By Goya Dmytryshchak
A Spotswood mother who started running while grieving the loss of her stillborn child is now hoping to inspire others with her story.
Dolly Thunders, 43, struggled with depression after losing her 25-week premature baby and two high-risk pregnancies.
“I had a stillbirth, Ella, and was heartbroken,” she said.
“Shortly afterwards, I was fortunate to fall pregnant again. However, it was a high-risk pregnancy and I had to spend six months on the couch.
“Then when my first child was one, I fell pregnant again … and spent a further six months on the couch.
“By this stage I was still grieving and had put on half my body weight: from 50kilograms to 76 and was not shifting the weight.”
Ms Thunders said she decided to take up running but was so ashamed she ran at 11pm so no one could see her, at first just to the end of the street and back.
“By this time, I had been in a black cloud for three years,” she said.
“Then when I was on a run, I thought, I am going to run a marathon. If I can run a block, then go to 10 kilometres, I can achieve a marathon.
“Distance running is a mind set. It is physically, mentally and spiritually challenging and incredibly rewarding. It was great therapy for me and a brilliant form of meditation.”
On Sunday, October 15, Ms Thunders will run the full 42.195 kilometre Medibank Melbourne Marathon. She is not fundraising but hopes to inspire people to be kind to animals and go vegetarian or vegan for a day.
For more information and to register, visit melbournemarathon.com.au
