Anne Garton: A Year Later
by Anne Garton, November 2008
Suicide bombers, genocide, murders, fraud investigations, drink driver road fatalities... every day the news is filled with horrific stories of human cruelty and destruction. It would be easy to lose faith in humanity. But amongst all this horror, true human kindness and compassion still exists.
For the past year, I have been the lucky recipient of such compassion and generosity. Some of you may know my story; the triathlete with a serious mental illness who defied the odds and ending up representing Australia in the 2007 World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Germany.
Being a Disability Pensioner, I couldn't afford to go Germany to compete. Wesley Corporate Health Managing Director, Neil Holt, heard about my plight and asked Triple M's Ian Skippen and The Cage team to assist. And assist they did! In a 2.5 hour live broadcast, The Cage raised enough funds to get me to Germany. Even better, there was enough left over for my parents to come too! Having my family watching me run across the finish line at the World Championships... Wow.
Mental illness is heavily stigmatised and a taboo subject, yet Triple M and Wesley Corporate Health stood up and broadcast to the world that they will support and sponsor me as a triathlete, and as a person struggling with mental illness. The Marketing Manager of Triumph International, Lynda Bundock, heard The Cage's appeal, and the Triumph team also came on board as a sponsor. I am never going to be an Emma Snowsill and bring home an Olympic gold medal; I'm just an ordinary triathlete who has had a tough life. But they all threw their support behind me.
It is now one year on and I have been asked to write an update on my life.
The Disability Pension doesn't cater for the expense of triathlon, especially training fees. Sponsorship has paid for one year's training on one of the toughest and most challenging training programs I've ever done; up to 25 hours per week training. It also paid for gym, Pilates, a Sports Dietitian and scientific testing and training through Wesley Corporate Health's Peak Performance Lab.
What a difference quality coaching, scientific training, Dietitians and Pilates makes! If my pre-season race results are a sign of things to come, I am going to have a stellar 2008/2009 race season. I have just raced three races in four weeks. With no speed work or race preparation, in the North Queensland State Sprint Titles (750 swim/20km bike/5km run), I blitzed my age group, winning by five minutes. One week later, I backed it up with a silver medal at the Queensland State Duathlon Titles (10km run/40km bike/5km run). The highlight of this race was that I finally broke through the magic 40 minute barrier for 10km.
But wait, there's more! On Sunday 5 October I competed in my first ever half ironman (1.9km swim/90km bike/21.1km run). As a novice to this distance, I set the task just to cruise through the race and get the feel for the longer distance. And cruise I did! I bludged the swim, toddled on the bike, ran steady but not hard, walked both transitions and even stopped to chat to my parents over the fence! Despite the heat and strong headwinds, I completed the race in 5.08hrs. This time blew me away - for a novice this is a really good time. I managed top 10 in my age group, and out of the 185 female age groupers who raced, I came 20th overall with the 10th fastest half marathon run time!
My next goal is to qualify for the Australian Team for the 2009 World Age Group Championships Olympic distance and Long Course. Both are in Australia. Triumph International is a Gold Sponsor of the 2009 World Championships. Nothing will make me prouder than running across the finish line dressed in the Australian uniform, knowing it was Triumph and Wesley Corporate Health who helped made this dream possible.
Competing at World Championships wouldn't be possible without sponsorship. Sponsorship doesn't just help with training fees: I used to cry everyday in despair because my training gear was either broken, superglued together, second hand, ripped, or torn... and my bike was always falling apart. Running shoes came once a year at Christmas: I couldn't afford $200 for new shoes. I used to write to race organisers begging for free entries because I couldn't afford race entry fees. And I had to rely on my parents for everything: lending me a car to get to training, fuel, food, discounted rent...
Sponsorship changed all this. No more tears, despair or stress. I have new running shoes, spiffy cycling and running gear, and a bike that works! And there is one extra perk: Triumph International sells women's underwear. To my relief there are no more dodgy hand-me-down bras from my mother (gross!!!) because I couldn't afford new ones. Thanks Triumph! (Any female athletes who are reading this check out the Triaction range. Unbelievable!).
All these material gains from sponsorship are fantastic, but in my heart there was still something missing. I wanted to do more then just fulfill my material needs. Have you heard of the phrase "pay it forward"?
For years I have mentored a young homeless girl who also experiences severe mental illness. She was the mirror image of me five years ago; and it was torture watching her daily struggle to stay alive. Hence, I "paid forward" the generosity Wesley Corporate Health and Triumph bestowed upon me, using some of my sponsorship money to help her beat homelessness and get the specialist medical treatment she requires. She is now doing extremely well. Medical treatment has given her a chance of recovery and a normal life. That's worth more to me than new training shoes, or a race entry.
Health wise, 2008 has been a very tough year. I have had five hospital admissions this year and almost four months in hospital. A few months ago, the torment got too unbearable and I attempted suicide. But it was the love of triathlon and knowing how many people were behind me and supporting me that helped me survive and renew my vigour to beat this illness.
Despite ongoing illness, I am proud to say that for the first time in nine years, I have a part-time professional job. I work as consultant in mental health. It's only two days a week and not a lot of money, but finally I can stand on my own two feet pay for fuel and running costs of a car, pay my parents rent, pay bills, buy food... No more sponging off my parents.
Illness stripped me of everything: but I have finally regained my independence. With independence comes hope - hope that one day I can beat this illness and live a normal life.
In my life, sponsorship is more than just money. It has ripple effects far deeper than the relief of being able to afford new running shoes. To have Wesley Corporate Health and Triumph International believe in me, as a person, not as a superstar athlete... No words suffice to describe the impact this has. But the tears on my face as I write this story, say it all. "Thank you" Neil Holt, Wesley Corporate Health; and Lynda Bundock and Triumph International. Thank you also to Ian Skippen and Triple M's The Cage; where this all began.
In a harsh world, true kindness still exists.
Anne