Features
Meet the Woman Running 2012 Miles in 2012
January 12, 2012 daz  |
Sarah Murray is aiming to run 2012 miles in 2012 in aid of Thrive, which helps children with special needs.
2012 will be the year that the Olympic Games finally comes to London, with athletes and supporters alike gearing themselves up for what should be a great festival of sporting excellence and participation.
For one Cardiff woman, however, 2012 will be spent completing her own Olympian challenge, as she aims to run 2012 miles throughout 2012.
Sarah Murray will be running the equivalent of 38 miles every week during the year to achieve this fantastic goal. That is nearly as much as running a full and a half marathon combined, and when the task is complete she will have travelled the equivalent of the distance from London to Cyprus. What makes this undertaking even more incredible is that two years ago Sarah was unable to walk most days due to a chronic back injury.
This huge challenge is all in an attempt to raise money for a local charity, Thrive, based in Cardiff. The charity helps children with special needs and their families and has been a cause close to Sarah’s heart since her son was diagnosed with learning difficulties.
Speaking to The Fresh Outlook, Sarah said: “I started going to Thrive eight years ago shortly after my son was diagnosed with learning difficulties.
“At the time I was isolated and cut off from any sort of social activity as Callum’s [Sarah’s son] difficulties and behaviour were intolerable to most people and I simply couldn’t take him anywhere.
“So when I started to go to Thrive sessions it was a huge relief and it has since become both mine and Callum’s lifeline. It has been a great source of support to us both, I have made many good friends and so has Callum. He has had experiences that he would never have been able to have if it wasn’t for Thrive and so I decided it was time to give something back.”
With the decision made to do something for the charity it was left to Sarah to find out what it was exactly that she could do to help. Her inspiration came in the form of another activity she had relied on though the trials and tribulations of everyday life: running.
“Running is the way I cope with the daily stresses of caring for Callum 24 hours a day, and quite simply if I didn’t have that as my release I wouldn’t like to say how I would cope with it day in day out.
“We decided that if I was going to embark on this major challenge it would have to have a focus, a goal that would capture people’s imagination and encourage them to sponsor me.
“So with 2012 being the Olympic year I decided to try and tie it all together and the concept of running 2012 miles in 2012 was born.”
Sarah will complete a number of events to help accomplish the challenge, including full and half marathons and special event runs for Valentines Day and Halloween. There will also be a range of special treadmill runs at her gym as well as the daily pounding of the streets of Cardiff.
She also aims to run in as many Welsh-based events as possible and has already entered Llanelli Half Marathon, Great Welsh Marathon and Snowdonia Marathon. There are also several more lined up with Sarah saying: “I am currently trawling through the race calendar to find other Welsh events that I can enter!”
The sponsorship money being raised is going to be put towards the cost of purchasing a holiday home for the charity to use. “We had always wanted a holiday home of some sort that the families could use for short breaks at a reduced rate,” says Sarah.
Sarah says that this would help many of the families who use the charity. “Many of our families cannot afford to go on holiday, or are worried about the accommodation being suitable, so the idea of owning our own, which could be adapted and in secure surroundings is something that we have always wanted to pursue,” she adds.
Her target is to raise the equivalent of £100 per mile, a total of £201,200. This would allow the group to purchase the property, located in West Wales, adapt it, furnish it and maintain it for the first year.
Sarah started her epic mission on New Year’s Day by running 26 miles from Cardiff Bay to Nantgarw and back. She was joined by WBO Welsh boxing champion Nathan Cleverly who ran the first and last mile of the day with her as a patron of Thrive. She hopes that friends, colleagues, sponsors and children will join her for the final mile on New Years Eve. “It will be quite a sight when I run that last mile across the barrage!” she laughs.
So far the challenge is going well. Having completed 208 miles throughout January, Sarah is well ahead of her first target. However, she knows that there will be times she may not be able to run due to injury, illness, or looking after Callum.
2012 is hopefully going to be a successful one for the sports men and women representing us at the Olympics, but it will also see the success of another test of human strength and endurance when Sarah finishes her 2012th mile and completes this incredible journey. “A year ago took my first tentative steps back by running once around the park,” says Sarah, “and here I am year later 200 miles into the greatest challenge of my life!”
To sponsor Sarah and to find out about more about her challenge and the charity Thrive, please visit thrivecardiff.org/2012in2012
By Jonathan Trickey
[Image courtesy of Sarah Murray]
