When a running event was cancelled, Moggill residents – David Ember and Emi Schoeman – decided to run their own marathon. Article courtesy of The Local Bulletin – September 2020 Issue “At this this time Emil and I were running Rocks Riverside Parkrun every Saturday together for fun after we met late 2019 through our daughters both attending the same prep class at Moggill SS” said David. Initially David and Emil were daunted by the scale of the challenge ahead. The furthest they had run before was a half marathon. But training was going well until, in March, the pandemic kicked in and the Marathon they had signed up for was cancelled. But David and Emil were determined to run a marathon. “In April, Emil and I started morning runs three times a week at 6am in Moggill. One morning I suggested for .fun we undertake our own ‘Moggill Marathon’ on 7 June as a goal. After only slight hesitation Emil was in!” Disaster did nearly strike three weeks out with Emil suffering an IT band knee injury and missing a 20km run in the final weeks out. Thankfully some physio work helped Emil who came back well, but was still suffering some knee pain on the big day. On Saturday 7 June David and Emil set out from the corner of Westaway Park at 6am on the dot and planned to come in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. Larissa Ember and Liezl Schoeman had organised for family and friends to set up drinks stalls for David and Emil at five set points on the course. David and Emil made it round in 4 hours and 26 minutes with no stopping and achieved their goal time! “As we make our final way back to Westaway Park, an air horn sounded and our families cheered us over the “finishing line”. They had decorated with balloons and streamers. Liesl gave us both a medal for coming first in the inaugural Moggill Marathon” said David. “It was a tough event, but has given a lot of run and enjoyment to all those involved over the recent challenging months we have all experienced”.