December 7, 2017

It was nice to arrive at the Sofitel last night and see my two boys, Corson and Callan. I had been missing them all week so this had been a moment that I had been looking forward to. We all then had a family dinner and off to bed for the 4 am wakeup call. It was good to be up and ready for the tuk tuk, which took us out to the start line for the Manulife Angkor Wat half marathon. I was exhausted but at the same time really excited to be part of the half marathon and to be finishing the final day of our challenge.

I eased into the run and it felt good to participate with so many runners. It felt unusual initially as we had been running for the best part of a week by ourselves. I saw Matt motoring past in the opposite direction as he made for home and I continued to push as hard as my body would allow. Despite the pain, the last 500 metres allowed me time to reflect on what has been a memorable and inspiring week where two good friends have pushed our boundaries so that we could raise funds for Temple Garden Foundation. A charity that we are both very passionate about given the incredible work that they do.

I thought of all of the funny moments, the tough moments, and also the moments where I simply felt on top of the world! I could feel myself starting to get emotional as I ran over the finish line in 1:59 with a big smile on my face and was welcomed by Erin, Matt and Kirst. We then mingled with everyone from TGF who had also ran in either the 10km race or half marathon, picked up our medals and enjoyed the moment of finishing our epic Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat Challenge.

We then headed back to the hotel to relax for the afternoon, and I’m looking forward to dinner with the TGF team to celebrate. This will be the perfect way to end what has been a memorable day.

Ferg