Ms Naomi completed her 100th day on her great adventure fundraiser on Monday. I had the immense pleasure (and pain as I discovered my knees are older than I thought!) of joining her to run my furthest distance, of more than 30km on Saturday. As I ran beside her she shared some amazing stories of the things she has seen, the kindness of strangers and the money she has raised for her Vietnamese charities. As I set off back to the airport, exhausted by my day, Naomi settled into her guest house to prepare to run a similar distance the following day, and the next and the next...
Our Aide Memoire statement says ‘I try my best and never give up’. Naomi never gives up EVERY day and in fact, as I got more tired on our single day together, she was the most supportive and encouraging I could have hoped for, celebrating when I achieved my personal best distance, celebrating when we went through the half marathon distance and ready with a massive high five when we reached our final destination of the day at 30.3km. She really shows what it means to be a Global Citizen - literally taking (running) steps to improve the world – her website tells us she is ‘Running to Make a Change’ - and on Saturday she showed the attribute of Learning Together as she helped me work as part of her team.
Other BIS teachers who, inspired and encouraged by her, achieved their personal bests are Ms Jude, going from her previous 5km to 24 km, Mr Ian who went from 16km to 33km, Ms Ellie who went from her previous PB distance of 21km (half Marathon) to completing 24km on one day and 18km on the next day; Ms Jules who came to offer support when she was injured; and Ms Fiorella and Ms Sarah who always embody the spirit of perseverance in the running challenges they embrace.
Early in her run, Naomi got injured but used her recovery period to volunteer at Blue Dragon, one of the charities she is supporting, easily demonstrating our Care attribute. Ms Naomi is showing our attribute of Reflection as she reflects on where she fits into the wider world, and finally, she is showing the attribute of Enquiry as she is being a brave talker by having to communicate as much as she can in Vietnamese, learning lots as she progresses.
So to celebrate her achievement of 100 days on the road I thought I’d present some key numbers from her mission;
- #of kilometres run – 1267km
- # of mountain passes – 5 including the famous Hai Van pass
- # of banh mi eaten – probably more than 50
- # of Choco-pies eaten – probably more than 200
- # of cash raised - $14,346 or VND 33,253,961
- # of BIS (and former BIS) teachers visited to run with her – 8
- # of visitors in total to run with her – 28 – mix of Vietnamese running community; from Hanoi and HCMC, others she has met on the way, 1 from BVIS
- # of positive attitudes – 100%
Do check in to read her weekly blog. It’s absolutely inspiring!
https://namrunsnam.com/