We are so excited to see all the race results being uploaded for the Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Virtual Marathon that now has over 5000 people set to complete their selected events. From this overwhelming support for the virtual event we will be sharing a virtual runners story each week throughout the month of July.

With thousands of virtual runners’ registrations piling in some reasons for running have really stood out to us. Tanya Hall is a 35 year old Digital Content Creator from Brisbane and her unique approach to finding motivation sparked our interest and we wanted to hear what her special ingredients were.

When asked what her motivation was to run the Gold Coast Virtual Marathon and her response was “cake and beer.” we had to dig a little deeper into this theory of hers….

Tanya completed her first marathon on the Gold Coast last year and says it was a “breakthrough moment” for her. “I was serious about my training and nutrition back then and it absolutely paid off. Now that I know I can do this epic thing, I’ve gained the confidence to just have fun with both running in general, and the Gold Coast Virtual Marathon event”

In the lead up to the 2020 Village Roadshow Theme Parks Marathon, Tanya had a weeklong holiday planned that was cancelled due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite the cancellation of her holiday she found new inspiration which would benefit both keeping active and the local community.

“After seeing local cafes suffer with the shut-down as well, I decided to spend each day of what would have been my inter-state holiday running in a different part of Brisbane. I’d then support a local café by buying a takeaway treat afterwards.”

From this Hall (aka Australian Foodie) created the hashtag #10kandtakeaway “I’ve kept up the hashtag on Instagram and Facebook because it’s so much fun running the different paths and streets of Brisbane to justify a locally made doughnut afterwards.”

They say that everyone has their own special reason as to why they run and Tanya is definitely no exception “Whenever I lace up my running shoes now I do so with a smile on my face, because I know they will invariably lead me to waffles.”

With the Gold Coast Virtual Marathon set to be completed one day in July we wanted to know where Tanya’s pitstops would be for the run. “Where won’t they be!?! Given this is 4 x #10kandtakeaway, I technically get to stop at 4 different cafés for a refuel. Specific pitstops to be determined on the quality of their baked goods. Numerous reconnaissance jogs have been rendered in June.”

Tanya, we wish you the best of luck for this year’s Gold Coast Virtual Marathon. We can’t wait to see some more delicious photos of your selected treats and cafes along the way.