The Premmie Marathon Challenge

By Sophie Smith on October 1, 2020 in News

Happy Birthday, Boys! Photo: Sophie Smith

Despite all running events around the country having been put on hold this year, our charity, Running for Premature Babies, hasn’t been able to hit the ‘pause’ button. This year, even more than ever, our hospitals need our help, and, global pandemic or not, the 26,000 babies that will be born prematurely in Australia this year deserve the very best start possible.

That’s why we’ve gone virtual, with our second virtual event of the year, the Premmie Marathon Challenge, kicking off in November, and we’d love you to join us. Whether you are an elite marathon runner looking to notch up another marathon to your belt (and another shiny medal for your ‘bling’ collection) or you’re a couch potato wanting an excuse to get moving during November, this challenge is for you all!

With our Premmie Marathon Challenge you get to do it your way. First up, choose your timeframe – will you complete your 42 kilometre marathon in a day, a week, or a month? Next, choose how many segments you’re going to break your marathon up into. There’s no obligation to run either; simply track your kilometres through the month (or week, or day), complete 42 kilometres within your set time frame, and if you raise at least $50 for our charity we’ll send you a sparkly marathon medal.
Among the pack will be Randwick locals Casey and Scott (pictured), who have signed up to run their marathon in a month. They have a special reason to run, as their beautiful twins August and Oscar spent their first six weeks using lifesaving equipment donated by our charity when they were born ten weeks early. The boys are now looking forward to celebrating their first birthday, and their parents want to pay it forward so others can be as lucky as they have been.

Our goal is to gather a thousand participants from right around the country and raise $100,000 for state of the art lifesaving humidicribs for the Royal Hospital for Women and Alice Springs Hospital Neonatal Units, which will help save the lives of hundreds of sick and premature babies. Each year The Royal cares for a thousand premature babies from around our state and Alice cares for 350 babies who come from a massive 2.2 million square kilometre area, including babies from the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. 70 per cent of the babies they care for are Indigenous.

I am very proud that this charity, founded in memory of my own prematurely born triplets, is giving so many premature babies a better chance at life, and I can’t wait to see people from right around the country taking part in our latest virtual event.
Please lace up your runners for our Premmie Marathon Challenge this November. You can register at runningforprematurebabies.com or contact me for more information at sophie@runningforprematurebabies.com.