Halfway There

Today marks the halfway point of my training, and I have to admit I am in much better shape than I thought I may be at this point, with 191 hours of training and 1,404 km’s in the legs.

It is only natural that I do a lot of thinking while out running, things like, what more can I do to raise funds, how can I get people to share my journey are common, but I also think about answers to all the questions I get asked.

A more recent one is ‘Why the Stillbirth Foundation’

That is an easy one….. It took me many years to find my voice, to feel confident in speaking out, to feel emotionally ready to cope with whatever that direction took and to learn to work around my introverted tendencies. You see, I did not receive the professional support I needed back in 2001 when I reached out for it, a counsellor was unavailable the day Tim called up. I never reached out again after that and remained silent on what was going on in my head.

So, when I knew I was finally ready, I looked at where I could fit, and from the moment I reached out to Stillbirth Foundation Australia I felt at home. They embraced me as they do all families touched by stillbirth, and shared my story of Celeste. Stillbirth Foundation Australia were founded in 2005, by a bereaved mother, on a mission to make a difference to others by funding researchers to establish new knowledge about stillbirth, the causes and prevention, and encouraging the transfer of this research into action.

Being involved with the Foundation these past years and becoming an Ambassador fills me with pride that and comfort, that I am not only honoring my daughter Celeste, but helping to drive the Foundation forward to make a difference to future families.

The Foundation is small, the board members are voluntary and they work hard to ensure research keeps progressing and that new ideas are given a chance to get off the ground by providing the funding to investigate. If this didn’t happen then what is already a health crisis would suffer even more.

I can guarantee that 100% of the funds raised from my run are going straight to the researchers to ensure we keep moving forward and learn new ways to reduce the incidence and impact of Stillbirth.

Thanks for reading xx