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‘ Ripple effects ’
20-year-old Hailee Pickering before she started the 42km race at Sydney Marathon . Image : supplied
Reason one young woman ran the Sydney Marathon
By Erin Morley
With the temperature hitting 32 degrees , 17,000 people took to the city ’ s streets on 17 September to run 42.195km in the Sydney Marathon , including one eager 20-year-old from Wollongong , who set her mind to raising money for Dementia Australia .
Participants ran over the Sydney Harbour Bridge , around Darling Harbour , down to Centennial Park and through the Royal Botanic Gardens , finally crossing the finish line at the Sydney Opera House .
Hailee Pickering raised over $ 1000 for research into the disease and trained for four months , running a total of 600 km , to ready herself for the race while juggling university and part-time work at her local café . Throughout her training , Ms Pickering posted her progress on social media for her donors to keep up with , reporting her record for the most kilometres run in a month to be August , where she racked up 210 kilometres .
Ms Pickering ’ s family is directly affected by dementia with her grandmother , Jean , diagnosed with the condition . This motivated her to dedicate her training to raising money for further research on the disease .
“ My grandma was diagnosed years ago and it ’ s hard to remember a time when it didn ’ t affect her life ,” she told Aged Care Insite .
“ People with family members with this disease will understand the emotional toll of having a loved one forget you , and watching a loved one be forgotten ,” she said .
“ The ripple effects of this disease are humbling and I really hope there is a time it can be seen less .”
Ms Pickering ran the marathon , cheered on by family who followed her around the track and flooded her with support .
This isn ’ t the first time Ms Pickering has raised money for charity , previously working with the Starlight Foundation and the World ’ s Greatest Shave .
The latter saw her shave her head in front of her peers at high school in 2019 , raising $ 7,000 for leukaemia research , enough to fully fund three months of laboratory costs to help find a cure for the cancer .
It ’ s estimated that 400,000 Australians are living with dementia , and Ms Pickering said this is reflected by its impacts in her circle .
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People with family members with this disease will understand the emotional toll of having a loved one forget you , and watching a loved one be forgotten
“ The most eye-opening part about raising money for dementia is realising the amount of people it effects ,” she said .
“ I ’ ve spoken to many people about the run or about the cause I ’ m running for , and almost all have had a parent or grandparent with dementia .
“ It ’ s awful to see how universal the feeling is and it ’ s so prevalent in today ’ s world .”
Ms Pickering told Aged Care Insite she is happy to combine her love for challenges and running with something close to her heart . “ I wanted to start marathon training because it felt like the final step in my running journey ,” she said .
“ I ’ ve always loved a challenge , and I enjoy doing things I don ’ t think I can achieve . Now that my training has finished I know it ’ s not the final step in my running journey , and I can confirm it won ’ t be my last marathon !” Ms Pickering is looking forward to entering the Port Stephens half-marathon in December , and hopes to run at least one fundraiser each year . ■
agedcareinsite . com . au 9