Movement

'Stillness is what creates love.  Movement is what creates life.  To be still and still moving - this is everything!'

DO HYUN CHOE

When we can be still within our movement, and yet move within our stillness - in some way this is how we can live with love.  For me movement is special - to be on my feet and moving.  Running is just one expression of this.  And in some way it is just a reflection of the movement of our lives .... the ebb and flow.....

And so a small note about my next challenge ....

Lizzy is to compete in the 85th Comrades Marathon - and 89 km ultra-distance road race in South Africa on 30th May.  She will be joined by four US athletes, also part of The North Face Global Athlete team.

The team hope to raise money and awareness for Starfish, a South African based chariy whose mission is to bring life, hope and opportunity to children orphaned and made vunerable by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The charity focuses on community-based organisations, and the team's fundraising will directly support orphaned and vunerable children in the town of Chesterville, visible from the race route.  The programme is called Vukukhanye, which means 'Arise and Shine' in Zulu, reflecting the people's optimistic hope for the community of Chesterville and also their country, the hope that they will arise and shine and be examples to the world.

Lizzy looks forward to the race as, "an incredible challenge, a unique opportunity and a truly special experience.  For our team, for every runner, every supporter, and the community of Chesterfield whom we hope to support, the race will become so much more than just a race - rather a journey of exploration within the greater journey of life."

www.firstgiving.com/tnf_comrades_starfish

The Comrades Marathon is arguably one of the greatest ultra marathons in the world - the oldest, and certainly the largest.  2010 is the 85th edition bringing together over 23000 runners from all over the world.  The 89 km (56 miles) route between Pietermaritzburg and Durban tests each competitor to his/her limit - both physically and mentally.

The marathon itself owes its beginnings to the vision of one man, World War I veteran Vic Clapham.  Fighting in the eastern savannahs of Africa during the Great War 1914-1918, witnessing the pain, agonies, death and hardships of his comrades left a lasting impressions. When peace came in 1918, Clapham felt those who had died should be remembered and honoured in a unique way, 'where an individual's physical frailties could be tested and overcome'.  Thus the Comrades Marathon was born as a living memorial to the spirit of the soldiers of the Great War.  the marathon 'spirit' is continued by all who take part and is described in the race constitution as, "a festival celebrating the triumph of mankind's spirit over adversity through a jubilee sports event".