Jacqui’s running up a tally for Beyond Blue

SAN Remo’s Jacqui Swallow is continuing to back Beyond Blue.

Jacqui recently ran the Melbourne Marathon with a time of 6:21:39 – 38 minutes ahead of her goal time.

She has currently raised $4521 for Beyond Blue, ranking high on the organisation’s leaderboard of fundraisers.

Jacqui said she was proud of the fundraising efforts and the opportunity to raise awareness for the lifesaving organisation that has given her wonderful support in the past. 

Training for the marathon was a biproduct of an idea she got from a book called Atomic Habits.

The book suggested healthy habits are easier to sustain if they become an ingrained part of you.

“For me, the habit was running and the identity was being a runner,” she said.

“That meant joining the parkrun and the online running communities, and I started reading every running book I could get my hands on, then reviewing the books for all my parkrun friends.

“It’s hard to read an entire pile of books about running marathons without eventually being inspired to run one yourself.”

She trained for the marathon for 18 weeks, which included hours of running and strength training sessions. 

Jacqui is on the cusp of publishing her own book, The Bipolar Runner.

It is about living with bipolar disorder and the marathon experience.

She began writing the book around the time she began her marathon training.

“I’m a big reader and an advocate for mental health, and I wanted to bring the two together,” she said.

“There were no books about this experience, so I thought there needed to be something. I wanted to fill a gap.” 

To keep an eye out on the progress of the book, you can find Jacqui on Instagram via the_bipolar_runner.

There’s still time to donate to Jacqui’s marathon campaign for Beyond Blue.