Kim's Marathon Fundraising

Me With My Inspiration = Anne (Mum) & Joanne (sister)

Crossing Finishing Line at Arthur's Half, Sep-09

Hi and thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

It's now 4 November and I'm told that I'm still walking oddly! My legs are tender and I daren't risk a run yet. But, guess what, I made it!! I saw my family's looks of glee as I approached that finishing line and I crossed it in 4:19:17. I was extremely pleased and relieved to see them and the finishing line and went from exhaustion to elation in a split second. What an experience.

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me and supported the Heart Foundation. Doing the run for a charity makes it so much more worthwhile and I recommend it to all runners.

I recall struggling in the latter part of the marathon and vowing never to put myself in that situation again, but I'm thinking more clearly now and am finding myself planning my training for the next one…. Thanks again for the support.

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I'm running the Adidas Auckland Marathon 2009, which is my first marathon. By donating to the HEART FOUNDATION (official charity for the event) you'll make my run a lot more worthwhile by helping a great cause to continue its vital work.

So please get behind the Heart Foundation by selecting the "Make a donation" button below and your donation will go directly to the Heart Foundation's bank account.

If you live in New Zealand your donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be issued.

Many thanks for your support.

Kim Murdoch

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Some sobering facts and statistics about heart disease below.

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Each day 16 New Zealanders die as a result of coronary heart disease. Many of these deaths are premature and preventable.

Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke & blood vessel disease) is the single leading cause of death in New Zealand. It causes 40 percent of all deaths annually in our country - making it more deadly than all forms of cancer.

The nature of who is affected by it is changing. New research shows that young adults in their 20s and 30s are being admitted to hospital for heart attacks more than ever before, and that this age group is dying at a faster rate than people of the same age in previous generations. Much of this change is due to unhealthy lifestyles - poor eating habits, lack of physical activity and being a smoker.

But the good news is that many risk factors for heart disease are preventable, if people make healthy lifestyle choices.