“The last thing I expected when I rode through the gates at Salisbury was the emotion that rushed through me, hang on, shouldn’t I be happy?! Then why do I feel like crying?? Mostly I think it was the relief and the overwhelming realisation that I did it, I just completed 900kms on my bike, I said I would and I did!! If you had told me this 12 months ago I would have laughed at you…..

August 2011 I took my sister along to our first F!T F!X come and try session through my Weight watchers leader Sarah, we died and I swore I would never go back! The following Friday I was back….why? Im still not entirely sure, but there is something about getting through a session that makes you want to do it again, and again! In August I started doing PT sessions with Adam, I remember being nervous as hell for the first one, but left feeling great, and now feel lost if I miss one, Adam always makes sure we achieve something , wether its learning a new skill or beating a Personal Best, you always leave feeling good about yourself and what you do.

A few months ago Adam asked me to set some goals, I remember thinking why? Cant I just aim to be fit? However like usual he got me thinking (he gets in your head like that!) I was also asked again by a group of friends to join them on their Charity ride, they had asked me for the last 2 years but no way could I do something like that….or so I thought…. Before F!T F!X…no way…..but now, maybe I could? So I told Adam and like most things when I decide I am going to do them, well I have to do it don’t I?!

Before F!T F!X, I slept late, had no energy, I had quit netball because I felt uncomfortable out on the court and was slowly losing interest in it all. I never thought I could ever do the things I do now, I wasn’t a ‘sporty ‘ person, I had been big most my life.  I am now 20kg lighter, have more energy than I know what to do with most days, and it has to be something really important that keeps me away from a session!! I now do PT sessions, Kick Boxing, Group Sessions and Strength Training with Adam and love every minute of it. As a Mechanic it has also helped me immensely with my work, I can now do all the things I need to do without relying on the guys! The Atmosphere Adam  has created is awesome and the support you get and the friendships you make keep you going back for more!

All of this led me to 9days and 900km on my bike, with a certain trainers voice in my head going ‘BEL! What are you doing?’ everytime I started trying to talk myself out of it, it was tough, but then I got tougher and enjoyed every moment of it

So now I’m just left asking myself….Whats Next?!”

Bel can do anything that she puts her mind to, I contiune to challenge her with each session.
Her next challenge is FitWars a CrossFit competition held in Adelaide.

“My name is Brent Matthews and I am a baker at Gawler South bakery, when I am not baking or running around the country as a sales representative for the business I always find time to fundraise for the Cancer Council of SA. This has been a past time of mine for the past seven years and I guess you would say it has now become a passion of mine as I live and breathe fundraising for this wonderful charity. How did this all start I guess you are asking yourself, well just over eight years ago I heard a radio add asking for teams to join the Adelaide Relay for Life, a Cancer Council Event held at Santos Stadium in which teams had to keep their baton moving for 20 hours. At the same time my pop was battling bone cancer so I thought I could get a team and fundraise a little and give it a go, well I managed to scrape a team of the minimum requirement of 10 and we raised $1000, not a bad effort for a team who registered only three months before the event. Well we had that much fun we entered the next year and raised $2000, from then our friends and families wanted to join our fun and we had a team of twenty and raised $5000, from then it expanded and the next year we raised $10,000, the following year my goal was to raise the most at the event and we raised just over $25,000 and achieved my dream, this year though with some in the team leaving we only managed around the $15,000. 

From this my dreams and goals moved bigger and wider and I wanted a new challenge, still keeping my Relay Team for 2011 Santos Relay for Life. So I have decided to tackle Kokoda with a team of up to 16 with each person having to raise $10,000 each. I firstly approached Kate McMillan, the Fundraising and Innovation Manager from the Cancer Council of SA at a Relay for Life summit with my pie in the sky idea and low and behold she called me back a couple of weeks later asking me to submit a proposal. I previously worked at the Guide Dogs for 4 years in the marketing department and started when Troy Gray had approached the business to do a similar charity event, with this came Cosi entering the team and another 10 people who raised money for the Guide Dogs. A very close friend of mine Christina Angus was the lucky staff member who was fortunate enough to walk, this was wonderful to see a legally blind woman walking a trek such as Kokoda and doing it to raise money to help a charity.

How is mine different, well to start I have handpicked some everyday people to help me make my dream come true and everyone has their own story to tell to why they are doing this extremely emotional and physical challenge for the Cancer Council. These include Kimberley Assender a 32 year old mother of two, currently on maternity leave from the Mallala Council, John Thorpe 61 who owns the local Gawler Cinema, Mark Nicholson the 42 year old owner of Gawler Harvey World Travel, Lisa Eichner 38 a Clinical Social Worker, Nick Below a 33 year old electrical engineer, Kevin Wright 37 and works for BT Finacial Group, Brindis Scheer a 52 retired mother of 2, Sue DeBoar a 43 RN from the RAH, Bronwyn Young 34, Owns Wacky Warehouse at Newton, Rhys Farrow a welder for Saekey Welding Fabrication in Keyneton, Kirsten Whisson 41, a Podiatrist and me 37 a baker with a big dream to tackle Kokoda and fundraise for the Cancer Council. This group was selected using my contacts from many years of networking from previous positions. Now everyone I have listed has their own story to why they said yes to me and joined my team. 

