Marathon effort for cancer research

Daniel Nestor will run his first marathon this month, mindful of a special cause

IT’S been 10 years since the McGrath Ballarat Director, Daniel Nestor, lost his mother, Cheryl to breast cancer. Now, he’s ready to hit the Sydney Running Festival, using his 42km event as an opportunity to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

“When I saw I could combine my training with some fundraising, I thought why not?” he said.

“It’s an ideal opportunity this year. I’m there, I’m committed, I might as well link up with a charity, and what better charity than one close to my heart?

“I lost my mum in 2009, and I did a little bit of fundraising for the first 12 months, but I feel like I haven’t done enough of what I would consider my bit, to keep the funds rolling in to tackle research.”

The Sydney event allows Mr Nestor to get away, experience a different city and run a course he’s never done before.

“I’ve never run over the bridge, which from all reports, is a great experience,” he said. “It’s a little bit more of a testing course, more undulating than Melbourne with a few more hills and short bursts, so it will keep it interesting.”

Getting more serious with his running last year, Mr Nestor joined local group, Evolution Runners.

“I’ve always believed in having three things in life. I think you have your work life, family life at home and then something else where you can escape from both of those things. Running has been my third thing,” he said.

“Last year I did a couple of half marathons, and through the motivation of the group and seeing other people achieve their goals, running full marathons, I thought I would tackle one.”

Over the last 12 weeks, training has been rigorous.

“I’ve treated it quite seriously. I’ve had to make sure that my training’s been on point,” he said.

“I’ve certainly been up before the sun’s risen and my two daughters have risen, and I generally get home just as they’re waking up in the morning.”

With family front of mind, Mr Nestor said his mother would be proud of him and the initiative.

“I have no doubt she would have been there, if she was here. She never got weighed down in the downs of life, and that’s probably typified by her battle to the end.

“There’s certainly been ups and downs, but more than anything, mum would have celebrated the ups,” he said.

“She was never scared of death, she was always ‘what will be will be.’ That’s one of the traits I’ve taken from mum, for sure.”

Every time any person has an opportunity to make a difference to his cause, and others, Mr Nestor said they should grab it.

“The stats still say that three thousand women lose their lives every year to breast cancer.

“The goal is to achieve zero deaths by 2030, and if we all did our little bit in some way, shape or form, we could certainly contribute to achieving that goal,” he said.

Head to bsrf.grassrootz.com/nbcf/daniel-nestor to support the fundraiser.