Starship Foundation CEO Andrew Young is pounding the streets for Starship kids – but this year, he's doing it in New York.

 

Andrew, a Mt Eden father of three, is taking part in the New York Marathon on 1^st November – and he is asking friends, family and Starship supporters to donate to his marathon effort by sponsoring his run at www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ayoung.

 

“It's my very public mid-life crisis,” says Andrew. “I figure if I'm going to attempt my first marathon in honour of Starship, it might as well be in the Big Apple to be witnessed by millions of encouraging onlookers.”

 

Andrew will be running with friend and Starship supporter Vikki Maclean (see www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/.vikkimaclean). Starship is dear to Vikki, a mother of two from Remuera. When she was pregnant with her first son Angus, she contracted Rhesus disease – and this had a knock on effect with subsequent pregnancies. When she was pregnant with her second son Ollie, he was at risk of dying in the womb, so his first blood transfusion was before he was even born when Vikki was 30 weeks pregnant. He was induced at 32 weeks after a second blood transfusion and had a series of blood transfusions for a year after that. All this happened when Vikki was living in Scotland. But five years ago, she moved to New Zealand and quickly learned that Starship Hospital performs these sorts of lifesaving procedures every day.

 

“I was a complete basket case during that year and I have a lot of people to thank for their support, kindness and friendship. It was a difficult journey and many parents have tougher journeys than ours to travel,” says Vikki. “Ollie is now a happy, healthy and determined 11 year-old. We couldn't imagine our life without him and for every step of the marathon, I'll be thinking of him and all other children like him, whose lives depend on the expert care and services made possible at Starship.”

Lucy Lawless, Starship Foundation ambassador and board trustee, has been joining Andrew and Vikki on some training runs to help keep their motivation and spirits high. She's also generously sponsored both Andrew and Vikki via their fundraiseonline web pages.

 

Lucy Lawless's fans have been generous too – and one donor in particular was motivated by the fact she had been born with a crippling illness and couldn't walk, let alone run, so was inspired by Andrew's efforts.

 

“If I felt tired or wanted to stop running I'd just thank my lucky stars that at least I had the simple gift of putting one foot in front of the other,” says Andrew.

 

“And because Lucy's a mate, she helps keep me motivated. I've found training for a marathon a thousand times harder than training for a half – its hard yakka and there are lots of times when it tests everything you've got inside. And who wouldn't want to run with Lucy Lawless? Sure beats running with my evil coach who is always yelling at me to “go hard” through my speed work, hill reps and long distance slogs. I'm not prone to violence, but sometimes I have very nasty thoughts about him – but I know his intentions are all good and that I will thank him when I cross that finish line, hopefully.”

 

Andrew has been running for many years, including two Auckland half marathons in 2006 and 2009. He is delighted to have raised more than $20,000 in donations so far for his 2009 Marathon, but has set his sights higher, with a target of raising at least $25,000 before he heads off to New York at the end of October.

 

“Every step I take on this marathon is for the children at Starship. I am so humbled and grateful for the generous donations people are making. Vikki and I might be sweating it out in New York and pushing ourselves to the limit, but the real heroes here are the children at Starship and the amazingly generous people who donate to help pay for lifesaving care and equipment for these kids.”

 

Other supporters of Andrew's and Vikki's marathon include long-time Starship sponsor, Air New Zealand, for getting Vikki and Andrew to the USA and to Icebreaker for the very hi-tech and comfortable training gear. Thanks also go to Vikki's trainer Simone Rank at Resolution Fitness, Genesis Gym, Dean Geddes, Carole Mills from Travel Managers Ltd, and Jeremy Wong from Ellerslie Eyecare.