Women run 1 204km for cancer battle
Friends step up to raise awareness, funds
DESPITE running a mammoth estimated 1 204km over three weeks, best friends Belinda Davis and Sharon Jessop were beaming as they completed the Hi-5 Hope Run to raise awareness for alternative remedies for cancer as well as funds for education and assistance for sufferers.
Taking their final few steps accompanied by their support crew as well as 11 support runners who joined them for the last 3km, the pair received a loud ovation from a small crowd of people who gathered at Baywest Mall to greet them on Saturday.
Neither Davis nor Jessop showed any signs of fatigue as they warmly embraced friends and family, most of whom they last saw almost a month ago.
Speaking shortly after the finish, they said how relieved they were to have completed such an epic feat.
“I think I’m on a total adrenaline high at the moment as the endorphins are still pumping, but at the same time so happy, relieved and grateful for the amazing reception we got,” Jessop said.
Davis, who suffered with a knee issue from the second week, said the excitement of coming to the final stop had masked the pain she had been experiencing prior to the last leg.
“When I turned the corner, I was hit by many emotions.
“When I came around the corner [and] saw everybody, the pain was there but I did not think about it, and the emotion just set in,” Davis said.
Jessop and Davis began their epic journey a little over three weeks ago, on Septem- ber 17, with the first leg a 42.2km Cape Town Marathon.
From there, they ran an average of 57.5km a day, to an estimated 1 204km over the three-week journey.
They tackled the back routes, visiting a myriad little towns where they stopped off each night to rest before taking on the next day.
Visiting places like Stellenbosch, Struisbaai, and Bredasdorp, to name a few, both said they were taken aback by the reception of the people in the towns they visited.
“The very small towns stood out for me the most, especially those where there is only one shop and one restau- rant but there are just too many for me to pick a favourite,” Davis said.
Hashtagged with the slogan #cancerwillfall, the run, according to Jessop, was undertaken due to both of them having lost family members and friends affected by the disease.
“Both of us have lost parents to cancer, so we feel we can make a big difference by educating people and making sure they know what diet and treatment to follow, and what alternative treatments are available [to] chemotherapy and radiation,” she said.
The run was also a tool to raise funds for education purposes and to assist cancer patients to pay for their treatments, Jessop said.
The pair are yet to work out the exact distance each of them covered, but said they left it up to donors to decide how they would like to donate to the cause.
Michelle Sivewright, who joined them with about 21km to go, said it was absolutely amazing to be part of the run, and commended the support crew for all they had done to keep the women on the road.
Rushka Johnson, one of the directors of Your Health in Your Hands – the organisation under which the initiative was conducted, said she supported the initiative because of the work they did in raising awareness for alternative remedies for cancer.
‘ We feel we can make a big difference by educating people [about cancer]