My name is Cecily and I love to run.

Since I first started pounding the pavement back in 2016, running has been my number one love. It has taken me on the most extraordinary adventures and seen me achieve things I never thought possible. Most importantly, however, running has acted as my source of daily therapy during some of the most difficult periods of my life. Be it on road, sand, cobblestones, in the forest, battling the slopes, in the boiling hot or freezing cold temperatures, running has bought freedom.

In late 2023, I was fortunate enough to take 6 months of long service leave from my usual role as a health practitioner. A goal for my travels was to explore this beautiful country of ours through running. I hit the trails every chance I got, spending time in nature forest bathing to the max. It was around February 2024 that Samatha Murphy went missing after leaving her home to go for a run. Sadly, despite extensive searches, Samantha is yet to be found. Upon hearing this news, family and friends who had been following my solo adventures via social media, raised safety as an issue for me to consider carefully whilst out running. I admit that prior to this, in all of my running adventures, I had never felt unsafe, and foolishly, had taken minimal caution. But the loss of Samantha, a runner, just like me, really stuck with me. It highlighted the significance of the problem of violence against women in Australia and heightened my awareness of my own personal safety.

Sadly, the incidents of women murdered in our country continue to mount on a daily basis. The figures are shocking. In 2024, the number of women who die at the hands of someone they know or someone they are in a relationship with is to the best of my knowledge, 2 women every 9 days!!! Figures presented by Counting Dead Women Australia (register of every known death due to violence against women in Australia) - demonstrate that 44 women have been killed as of July 21, 2024.

This is absolutely unacceptable and must stop. We as a collective society must put an end to violence against women. Women should be able to run free from fear. Women should not have to carry personal safety devices whilst enjoying the splendour of their own neighbourhood. Women should be able to go for a hike in the middle of the day without being attacked. Enough is enough.

My Pledge: Ensure that women whose lives have been lost to homicide are remembered, and to continue to shine a light on the scourge of domestic and family violence in Australia.

My Goals:

1. Complete 50km run at the Gold Coast 50 in November 2024

2. Raise at least $5,000 in support of DV Connect

I ask anyone willing and able to please donate to this worthy cause.

I will be documenting my running journey and hope to be able to reach my fundraising goal prior to competing in the ultra-marathon on 24th November.