Congratulations to our fundraising hero for this week, Suze, who has completed her third year of running challenges raising funds for Shake It Up. Over the past three years, Suze has challenged herself to run 130m in 14 days, a 45km ultra marathon in the Blue Mountains, and now to run 19 City2Surf distances in 19 days. Her fundraising tally has now tipped over $20k, making the total funds raised for Parkinson’s research as $21,853. Incredible efforts by Suze and her team of supporters!
We chatted with Suze to hear more about this year’s challenge.
How did you come up with the idea for this year’s challenge?
My Dad was a runner and since moving from the UK in his 20’s and before he got diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease he completed 19 City to Surf races in Sydney. My fundraising was 19 days of runs of the same distance (14km) in honour of my Dad. I always like to pick a physical challenge that is somehow linked with my Dad and his journey.
How did the challenge go?
The challenge was my toughest yet as I hadn’t put in as much running training as I had in previous years but as always I’m surprised at just what our bodies can do when they have to. The first couple of weeks were manageable but the final week of runs became difficult as my body was getting so fatigued. I was also getting tired from completing most of my runs at very early morning times of 4 or 5am in order to be able to fit them into my day. Despite all of this though, I loved the experience and it is always so satisfying to be able to support a charity that is important to me and at the same time be proud of the physical challenge I have been able to push my body through.
What have you learned looking back on the past 3 years of fundraising for Shake It Up?
I complete a challenge each year because I want to do what some others can’t and what my Dad would have loved to have been able to do once his body started to fail him. Every time I do a new fundraiser I learn that our bodies are far more capable than we ever give them credit for and when we really want to do something our minds can push through what seems like an impossible challenge. I’m reminded every year of just how thankful I can be to have a healthy body that can complete these challenges. I’ve also learnt that people will step up and support you when they know something is meaningful to you as has been shown with the over $21k I have been able to raise over the past 3 years.
Could you fundraise for Parkinson’s? 100% of the funds you raise will go directly to cutting-edge Australian Parkinson’s research. Find out more and make a difference.
