BATHURST basketball identity Matt Chapman says there should be no concern that he hasn’t trained hard enough as he prepares to complete four marathons in four days from this Monday.
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“If bicep curls at the pub on a Friday afternoon count as training, then I have done plenty of training,” he said this week.
And if bicep curls at the pub don’t count as training?
“I’ll run parts of it, I’ll jog parts of it, I’ll walk parts of it, I’ll crawl parts of it if I have to,” he said. “It’s not a race – as long as I get there. I don’t have a choice; I have to make it.”
The reason for Mr Chapman’s determination is that he is taking on the four marathons to raise money for Dubbo youngster Molly Croft, who is battling the rare bone cancer osteosarcoma.
Mr Chapman coaches Molly’s sister Maddie in representative basketball, which is how he came across the Croft family and heard about the challenge they are facing.
“I decided if I can do something to help, I will,” he said. “And this is what we came up with.”
Mr Chapman will leave from the Kelso McDonald’s car park this Monday, October 1 and hopes to complete a marathon distance a day over the next four days before arriving at Westmead Children’s Hospital, where Molly is a patient.
In completing the feat of endurance, he wants to raise money for the Croft family, who have had to relocate from Dubbo to support Molly in what could be a months-long battle.
Mr Chapman said he will get through the challenge he has set himself no matter what happens.
“Young Molly has got a fair bit more of a battle than I do,” he said. “That will be a bit of motivation to push through and get there.”