2012 - 20 Marathons in 29 days across Italy
Rome. After the first marathon with my amazing wife Lidia, who ran, cycled, drove and did all the hard work to keep me healthy and moving.
My first OUTRUNCANCER event to raise money for cancer research and prevention.
This is where it all started. This is the challenge and the experience that changed my outlook to life and myself.
Completing the 20 marathons has convinced me that limits are only a product of our own minds and we can actually achieve anything we want given the right motivation.
I now believe we can become whoever we want to be - if we just genuinely try and don't give in to the urge of giving in.
When I lost my mum Lisetta to pancreatic cancer in 2011 I had not yet run a marathon, the furthest I ever got was a half. Right there and then I decided I would go back to Italy the following year and run a marathon in each of the 20 Italian regions, in 29 days, to honour her and raise AU$50,000 for cancer research.
I choose to run marathons because … it’s a bloody long distance but still something achievable by anyone who is committed enough. And I had the right motivation to get me to the finish line.
It was also the perfect parallel to cancer research, it doesn’t matter how far the finish line is – beating cancer – one step at the time, we will get there. And we can all get there.
I wanted to run in each region in Italy and raise money for an Australian charity, because in the same way cancer doesn’t look what nationality you are, if you are from south or from north, from Italy or Australia, our fight and research for a cure should be without boundary.
This is where it all started. This is the challenge and the experience that changed my outlook to life and myself.
Completing the 20 marathons has convinced me that limits are only a product of our own minds and we can actually achieve anything we want given the right motivation.
I now believe we can become whoever we want to be - if we just genuinely try and don't give in to the urge of giving in.
When I lost my mum Lisetta to pancreatic cancer in 2011 I had not yet run a marathon, the furthest I ever got was a half. Right there and then I decided I would go back to Italy the following year and run a marathon in each of the 20 Italian regions, in 29 days, to honour her and raise AU$50,000 for cancer research.
I choose to run marathons because … it’s a bloody long distance but still something achievable by anyone who is committed enough. And I had the right motivation to get me to the finish line.
It was also the perfect parallel to cancer research, it doesn’t matter how far the finish line is – beating cancer – one step at the time, we will get there. And we can all get there.
I wanted to run in each region in Italy and raise money for an Australian charity, because in the same way cancer doesn’t look what nationality you are, if you are from south or from north, from Italy or Australia, our fight and research for a cure should be without boundary.
With Terence at the finish of the last marathon in Milan. Terence flew in from Australia to join me for the last two marathon
This challenge opened a window on the limitless opportunities the world offers when you follow your passions and embrace your cause.
Ignorance is bliss. My lack of running experience meant I had no limiting beliefs to hold me back. In my mind I had a clear WHY I was running and that was all that mattered
THE STAGES
The OUTRUN CANCER marathons started on Sunday March 18th, 2012 with the Rome marathon and finished on Sunday April 15th 2012 with the Milan Marathon. The first and last run were official marathons while the remaining 18 were mapped by me and the distance tracked by my Garmin GPS watch. In a few occasions I ended up running further than the minimum 42.2km, never under.
My initial idea was to run 20 marathons in 20 days touching on all Italian regions. Only after working out the amount of self-driving involved, I extended the length to 29 days. And thank God for that decision. We ended up driving over 6,000km, 5 to 6 hours per day.
Some runs went smoothly and felt “easy”, others didn’t go so well. I got lost a few times, I ran out of food, water and energy on different occasions.
I battled the heat, the rain, the wind. I ran on busy roads, empty roads, trails and a bit of sand. Alone, with Lidia, with friends, family, and random people. Even with a lunatic dog that ran next to me for almost an hour before giving up. And any muscle that could hurt, did hurt at some stage. But I never ever doubted I could not make it to the end.
I woke up every day, with an energy and a positive attitude I didn’t even know I had. It was that feeling of doing something special, running for a cause bigger than myself.
Without a doubt, this was one of the best experiences of my life.
Ignorance is bliss. My lack of running experience meant I had no limiting beliefs to hold me back. In my mind I had a clear WHY I was running and that was all that mattered
THE STAGES
The OUTRUN CANCER marathons started on Sunday March 18th, 2012 with the Rome marathon and finished on Sunday April 15th 2012 with the Milan Marathon. The first and last run were official marathons while the remaining 18 were mapped by me and the distance tracked by my Garmin GPS watch. In a few occasions I ended up running further than the minimum 42.2km, never under.
My initial idea was to run 20 marathons in 20 days touching on all Italian regions. Only after working out the amount of self-driving involved, I extended the length to 29 days. And thank God for that decision. We ended up driving over 6,000km, 5 to 6 hours per day.
Some runs went smoothly and felt “easy”, others didn’t go so well. I got lost a few times, I ran out of food, water and energy on different occasions.
I battled the heat, the rain, the wind. I ran on busy roads, empty roads, trails and a bit of sand. Alone, with Lidia, with friends, family, and random people. Even with a lunatic dog that ran next to me for almost an hour before giving up. And any muscle that could hurt, did hurt at some stage. But I never ever doubted I could not make it to the end.
I woke up every day, with an energy and a positive attitude I didn’t even know I had. It was that feeling of doing something special, running for a cause bigger than myself.
Without a doubt, this was one of the best experiences of my life.
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#1: 18/03/2012 - Lazio - 4:19 - Blog
#2: 19/03/2012 - Sardegna - 4:35 - Blog #3: 21/03/2012 - Campania - 4:13 - Blog #4: 23/03/2012 - Basilicata - 4:22 - Blog #5: 24/03/2012 - Calabria - 4:17 - Blog #6: 25/03/2012 - Sicilia - 4:14 - Blog #7: 28/03/2012 - Puglia - 4:03 - Blog #8: 30/03/2012 - Molise - 4:06 - Blog #9: 31/03/2012 - Marche - 4:14 - Blog #10: 1/04/2012 - Abruzzo - 4:08 - Blog #11: 3/04/2012 - Umbria - 3:59 - Blog #12: 4/04/2012 - Toscana - 3:51 - Blog #13: 6/04/2012 - Liguria - 4:09 - Blog #14: 7/04/2012 - Piemonte - 4:12 - Blog #15: 8/04/2012 - Valle d'Aosta - 4:06 - Blog #16: 10/04/2012 - Trentino A.G. - 3:44 - Blog #17: 11/04/2012 - Friuli V.G. - 3:52 - Blog #18: 12/04/2012 - Emilia R. - 3:57 - Blog #19: 14/04/2012 - Veneto - 3:50 - Blog #20: 15/04/2012 - Lombardia - 3:15 - Blog |
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