She will be assigned a number on race day, but it's the number she raises beforehand that means the most for Rachelle Axten.
The young woman from Minton is preparing for her first marathon in order to raise donations and awareness for the Canadian Diabetes Association.
In July, Axten will be heading to Brazil to attend the 2012 Rio Marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Her preparations begin at home however, and she has been challenged by Team Diabetes Canada to raise $6,100 leading up to the big race in Rio.
This is her first involvement in raising money to combat diabetes and said she decided to become more active in raising money and awareness for the Diabetes Association because her grandfather has been dealing with the disease for a long time and it has begun to get worse.
"He's been quite sick with it, so I just want to get awareness out there because I've seen what they go through," she said. "How they have to deal with it everyday, I don't want my own father to end up like my grandpa and get sick. This is just my own sort of way of showing them (that I care) and helping them, I guess."
Her father has also been diagnosed with diabetes.
The 19-year-old said she told her family about her plans to raise money and race in Rio, and they have been very supportive, with lots of interest in following her down to Brazil to cheer her on.
"They were really excited about it, and wanted to find out how we could raise money together. Both of my parents are planning on coming, and we'll see who else decides to come on a vacation."
Once she put her mind to running the marathon, Axten found that of the available races she could go to, the Rio race was going to work out best for her.
"I'll be done school and working," she said, noting that she'll get some time off for it. "And it's Brazil. Who doesn't want to go to Brazil?"
Axten said she's been running her whole life but has never run in an actual marathon. She's competed at some smaller races, like a 10 kilometre run. An official marathon is a little more than 42 kilometres.
"I've never done that distance, but I've always run. I've done track and field and all that stuff," she said, adding, "I'm nervous, very nervous, but I'm real excited too. I think it will be a really good time. It will be hard, but it's worth it."
Axten is attending school at the SIAST Palliser Campus for engineering design and drafting technology and is now doing her third and final work placement at Midwest Surveys in Estevan. Her first two were done at Midwest as well.
The race will be her first marathon, though she is considering taking part in a race in Calgary or Edmonton beforehand as a bit of a confidence boost. She hasn't yet started the most intense training, but she is going for regular runs of between six and eight miles now.
While training for the July 8 race, she will slowly be increasing the distance she runs, but is also very cognizant of the need to manage her nutrition properly while she trains.
She got involved with Team Diabetes, or Team D, and they are the running team for the Diabetes Association, organizing everybody who is going to be racing for the Canadian team. Axten researched how she wanted to raise money and naturally became part of the team, which provides her with all the information she needs.
They set up the flights and hotels, and the team makes sure she gets to and from the race, so Axten's focus can be on running and then relaxing with her family afterward. She'll head down to Rio with the team of Saskatchewan runners and be staying with the Canadian team while down there.
Her training can get lonely because she doesn't have a running buddy.
"Nobody really wants to do the distances that I do, so I kind of get stuck alone," she said, adding that she trains outside whenever she can, but has to retreat to the treadmill during the coldest months of the year.
She's slowly been raising money for about eight months, already realizing more than half of her goal, with about $3,300 so far. She has until next September to raise the remaining funds.
"I've been selling chocolates, which people think is kind of silly that you'd sell chocolates for diabetes, but it's a way raise to money," she said.
She is also going to be holding a poker tournament in Minton on January 21. She hopes that will bring in about $1,000. She and another woman from Minton who is running in another race for Joints in Motion decided to get together to organize the poker night.
Though Axten has a very concrete goal when it comes to the funds she is raising, her other goal is to simply teach people something new about diabetes.
"People think that it's based on sugar, that you can't have absolutely any sugar. That's a big misconception about diabetes. It really has to do with how you eat and proportioning your eating. Exercise is a huge thing, and I don't think a lot of people realize that. I'm trying to get it out there that eating (well) and exercise is very important."
You can make your donation to Axten by going to www.diabetes.ca and donating to her through the pledge-a-team-diabetes-participant page on the website. Those who would like to send a cheque are asked to make it payable to the Canadian Diabetes Association and send it to P.O. Box 261, Minton, SK, S0C 1T0. Anyone with questions may call Axten at 306-861-9789.
