2010 Comrades Marathon - The Ultimate Human Race

The 2010 Comrades Marathon is happening on Sun 30 May 2010. Just writing that makes me nervous. But the truth of it is that as a novice I don’t think you think you will ever be ready. You may or may not know the reasons why I am running this year’s race. My mom is losing the battle to breast cancer as I write this and I wanted to do something to make a difference to people fighting this horrible disease and also for the families of those who have lost a loved one to it. Breast cancer does not have to be terminal and if it is picked up early it is in most cases curable. I have decided to support the Pink Drive and to raise money for breast cancer awareness. I think they do a fabulous job. I’m not going to go into to much detail as to what they do but if you want to check them out go to http://www.pinkdrive.co.za

Running Comrades as part of the Comrades Marathon Associations celebrity challenge provides a great platform to raise money for the Pink Drive. We have set up an sms line that if you sms the word ‘run’ to 4 222 0 you will donate R30 to the Pink Drive. The other fundraising initiative we are running is the 89 Memories – One race initiative.  The Comrades Marathon is 89km and run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban and this year I will be running each kilometre for someone that is either fighting the battle against breast cancer or in memory of someone who has lost the battle to breast cancer.

That is where I need you come in. I need your help. I need 89 individuals, families or businesses to sponsor each one of those kilometres. Maybe a colleague is battling with breast cancer and you want to pass a hat around the office and sponsor a kilometre then I’ll run it for them. Maybe you’ve lost your wife, mother, daughter or niece to breast cancer; I would love to run a kilometre in their memory. I would obviously like to raise as much money as I can (I know I’m greedy but it is for a great cause) so I need to put a minimum amount on the sponsorship for a kilometre. I have decided to make it R100 but if you can afford to donate more it would be highly appreciated. Ideally I’d like to try and raise R89 000 – That is R1 000 per kilometre.  So if you can donate that please do and if you can do more we would obviously be massively grateful. I am running in Toyota’s colours this year and in return they have agreed to double whatever I raise. If you would like to sponsor a kilometre please send an email to 89memories@bradbrown.co.za I will also include your loved ones story and memory on my blog and a picture of them too. If you would like to sponsor a kilometre or just to make a donation to our 89 Memories initiative the Pink Drive Bank details are as follows:

Bank: Nedbank

Account Name: PinkDrive (Comrades)

Account Number: 1825 011 109

Branch Code: 182505

Branch Name: Clearwater Mall

Reference to use: 89 Memories & Your Name

If you are not in South Africa and would like to donate the Swift Code you would require is NEDSZAJJ

What I am also challenging you to do is make a list of 89 memories of the person you know. Whether they are fighting the disease and are going to beat it, if they, Iike my mom, are terminally ill or if they have lost the battle and passed away. It’s really tough to do. I know this because I’m putting together this list together for my mom.  It’s a very emotional process and in the build up to comrades keep checking back here or subscribe to my rss feed to see the memories I will always treasure of my mom. Even though she is still with us, I want her to know what I will always remember about her. Also if you would like to is send those 89 memories to me, I would love to post them on www.bradbrown.co.za

It is going to be a very emotional day and I want you to be a part of it. I will be tweeting my progress as well as updating my Facebook profile from the road. You can follow me on Twitter or on Facebook.