A year of running for Frankie

• By: Laura Forster
• Short URL: http://www.backabuddy.co.za/laura

Personal message

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

I'm raising money to help Frankie Cawdry while she recovers from a horrific accident that occurred while she was out making sure that thousands of other runners could have a good time on a race.

I don't know her, but that split second that has changed her life could happen to any of us. I feel empathy for Frankie because like me she's an independant, self-employed woman who loves to run long races and go to wild places on her own two feet.

Except that right now, she can't , and I can.

So from July 2009 to August 2010 I'm dedicating my racing to raising money for rehab and physio, and all the mundane everyday things that a working woman has to take care of herself, because right now Frankie CAN'T take care of them herself.

I should clock up about 1000k, if I continue to be luckier than Frankie has been.

I'll look after my own entry fees and travelling, but if you guys will take care of the R, I'll take care of the K, and together let's see if I can trot R50/k for Frankie.

You can donate a lump sum,  or an amount per race, or whatever makes you happy. If you want to "pay per k" you can make an inital donation of say R10 or R20 and then donate the remainder after the race when you know how far I've run.

Or you can make your own page, hook it into Chiltern Frankie Cawdry Fund, get your takkies on and get going. It'll be all good for Frankie.

RESULTS!!!

Saturday 18 July: Rhodes was snowy (but lots of fun!!) I ran the 54k in 7h14, came 85th overall, 21st female and 8th veteran lady

Sunday 26th July: Extra event, the Talisman Pineapple 43k MTB race. This was a last minute decision and turned out to be quite a challenge! Whilst striving to avoid being last overall I came 2nd Lady, (admittedly out of a total entry of about 5 females) in 3h38. Surprise!! There was a lovely prize of a jacket, and R300 cash. So the cash went into the pot :-)

Saturday 1 August: Donkey Pass near Newcastle. Well this 24k started off on a mild but overcast morning but ended up as a wet and wild experience of note!! By the time I was running along the escarpment with maybe 8 or 9k to go the wind was howling and the rain was lashing, and I very much wished I had more than just shorts and a teeshirt on - as did most of the other runners. Luckily I had a hat and a buff or heat loss would have been even worse. I was very happy to finish and get out of the driving rain, and not too disappointed with precisely the same time as when I last ran it, 2 years ago: 4h14. Will have to wait for the results to come out to see where I placed - not amongst any prizes, alas. but it was a good solid run and a lesson in why we should carry a space blanket and a spare top EVERY time we go to play in the mountains.

Monday 10 August: Outeniqua Traverse. 38k What an awesome race!! Well done Garth Flores for making your dream of a wild and beautiful mountain run a reality to share with so many lucky people. I had a lovely time and was heading, with about 3k to go, for a reasonable finish around the seven and a half hour mark.

Alas, I became barn-bound downhill with too much enthusiasm and too little attention, resulting in a missed right turn. A couple of hours and maybe 10k later I managed (with the help of written street-by-street instructions from A Kind Resident, who found a sweaty, grubby and tired stranger standing disconsolately by the river bank at the bottom of their garden) to trudge through the genteel suburbs of George to the finish.

Didn't matter a bit in the end, it was all good training (hey, I need the road k's for Puffer!) and just a gentle reminder that it is a privilege to be able to get out there and enjoy the wild places, not to be taken for granted. So let's just move quickly past the issue of time and placing, and remember the glorious views and the smell of the fynbos, and making new chums and greeting old ones along the trail.

Saturday 22 August Puffer 80km. Wow, what a wonderful day this was!! Superb route, great people, stunning refreshment tables, perfect weather – this is what trail running is all about. I was very fortunate to link up with people who knew the way just at right time, every time, and so happy to share part of the day and an amazing experience with them. Having bailed off early in the race last year I was thrilled to bits to finish in just over 12 hours – or a year and 12 hours, depending how we view these things. 

Very much hoping to be back next year!!!

12 September Baviaanskloof 40km 

What can we say about the formidable organisational machine that is the Rhodes run Raubenheimers?  This inaugural run was seamlessly put together, allowing us to fully experience a little-known part of the country and even take a bit of it home with us. In addition to treasured memories of endless green-flanked rolling mountain tops, and the effort needed to get up there to enjoy them, the descent to the finish left treasured battled scars inflicted by every species of thorny thing known to the Baviaanskloof biome.  By way of a palliative, we received a tinned Spekboom (No thorns! Yay!) to take home and nurture, and remind us of a far-off place where rhino and buffalo still run free, and the day we were lucky enough to run with them.

October 4-10 Augrabies 240k

This was the big one! How many times in training with a heavy pack, picking my way down the wagon tracks, slogging up the last hill to my house, churning along the beach, did I think “Come on, do it for Frankie!  She’d love to be out here – get on with it!!”  Thanks Frankie, for giving me the motivation to put in all those training k’s. Every one of them paid off: I managed to come in 31 overall of over 70 starters, fourth woman, and knocking 11 hours off my 2006 time.  Knowing the struggle and continuing effort that Frankie is putting in every day, just to make each day count towards her recovery, really put things in perspective for me and kept me focused. Go Frankie!!

November 28/9 Sky Run 100k Alas, this one didn’t happen for me.  After Augrabies I was laid low by a tooth abscess that’s been bugging me on and off for almost a year.  Imagine! Undone by one tooth!  Pretty marginal compared to Frankie’s broken bones, head injuries, etc - she also lost most of her teeth in the accident, and I’m carping about losing one - under general anaesthetic, nogal! 

Anyway, six weeks later my training is finally back on track, and I’m nearly half way to my 1000km.  My sights are firmly set on Hell Run (80) in February, War Trail (56 run, 130 bike, 70 paddle), and Jakkalsdraai 12 hour trail circuit in April.

NEWS!!

Frankie reports in October:

Recovery is going to take quite some time. Everyone says I'm a miracle. I have some false teeth now for missing front upper and lower teeth. Told everyone I'm no longer 'Maria' from Cape Town (sorry, my sense of humor). The broken left and right back teeth have to be taken out sometime. After that, at the age of 52, I have to go my children's orthodontist to have my teeth straightened and realigned. Only have 2 teeth on the left that meet when I chew. Opening and moving my mouth is much better. Can open to nearly 2cm now! After a min of 10 months, depending on strength and weight gain, I have to have bone grafts to upper and lower jaw. The bone will come from jaw, if they can find enough there, otherwise from my hip. Then I will have teeth implants.

 My memory is slowly getting better. I got an sms today from a lady, Tamryn, who wanted to pop in. Knew her name, associated it with running. I tried for ages, before she arrived, to remember what she looked like and how and why I knew her. Then remembered her husband's name is Paul. Wow! Then finally it came to me. She, Lee (another friend) and I had run the whole of 2005 Comrades together!! We were all Chiltern AC members. She and Lee have both had 2 kids each since. Which is easier, having babies or running comrades? Had a very good giggle with her that I could not remember her name etc.

A friend has been walking with me twice a week. Am managing a very slow 3km. It takes about 45 minutes!

And in early November…

Thought I must let everyone know what a big, big day it was today. Finally I reached the big 40. The scale read 40,2 kg. Had supper last night at Lee and Kevin's house. Told her it was her lemon meringue pie and her Mom, Jos's, chicken dish.

XXX

Franks

Go girl!!

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate. Chiltern AC have set up and will administer the fund.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.

Ps.

Why Mid-July to Mid-July? Because one mid-July day about 8 years ago I avoided spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair by about a millimetre. So I run because I can walk, and I'm always aware of how lucky I am to be able to do that, especially in mid-July.