Local duo hope to make splash for CHOC at Midmar Mile
Durban North resident, Lize van Rensburg and uMgeni Park resident, Claire Gillespie have begun raising funds for the initiative and will be part of this year's 8 Mile Club.
TWO local residents are aiming to make a splash for the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC) at this year’s aQuellé Midmar Mile.
Durban North resident, Lize van Rensburg and uMgeni Park resident, Claire Gillespie have begun raising funds for the initiative and will be part of this year’s 8 Mile Club.
The 8 Mile Club, which has become an integral part of the annual Midmar Mile, sees a group of swimmers who swim all eight events over the race weekend (four on Saturday and four on Sunday).
Van Rensburg, who will be tackling the 8 Midmar Miles for the first time has already set up a funding page where she has raised R9 330 (the target is to reach R12 000).
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“I didn’t even know the 8 Mile Club existed. Learning more about the charity initiative I was determined to do something about it and give back to CHOC. It’s a huge privilege for me to be part of the club,” she said.
“Sadly, we live in a world where everybody knows somebody who has been affected by cancer. Foundations like CHOC are crucial to fighting this terrible illness. This is why I wanted to support them. CHOC supports children with cancer and their families,” she said.
Van Rensburg will be joined by Gillespie, an educator at Northlands Girls’ High School.
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Gillespie is no stranger to the 8 Mile Club tackling it last year for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
“That’s how Lize found out about the 8 Mile Club and I spoke to her about it and she was keen on being involved this year. We’ve been training together now for a few months to get ourselves ready for the events.
“I’ve been training at the school pool and we worked it out, the 8 Miles works out to about 12.6 kilometres, which is roughly 584 lengths of the Northlands Girls’ High School pool which is no easy feat,” she said.
Gillespie said she lived by the motto to ‘do what you can, where you can with what you have’.
“Like Lize said, we all know someone who has passed away or who is battling cancer. I’ve seen what it does to adults, so I can only imagine what impact it has on children. That’s why foundations like CHOC need our help. They do a fantastic job in supporting children affected by this dreaded diseases. Not only do they help financially, they also help the families emotionally,” she said.
If you are willing to support the fundraising initiative click here.
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