Shailer Park resident, Sharon Whittam, will join more than 27,000 runners at this year’s Gold Coast Airport Marathon
By Jasmine Rolfe
The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has a different significance for each entrant, as people from all ages and walks of life come together on the first weekend of July to push themselves and achieve their goals.
For some, the event will be for health and fitness and for others it may be a cause.
Sharon Whittam laces up her joggers in preparation for the ASICS Half Marathon on Sunday 2 July with Team Cancer Council Queensland.
For Shailer Park resident, Sharon Whittam, completing the ASICS Half Marathon on Sunday 2 July will be for a cause and one that is especially close to her heart.
Sharon will be running with Team Cancer Council Queensland to raise funds and awareness as her family, like so many others, has been torn by the disease.
Sadly, Sharon’s mum passed away in April last year from a brain tumour and her sister was diagnosed with stage 4 incurable lung cancer five months later.
“I have been sad and angry for quite a long time since I first found out about my mum but want to channel that into something positive and raise as much money as possible into cancer research,” Sharon said.
“So myself and my husband Jason set ourselves our biggest fitness challenge to date.”
The decision to register for the event wasn’t made lightly, as Sharon had never completed a half marathon before and wasn’t even a regular runner before entering.
The 46-year-old mother of three, spoke about what will be running through her mind when the gun fires to start the race.
“Nervousness, excitement, fear and can I actually do this?” Sharon said.
Despite her uncertainties, Sharon’s determination to honour her family outweighed her excuses and with the support of her husband and children, she has been pushing herself through training since.
Yet, running down the finish chute, hearing the crowd cheering, knowing she has reached her goal of finishing the half marathon with Team Cancer Council Queensland, may be the hardest part of the race for Sharon.
“I think this will be quite an emotional time for me,” Sharon said.
“I’ve thought about it a lot whilst out on my training runs.”
The community support and donations are Sharon’s motivations and believes that any publicity into cancer research can only be a good thing.
To support Sharon’s quest and Team Cancer Council Queensland, please visit Sharon’s fundraising page at:
27,000 runners will take part in the 2017 Gold Coast Airport Marathon.
The 39th annual Gold Coast Airport Marathon will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 July.
Set to attract more than 27,000 participants of all ages and abilities, this year’s race program will feature the Gold Coast Airport Marathon over 42.2km, Wheelchair Marathon, ASICS Half Marathon, Wheelchair 15km, Southern Cross University 10km Run, The Star Gold Coast 5.7km Challenge, Zespri 4km Junior Dash and Zespri 2km Junior Dash.
For the fourth year, the Gold Coast Airport Marathon has been awarded an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Road Race Gold Label.
RUNNERS. TAG YOUR PHOTOS WITH #GCM25