After the loss of her mom, Briony decided to do something very unique. Despite having not taken her own steps since the 90s after a car accident, Briony is ‘running’ a race with a pace like no other:
Western Cape, South Africa (15 January 2024) — After the loss of her mom, Briony Chisholm decided she needed something good to channel her grief into. Thanks to a lot of heart and a clever smartphone, Briony decided to sign up for a race she also happened to invent—the great ‘Arm-Run’. With pace, patience and support, she hopes that her unique race will not only honour her late mother, but help those who are already helping others.
Of how the race came to be, Briony shares:
“I discovered a while ago—to my great amusement—that (even) I had been doing some steps each day…”
“Why the amusement…? Well, because I’m quadriplegic and have been in a wheelchair since I had a car accident when I was 21. In other words, the last time I took any steps using my actual legs was on the 1st of December, 1996,” she elaborates.
But, after some fun with getting those steps in by moving her arms (something even the most avid steppers have done before to get those last steps in), Briony realised that she could pump up her ‘steps’ with a little pace, and turn it into a race all its own.
Briony has committed to 80 km in total (which is just a few kilometres shy of the Comrades), making this an unofficial marathon. This is her gift to her mom in anticipation of her heavenly birthday, “to celebrate her life and loveliness, to push my grief to something useful,” the Arm-Runner adds.
Deciding to make this pace go the mile, she is committing the donations to the University of the Western Cape’s ‘Fairy Godmother’ who regularly helps rally funds for students facing financial hinderances across the map.
“My mom believed that the only way to make things better is through education, and so do I, so I’m going to use my arms to do the walking and I hope you’ll help me help the UWC Fairy Godmother do her amazing things by letting your wallets do the talking.”—Briony Chrisholm.
So far, since the campaign began on 4 January, Briony has rallied R13,310 of R18,000. This after the original goal of R8,000 was surpassed in no time! And if that’s not a rich embodiment of ‘you can make a difference no matter what’, we don’t know what is! You can check out her clever campaign here.
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