Now how can you help, I was recently listening to the morning show as usual seeing it is a good way to end my work day which starts very early in the morning and had a wonderful idea to see if Fitzey the loveable larrikin would be up for a another huge challenge to add to his long list of crazy antics. I know naughty me thinking of using this avenue to promote awareness and to raise funds for the Cancer Council of SA by adding a personality to my trek. I aIso believe with this addition of Fitzey we can open the possibility of having the trek turned into a documentary, I have been told get a celeb and it can be done by a local SA film maker and producer. I also know it is a lot to ask but I would like to see this event be something I can do every two years as a fundraiser for the Cancer Council (not me walk every two years, but I will coordinate the whole thing, and I already have many interested in the future dated trek for 2013). 

I have booked ours to start on the 15^th April next year and finish on Anzac day so it ties in a very personal reason for me, my pop lost his battle to cancer 4 years ago and he walked Kokoda in WW2. I have also set up a committee to assist with this event as I think it has gone bigger than the small group of 15 to reach our goals of $10,000 each. Plus the more to help fundraise the more we can do, promote and raise.

To raise the funds I have already booked a Melbourne Cup Luncheon at the newly built Gawler Race Course in which I plan to sell well over 200 tickets at $65 each, plans are also underway for an Amazing Race around the town in which teams of two battle it out to complete all the tasks in this 5 hour race around town, a 100km Cyclethon in which each rider has to gain sponsorship of $1.00 per km, many a Bunnings BBQ and to promote my venture so as many businesses I can get to sponsor this trek as possible. I am awaiting a sponsorship request from Kathmandu and Rays Outdoors in which I approached them both to provide the trekking gear as  sponsorship for the event. 

To add why do I do all this, I was 19 when I discovered I had male breast cancer, a cancer that only affects 1 in 747 and only makes up 1% of all cancers. Yes I was extremely embarrassed and never spoke about my internal ordeal with this horrid disease, so now I have come to terms with this I love to talk about it and help others to avoid making the same foolish mistake that I did and not see their doctor til it was nearly too late. If I can help one person, well I have done my job. 

In closing Nicole Thomas the Senior PR contact for the Cancer Council can be contacted directly on 8291 4119 or via email at nthomas@cancercouncil.org.au to discuss my event in more detail if required.

Many thanks once again for reading this,

Regards Brent Matthews

Kokoda for Cancer Coordinator
10 McKinlay Drive
Hewett 5118
Ph: 0431 705 588″

Stat tunned for more details regarding how you can help support.

You can Run or Walk 4km. Everyone that registers will be provided with a Santa suit. The Santa Fun run will commence at 9am at Elder Park and entrants will run or walk around the Torrens River.

Want to know more or want to register? Please visit the Variety Santa Fun Run Website.  

GEAR UP GIRL SA is a ride specifically for women to enjoy, sharing the experience with other women in a celebration of cycling. Gear Up Girl is on Sunday 28 November 2010, 9am, at Elder Park, Adelaide. Would love to see the female F!T F!X clients take on this challange, we have a few riders at the moment, would be great to see more out on the bike. The hope is many women who may not be regular riders, or have not ridden for a long time, will take this opportunity to get on a bike and join in. For fitter, more accomplished riders there are longer, harder ride options to choose from. Gear up Girl SA offers a choice of three routes making it suitable for women of all ages and abilities.  Want to know more check out the Bike SA site.

The Heart Foundation is a charity partner for Gear Up Girl SA.  As most women don’t know that heart disease is their number one killer. You can also contribute to this great cause by creating your own webpage to raise funds for the Heart Foundation simply click here.

Sorry guys this ride is just for women. Remember the Tour Dow.n Under is coming and you can join in the Mutual Community Challenge Tour

The race for life run or walk is on 17th of October 2010. You can walk or run with your friends to help fight an enemy and each $5 from each fee payer is donated to the Cancer Council SA for Breast Cancer research. You can walk or run 4.5km & 9.6km.  What a great way to start your Sunday, nice walk or run outdoors for a great cause. Starts at 8:00am at Elder Park in Adelaide.

Sign up now to give yourself plenty of time to raise some much needed funds that will make a difference to the lives of many South Australian women.

Many participants are motivated to join Race 4 Life because they have been touched by a story in the media about someone’s personal reason for taking part. Do you think your reason for participating could encourage others to sign up?

So sign up today and support a charity. Online entry or download an Entry Form.