in that moment, whilst hard, is no where near as hard as it is for those kids, and that gives me strength to continue.
For any child or parent that’s struggling, I know it’s a hard road, one of the hardest but keep going. You deserve to succeed and thrive. Life can be great again ultimately if you choose it to be!
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Thank you to my Sponsors
$106.12
David Airey
$54.12
Amanda Streitberg
Happy to get the ball rolling on this one!! Well done to your team on dedicating themselves to a very important cause!
$54.12
Best Wishes Drew