Lisa Laity is pounding the pavement in the name of charity as she takes on the Taupo Marathon next week raising money for the Starship Foundation.
“I’ve always wanted to run a marathon and despite doing a lot of half marathon events over the years, I’ve never plucked up the courage to go for the full 42 kilometres. It sort of feels like now or never and running for Starship has certainly pushed me along,” she says.
While Lisa and husband Jono have been fortunate neither of their two children have needed the services of Starship, they have friends and know of many others whose children have spent time there.
“Choosing to support Starship was a no brainer for me. The quality of care, services and facilities Starship provides for the 135,000 Kiwi kids that visit each year is world class and as parents we take real comfort in knowing such a place exists should our children need it,” she says.
Lisa says the support from friends and family and the wider Raglan community has been incredible with more than $5000 already raised via her Everydayhero fundraising page ahead of the event on August 2nd.
The Starship Foundation relies heavily on donations from across the country. This year they have some ambitious projects including the purchase of life-saving breathing support equipment for premature newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They also need to raise more than $1.5 million to keep their National Air Ambulance flying and their most ambitious project yet, to raise at least $10 million for a much-needed expansion to New Zealand’s only Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Less than two weeks out from the event Lisa is tapering off and focusing on plenty of stretch and mobility work from her Seed Pilates studio.
“I’m nervously excited. Taupo was my home for 28 years and there is nothing more beautiful than running along the shores of the lake with the snow-capped mountains in the background, it’s pretty breathtaking,” she says.
To donate head to: www.everydayhero.com/nz and search ‘Running for Starship’
Raglan Chronicle
