Half Marathon for Macmillan...and Mum
The Edwards Family is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support
Story
Thai people never walk anywhere. For one thing, it’s too hot, and for another, why walk when you can ride a motorbike? I agree entirely. Which is why there has been much amusement in Chiang Mai of late, as locals gaze, open-mouthed and bewildered, at the small foreign girl who runs around the streets in both the 35 degree heat of the hot season and the wild monsoon rain of the wet season. Add to this the beeping cars, the shouts and waves, the holes in the pavement to disappear down, the stray dogs to fight off and the sweet aroma of thai street food to resist, and you have a ridiculous notion.
Or perhaps not.
October will mark the one year anniversary since our Mum passed away, after an amazing three-year fight against ovarian cancer. She is the reason we encountered Macmillan, and she is the motivation for me to be training on streets where no man has ever run before. To have known and experienced her battle so intimately over the last three years was the greatest of privileges, and to witness such immense faith, courage, humility, and selfless loving has had a profound effect on me, and all the family. Her legacy will surely endure forever in us, and ultimately surpasses all the pain and suffering that came before.
Macmillan were a massive support throughout those three years, and our nurse, Jennifer, was invaluable: someone to explain the uncertain, someone to say with earnestness, “call me when you need something”, and someone willing to walk alongside us, wherever the road may lead.
So these thirteen miles are for Macmillan, to say thanks, and also for our Mum: my role-model and my inspiration – and truly, the best mum in the world.
Catherine