BRENDAN Johnston was taken by surprise at school when actor Samuel Johnson rang. And so a whirlwind three weeks’ campaigning began.
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The Ballarat teacher’s marathon aim turned into a team effort with the Pelicans – those running/”waddling” for cancer research charity Love Your Sister – more than $37,000 in fundraising, and kind words from a stranger on course. Now it is becoming part of a bigger legacy.
Melbourne Marathon festival was last week, but the Pelicans continue to attract attention and already have plans to re-emerge next year.
Brendan had been “inching away” in training for a marathon since the summer and decided late to try and raise a couple of hundred dollars for a good cause. He was channel surfing when Ahn Do’s Brush with Fame came up and he listened to Samuel Johnson’s story and Love Your Sister campaign’s fight for cancer research.
A day after pledging his cause to the charity and setting up a fundraising page, Johnson was on the phone.
“He said ‘I can’t believe you’re running a marathon’ and I said, ‘I can’t believe you would ride a unicycle around Australia’,” Brendan said. “I can’t believe how everything fell into place. It was really incredible.”
Love Your Sister joined Brendan up with two more runners, who had been unsure how to best try and raise money for the cause. Johnson also decided to walk the 10-kilometre event.
From that point, Brendan’s initial $500 target exploded.
Brendan said it still felt surreal how he started with a small goal and just building on it with the help of others.
“I'm so proud that we were able to raise so much money and I finished my marathon, definitely not in a time that got me anywhere near the leaders, but I never trained to finish with a time in mind. All I wanted to do was finish,” Brendan said.
His small goal approach also inspired during the event. Late last week Brendan received a message, via event organisers, from a stranger he helped to finish the final two kilometres with a “one foot in front of the other” approach.
“...There is a lot of community spirit in a marathon, a lot of people out there trying to do good,” Brendan said.
The run comes about a month after Johnson’s sister Connie died with cancer. Brendan’s father also died of cancer. To donate to The Pelicans: melbournemarathon2017.gofundraise.com.au/page/deborahwarren0
