G'day,

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Little Heroes Foundation is excited to be taking another group over to the USA for the running of the 2022 New York Marathon. 

Our group will head over with the fantastic Anna Liptak and be a part of one of the best experiences of a lifetime.. 

Personally, it is something I never thought Id do. I have disliked running all of my life. I'm not good at it and it has been a need not a love , until now.

I have witnessed a wide variety of people run the 42km for LHF before and have marveled at their willpower. From Peter Clemente and Aggie Simeone , who both lost 42kg to run the 42km only for it to be cancelled for the first time in history .  They returned 12 months later to fulfill their dream. 

Graham Cornes ran the journey in just over 5 hours in his early 60's and has set me a challenge Im not sure I can complete, but Ill give it a crack. 

There have been many more.

As a group we run for the seriously ill children LHF support and has supported over our 26 years. It is a fundraiser that has served us well in the past and hopefully will continue to do so, this year and for many years to come.

We all have our own personal reasons to run. So we are serving two masters. 

For me the past 2 1/2 years have been a significant struggle.  I lost 2 toes on my right foot after being rushed into hospital for surgery following what I initially thought was just a poor attempt to cut my toe nails. I cut the skin on the end of my toe ever so slightly and opened the door to chaos. As a Type 1 Diabetic, an infection took over rapidly sending my blood sugar levels skyrocketing from a standard 6 to a dangerously high 38. By the time doctors took over, my foot was turning black and the infection was spreading rapidly. One surgery was followed quickly by another and then a month in hospital thru December 2019 hoping they had stopped the infection in its tracks and saved my foot.

Thankfully they did , but the journey had only just begun. Another 3 odd months off my foot, sitting in a chair playing the waiting game , interrupted only by another trip to hospital for a skin graft  Its now June 2021 and with the doctors giving me the green light to return to work I began to exercise. Well walk...... Slowly the miles increased. In fact very slowly,  but it gave me plenty of time to think. I dragged my kids to the gym but as they dropped off . I remained on the treadmill trying to rebuild a level of fitness. 

THE RUNNING BUG BIT! 

I managed a paltry 1km at my first attempt but slowly the distance increased. The pace was slow, 6km/hr at best but it was a start. Fast forward to today July 8th,  Im up to 14km , 3 times a week , at 8,5km/hr. The marathon record is not under threat but the journey is looking more and more possible..  Look out Stud ( Graham Cornes ) I've got your time in my sights. 

Thanks for reading and for any support or words of advice you may have for me and the team

All contributions, big or small are greatly appreciated.

Cheers McD.