Nurse and proud army wife Rosie Lansdown suffered chronic PTSD after a cycling accident while training for her first triathlon. Her world shrunk, drastically. Over two years Rosie’s world became very bleak and dark, very quickly. “My world shrunk a lot with the PTSD, I became very isolated, and with Covid, it was even worse.”
Rosie felt she needed some motivation to help get life back on track and to help her get back on to her bike. “I picked up a copy of Runners World and saw the Soldier On advertisement for fundraising, and instantly I knew this was what I needed to do,” said Rosie.
Rosie is now raising funds for Soldier On by taking part in two mammoth-running events within a week of each other. Despite not classing herself as an athlete, Rosie will run in the 10km Blackmores Sydney Running Festival in September and one week later will do the half marathon for the 70.3 Ironman in Western Sydney.
What’s even more impressive is her fundraising page smashed her target of $600 within the first 24 hours of signing up and then surpassed $1000 just a few hours later. “I just can’t believe how much I have raised already. It’s unbelievable,” said Rosie.
Daniella Bouari, Soldier On’s National Fundraising Manager, agrees, “It is such an impressive start. Her support network has been amazing, and we are so grateful for her efforts.”
Rosie is finding the challenge very uplifting. “It was the motivation I needed to keep me accountable and do something to pay back to the community who have supported me through my PTSD journey,” said Rosie.
“I am not someone who has really been fitness conscious, or really any good at anything,” said Rosie. “I always lived vicariously through my husband as he has superhuman fitness from the military. He was the one who got me into triathlons in the first place.“
To help her on her journey, Rosie’s husband helped set up a small all-female running group and in one year Rosie went from not even being able to run five kilometres to finishing her first full 70.3 half ironman by herself: the full 1900-metre swim, 90-kilometre bike and 21-kilometre run, all in just under seven hours.
Rosie wants to help Soldier On’s work supporting veterans and their families in similar circumstances. You can help Rosie along the way to this 10km run, followed by the half marathon leg (21.1km) a week later of the Western Sydney Ironman 70.3km triathlon, by donating here: https://bsrf22.grassrootz.com/soldier-on/rosie-lansdown
The 2022 Blackmores Sydney Running Festival is an iconic event with a spectacular course that includes a run over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a finish at the Opera House. The festival will be held on September 18, 2022, and features a marathon, half marathon, bridge run and a family fun run – so there is something for everyone. 40,000 runners are expected to participate in 2022. To sign up to take part in this event or any other running event and raise funds for Soldier On, visit: https://fundraise.soldieron.org.au/events.
