By Tyler Wright
Cockatoo mum-of-two Ashley Woodrow has completed a 46-kilometre marathon in order to raise funds for a charity supporting premature babies.
In 2021, Ashley’s twins Ollie and Russell were born at 31 weeks and six days gestation after a difficult pregnancy.
It was discovered Russell had an un-diagnosed case of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) – a condition in which twins share unequal amounts of the placenta’s blood supply, thereby growing at different rates.
The twins spent time in the NICU at the Mercy Hospital for Women while receiving specialist care, with Ashley doing her bit to say ‘thank-you’ by running in the 2023 Cairns Marathon on Sunday 16 July with her sister Holly; all the while supporting the Running for Premature Babies Foundation.
“The marathon was really hard,” Ashley said.
“Cramps, and blisters and aches were some of the physical assaults we pushed through, but! Push through we did!”
Ashley smashed the run in five and half hours, with Holly taking the marathon home in six hours.
Ashley said she hopes the feat emphasises the “huge effort” it was to take the marathon on and finish.
“We were never going to quit or stop. We had way too much motivating us.
“Especially getting to see Ollie and Russell a few times as we lapped the spot they were cheering us on from.
“The boys also met us at the finish line which was really special. We are also super grateful to their grandparents for coming to support us and our partners.”
As of Friday 21 July, the sisters raised $6,407 for the charity as team ‘Mission Twinpossible’; smashing their original goal of $3,000.
“I cried only a little bit because it was pretty overwhelming running for over five hours and knowing this was it and so many months of training had been working towards this goal was finally complete,” Ashley said.
“I obviously saw every donation or word of encouragement as a personal showing of support too as we went through our own NICU journey which I am still processing in terms of what happened and what could have happened if we didn’t have specialist support or equipment.
“Seeing all the donations from friends, family and even some people who we don’t know personally is really what got me over the finish line.”
For Ashley, the marathon holds significance deeper than just a personal achievement.
“It’s an opportunity to set an example for Russell and Ollie and inspire them to embrace their own dreams and aspirations,” she said.
“Deciding to take on a marathon journey was ambitious to say the least. I wanted to challenge my physical and mental limits, prove to myself that I am capable of achieving bucket list goals, and demonstrate to my kids the power of setting ambitious goals…even if they don’t fully realise this until they’re much older.
“The fact that the boys now recognise when I’m out running by saying “Mummy running” – I’ll take that for now and work on the word marathon in years to come.”
A few days before the marathon, Ashley said Running for Premature Babies founder Sophie Smith told herself and Holly the pair had raised enough to fund a specialist neonatal ventilator for the NICU at the Monash Children’s Hospital.
“I cried when I read that email because it made everything so much more tangible,” she said.
“[Sophie’s] just incredible.”
Founded in 2006, the Running for Premature Babies Foundation has so far raised over $5 million for life saving neonatal equipment and funded research to solve the mysteries of prematurity and advance the care of premature babies for the future.
