In the shadow of Alpine granite and along dumpster-lined alleys: that’s where little efforts are played out.

I run. I’ve written about it here, many times. I’ve seen parts of cities and lands and communities I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for running. I’ve run when I’ve had little else to do, I’ve run when I’ve had too much to do, I’ve run when numb with sadness and I’ve run when my legs felt like they’d lift from the earth with kaleidoscopic joy.

Then, in late May, I started running a total of 42.2km or more a week and I put a label on it: amarathonaweek.com. The idea was to run a marathon’s worth of miles each week, building up to the mighty Sydney Marathon on 17th September, and, along the way, raise funds to support those living with frontotemporal dementia, the disease that ended my mother’s life in 2020.

So, I ran. And I kept running. I posted about it on social media and I told stories about my mother and I spoke with FTD advocates and I shared photos of my family and I tried to get word of rare and early-onset dementias out into the world.

And, somehow, I raised more than $12,600 for the Australian Frontotemporal Dementia Association.

It caught me unawares, the inflow of support, well-wishes and sheer energy-giving positivity. I’m grateful to the bottom of my battered toes and I am now feeling the responsibility to keep going, adding where and I when I can to a growing awareness of dementia beyond Alzheimer’s. Dementia is all around us.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated, you put a spring in every of my many steps.

–My donation page is here, my marathon Insta is here and my marathon site is here.–