Fancy Footwork...Fun!

Vibrant community... I think so.

I was really hoping to write a post before Fancyfootwork for Hope Fun Run happened on the 19th January...mmm that didn't happen! There are seriously only so many hours in a day! haha and right now sleep is becoming somewhat of a priority.

I really wanted to share why, how and the results of my first grand scale (in my reality!) charity event. On my journey to Ironman I wanted to remain grounded and not let it totally consume me, so I decided early on that I would make this challenge bigger than me by choosing a charity to raise awareness and funds for.

Find out more about the beginnings of this adventure and the charity in my previous post, Bigger than me.

Along with raising funds and awareness for a unique cause, I wanted to create an event that would bring a vibrant community of people together, whilst being active. I'll let you in on a secret....I had no idea what I was doing, nor what I was getting myself into, but in order to make anything happen you have to put yourself and your idea out there! Before long I had rallied an amazing team around me and got the right people to see the possibility. 

Coffee - before, during and after... why not!

Registration on the day, nothing like last minute fun.

My initial conversations about hosting a fancy dress fun run were quite entertaining. Most responses were along the lines of, 'oh that's a nice idea' what they were really thinking, 'damn she's crazy and she wants me to help her out.... as if this is going to float!' Well that's what I put together from the tone of their voices :)

However once I secured the venue, Woodleigh School, got public liability and created a logo, flyer and online registration page, people were getting the jist that my team and I ment business! Before long we were in the local Leader paper and on the local airwaves RPP FM; I stuck to my word and made it happened! 

Now that's a fancy start line :)

I set my sights high: 200 people and $5500 raised! 

Our morning resulted in 60 people dressing up and galavanting past the sheep and kangaroos around the gorgeous course, and we raised an awesome $2,350 for Send Hope not Flowers!

Nothing ever 'Grand' happens when you stand alone....
this was the amazing team behind an amazing morning!

Yep I could have been down hearted with this result after setting myself such a big goal but where would that lead me? Instead I stayed in the possibility of a vibrant community whether that be 10 or 100 and for that we had an amazing morning. This whole event was beyond my wild dreams just 6 months ago. However with the support of the community, our sponsors: Woodleigh School, Trispecify, Mornington Peninsula Magazine, Lilly Belle, King Creek Hotel, Hydralyte, I Do Aircon, Coles, Main Street Mornington, and C Max Communication and a superstar team of 14 friends and family who took ownership of the event. This resulted in the transformation of a crazy possibility to an incredible reality.

We also want to make a huge shout out to Lucy and Nathan from Fraklin Coffee and thier adorable caravan for donating their Sunday morning, Daniel Wormell from Calibre Entertainment for supplying the mornings soundtrack, Start to Finish for donating an impressive Gantry and Tully's fresh fruits for donating copious amouts of oranges and apples!!

This is what it's all about, puts such a smile on my face.

It going to happen again, bigger and better! So keep and eye out for us Fancy Footwork for Hope and get your thinking caps on!! Again we couldn't have done it with out our incredible sponsors who believed in us from the get go! 

Xx

Bigger than me

To keep things in perspective, I'm making my journey to Ironman bigger than me. It's safe to say that by committing to a challenge as big as this, it can be so easy to let it become all about you. The training, nutrition, sleep and planning can soon become what your world revolves around. I want to try my best to keep this in balance (wish me luck!) and at the same time leverage off it to help raise money for a cause that captured my attention.


The super six.

Up Up Up, Down Down Down, the climbs felt never ending!

Earlier this year in June, Lill's and I set off on a different kind of challenge, Kokoda. As testing as some of the climbs we conquered and as rugged as the terrain we crossed, we had a blast. It was on this trip that I first heard about Dr Barry Kirby. I was amazed by his efforts in Papua New Guinea to reduce the mortality rate in women during or after childbirth. Being pregnant in PNG instantly places women at a risk up to 240 times greater of dying in childbirth compared to here in Australia. Most cases are from complications that are entirely avoidable. 


The children in the villages were adorable...

Dr Kirby, previously a trades man, witnessed such an preventable death in 1990 and since then has transformed his life in order to aid others by becoming an obstetrician. He has been building initiatives to improve the care given in medical centres, along side creating incentives for women to travel from remote villages to have supervised deliveries. What a simple intervention.

For something that is so common and celebrated here at home, it shocked me that childbirth can become a life or death scenario all too often in country that is practically on our doorstep.

I am in the process of working with Send Hope, Not Flowers, to create a direct debit link from their webpage, however in the mean time I am taking cash donations or contact me via facebook message. 

To find out more about the organisation:
www.sendhope.org 

For more info on Dr Barry Kirby and his cause:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/a-builders-labour/story-e6frg8h6-1226613133623