Where'd January go?
Partly into a time warp. Or so it was for me - both literally and metaphorically. The reason: I visited South Africa, my hometown, for six weeks after an absence of six years. And what a trip it was!
Not only did I get to visit friends and family and check out my old haunts, I got to meet new people and explore places I'd never visited when I lived in the country. I also visited the Western Cape projects of MaAfrikka Tikkun, the charity I was raising money for last month.
I decided that, with the magnitude of disaster in Queensland (and now Far North Queensland), I would hold back on asking Australians to donate to my challenge as I am sure, if they were lucky enough to not be personally affected by the mayhem, they'd be giving to one of the many crisis funds that were created. Of course, I still asked South Africans to support this wonderful cause, and set up a South African fundraising page!
The fun run itself, 15km on 8 January in Jeffrey's Bay, was great. We got off to a bit of a slow start as the mist was so thick the organisers had to postpone the start by 30 minutes for safety reasons. While the event (a common occurence for the participants) may have lacked in numbers compared to big ones like Sydney's annual City2Surf, it didn't in lack in enthusiasm. Boy, these guys take their running/walking seriously!
Being about a month into my holiday, and having not exercised formally in that time, I decided I'd join the few walkers at the back of the pack. I discovered they weren't your average walkers - they were speed walkers!
I spent the entire 15km way down the back with two lovely women who didn't want me to land up walking by myself, even though there were two guys in a tracking vehicle right behind me. They also said they were happy to take it easy as it was the first get-together of the year. Whether they were just saying this to make me feel better or not, it was very sweet of them to stick by my side. We finished in 135 minutes.
And, by the time we got back to the beach, it was still so misty you couldn't see the waves!
So what's next?
Well, I'm taking part in the very first Sun Run tomorrow from Dee Why to Manly. The 7km doesn't worry me too much (although it will, no doubt, on Sunday when I wake up), it's the 6.45am start that has me wincing just a little bit. Especially since it'll take me about an hour to get there. Ah well, it'll be beautiful once I get there, and it's for a good cause: Arthritis NSW's Summer Challenge.
Now there's a widespread disease - arthritis. Currently 1 in 5 Australians have it. I'm actually not sure if I know anyone who doesn't have 1 of the 120 types of it.
After having been bed-ridden for eight months years ago, I know what it's like to cope with chronic illness. Painful chronic illness. It's not pleasant. At all.
If you know what I'm talking about, please think about supporting my challenge and, through your donation, helping others learn more about their condition and how to make things easier. If you can spare a few dollars, please visit my fundraising page and do so: www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_67. It'll be active for a number of weeks.
Thanks.
Partly into a time warp. Or so it was for me - both literally and metaphorically. The reason: I visited South Africa, my hometown, for six weeks after an absence of six years. And what a trip it was!
Not only did I get to visit friends and family and check out my old haunts, I got to meet new people and explore places I'd never visited when I lived in the country. I also visited the Western Cape projects of MaAfrikka Tikkun, the charity I was raising money for last month.
I decided that, with the magnitude of disaster in Queensland (and now Far North Queensland), I would hold back on asking Australians to donate to my challenge as I am sure, if they were lucky enough to not be personally affected by the mayhem, they'd be giving to one of the many crisis funds that were created. Of course, I still asked South Africans to support this wonderful cause, and set up a South African fundraising page!
The fun run itself, 15km on 8 January in Jeffrey's Bay, was great. We got off to a bit of a slow start as the mist was so thick the organisers had to postpone the start by 30 minutes for safety reasons. While the event (a common occurence for the participants) may have lacked in numbers compared to big ones like Sydney's annual City2Surf, it didn't in lack in enthusiasm. Boy, these guys take their running/walking seriously!
Being about a month into my holiday, and having not exercised formally in that time, I decided I'd join the few walkers at the back of the pack. I discovered they weren't your average walkers - they were speed walkers!
I spent the entire 15km way down the back with two lovely women who didn't want me to land up walking by myself, even though there were two guys in a tracking vehicle right behind me. They also said they were happy to take it easy as it was the first get-together of the year. Whether they were just saying this to make me feel better or not, it was very sweet of them to stick by my side. We finished in 135 minutes.
And, by the time we got back to the beach, it was still so misty you couldn't see the waves!
So what's next?
Well, I'm taking part in the very first Sun Run tomorrow from Dee Why to Manly. The 7km doesn't worry me too much (although it will, no doubt, on Sunday when I wake up), it's the 6.45am start that has me wincing just a little bit. Especially since it'll take me about an hour to get there. Ah well, it'll be beautiful once I get there, and it's for a good cause: Arthritis NSW's Summer Challenge.
Now there's a widespread disease - arthritis. Currently 1 in 5 Australians have it. I'm actually not sure if I know anyone who doesn't have 1 of the 120 types of it.
After having been bed-ridden for eight months years ago, I know what it's like to cope with chronic illness. Painful chronic illness. It's not pleasant. At all.
If you know what I'm talking about, please think about supporting my challenge and, through your donation, helping others learn more about their condition and how to make things easier. If you can spare a few dollars, please visit my fundraising page and do so: www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_67. It'll be active for a number of weeks.
Thanks.
Have a look at some more race day photos.
And, if you'd like, have a look at some of my photos from MaAfrika Tikkun's projects in the townships of Mfuleni and Delft. I'll be blogging about the experience shortly.
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