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Dave Taylor Runs 230km for Leukaemia Sufferers
7th August 1999 [Canberra to Wollongong]
Ultra marathon runner Dave Taylor never met leukaemia victim Sarah Hollis but her spirit kept him going during four freezing days. "I had the flu and temperatures dipped below zero but I tried to focus on Sarah to help me through"' Taylor said yesterday after he completed his Canberra to Albion Park charity run.
Taylor, together with boxer Vito Gaudiosi, netball ace Nicole Aiken and baker Garry Preston, ran 230km in memory of Sarah, 16, who died last year, and to raise money for a $200,000 carpark for Wollongong Blood Bank. "I'm used to doing it tough and focusing on the job," Taylor said. "I've run for terminally ill children who have been alive when I left and passed away during the run. I always feel it's been worth it because it's not so much for that one child but the next person who may be helped by the money we raise," he said. "In Sarah's case I felt I knew her because her mum Shirley had told me so much about her."
The foursome was greeted at Albion Park by a contingent of Sarah's schoolmates who led them into the high school grounds. Shirley Hollis and Sarah's younger sister Kim were in the welcoming committee. "I'm so happy with the support we have been given for the run," Mrs Hollis said. "Sarah had hundreds of transfusions from Wollongong Blood Bank so it's great to give something back."
