Inspired: After hearing about the work of My Room, Joseph Calovic committed to a 42km run from his home in Romsey to Broadford Hotel on October 29 to help raise funds for the charity.
Joseph Calovic will run 42km from his home in Romsey to Broadford Hotel on October 29 to raise funds for My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.
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The motivation to run came from a time of personal hardship for Joseph, who decided to look beyond himself and improve his life by helping others.
“It’s given me a purpose to focus my energy on helping other people rather than worrying about my crap,” Joseph said.
“My mental health was a bit down. I saw a post from one of the AFL ambassadors from My Room. They do a telethon every year before the grand final.
“I thought, how am I allowed to be feeling this way about myself when there are kids out there who can’t even have a normal childhood? I had a pretty normal childhood. I got to go out and kick the footy and go fishing. These kids don’t have time to do that. They are worried about staying alive.
“Why not try to help other people when they are having a hard time?”
That’s where My Room comes in. My Room is a charity supporting families dealing with childhood cancer, funding medical equipment, clinical care, research and trials. It helps relieve some of the financial burden on parents with accommodation costs when seeking treatment for their children. But like most charities, it relies mainly on donations from the public.
Joseph aims to raise $2000 for My Room. He is on track, so far raising $1600.
Joseph has a good support network in his girlfriend Mia Thomson, his parents and a few close mates, one of whom will run the last 10km with him on the day.
But running is a solo sport. And it’s fair to say the training has been a hard slog.
Joseph has run more than 360km and lost 10kg since he started training two months ago.
“I’m pretty low on energy and sore, but I’m getting there. It’s pretty much get home, run, shower, sleep,” he said.
“I’ve always done a little bit of running here and there and tried to stay fit. But in the six or seven months before this, I might have done 5km or 10km in the whole month. Now, I’m doing 160km or 170km a month.
“I actually enjoy it at the end. When you finish it, you are like, ‘I’ve achieved something today’. You are pushing yourself to the limit, but when you are done, you feel amazing.”
Even beyond the post-exercise endorphins, the training has inspired Joseph and the people around him.
“There is nothing special about me. I’m just a normal person,” he said.
“It’s nice to inspire people, but I’m not doing it for me anyway.
“I’ve got little brothers and Mia has little brothers as well, and I feel like a role model for them because they are coming into their teenage years.
“I think it would be great if I could inspire more people to do things like this … if everyone works together, we can do more.”
Despite being humble about his achievements, Joseph remains ambitious. He plans to cover an even larger distance and raise more funds next year.
“Honestly, I feel like I’m not doing enough … I want to go bigger, to try and contribute a bit more,” Joseph said.
“Next time, maybe aim for a run to Seymour, which is about 60km.”
Easy to donate: Use this QR code to donate to My Room and help Joseph reach his goal.
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