[fusion_text]Although the focus of this blog will be on the marathon, first a quick update on how our program is doing.

First of all, we finally have a South African Bank account! It’s been a long process, but we finally got there. This means donations can finally come into The Compass Trust and we can start to buy sports and education equipment as well as afford transport to and from the schools each day.

I also had the chance to meet with an accountant, who was not only extremely helpful and easy to get along with, but also extremely affordable!

We also welcomed Devyn Smith to Cape Town on the 20th, which means we can finally move forward with the education side of TCT.

TCT has been able to confirm the two schools that it will be working with to help create a sustainable change in the communities it works in. These schools are Levana Primary School in Lavender Hill and iThemba School, a pre primary school in Capricorn.

More details on these schools and what we are doing will come in the October Blog as that is the first month of us working day in day out with these schools.

Finally, before I talk bit about the marathon, we will be closing the GoFundMe Page on October 1st, so please donate whatever you can to the cause, if you can.

www.gofundme.com/tctmarathon

[/fusion_text][three_fifth last=“no“ spacing=“yes“ center_content=“no“ hide_on_mobile=“no“ background_color=““ background_image=““ background_repeat=“no-repeat“ background_position=“left top“ border_position=“all“ border_size=“0px“ border_color=““ border_style=““ padding=““ margin_top=““ margin_bottom=““ animation_type=““ animation_direction=““ animation_speed=“0.1″ class=““ id=““][slider hover_type=“none“ width=“100%“ height=“100%“ class=““ id=““][slide type=“image“ link=““ linktarget=“_self“ lightbox=“yes“]http://thecompasstrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/thecompasstrsut-marathon-3.jpg[/slide][slide type=“image“ link=““ linktarget=“_self“ lightbox=“yes“]http://thecompasstrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/thecompasstrsut-marathon-1.jpg[/slide][slide type=“image“ link=““ linktarget=“_self“ lightbox=“yes“]http://thecompasstrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/thecompasstrsut-marathon-4.jpg[/slide][/slider][/three_fifth][two_fifth last=“yes“ spacing=“yes“ center_content=“no“ hide_on_mobile=“no“ background_color=““ background_image=““ background_repeat=“no-repeat“ background_position=“left top“ border_position=“all“ border_size=“0px“ border_color=““ border_style=““ padding=““ margin_top=““ margin_bottom=““ animation_type=““ animation_direction=““ animation_speed=“0.1″ class=““ id=““][fusion_text]Now, to the marathon…

Running a marathon is quite a paradox. It is something that you train for by yourself for months. It is not a team sport, you either finish or you don’t. If you don’t finish, it’s on you, and only you.

Yet, I could not have completed The Cape Town Marathon without a massive team behind me.

First of all, the people that were there supporting me on the day. Not only people who are helping to build the foundations of TCT, but also a group of very special children who I work with at Surf Outreach 5 days a week. At many times over the 42.2km, your brain starts to tell you walking may be a better option! But when I saw these guys cheering me on at the 20km and 22km stage, I knew that I was running the whole way. It even gave me a big enough boost to run off the road and take a quick selfie! Seeing them again at the finish line made the pain all worth it.[/fusion_text][/two_fifth][fusion_text]But there is an even bigger team behind someone who runs a marathon. There’s also family and friends who give that support during training and before the day to ease any anxieties about the race.

And also every single person who donated to our cause or who has supported our story. Countless times when the run became difficult, my thoughts turned to the amount of money people have donated. People work hard for their money and to have their support and confidence, was a massive boost.

Thank you to all of you. My thoughts were with all of you at some point or other during the race.

Most importantly, my thoughts turned to the children who we have the chance to help. Around the 38km stage, when the pain hit me quite hard, I remember thinking to myself that this is nothing compared to a child who doesn’t have enough water to drink or food to eat each day. It’s nothing compared to the pain a child must feel when they don’t get the love they deserve. Every single day, these children are pushed to their physical and emotional limit. What’s a marathon compared to that?

I intentionally delayed writing this blog until a few days after the marathon so that I could take time to reflect on the experience.

My immediate feeling when completing the marathon was of relief. But the overwhelming feeling when I came home was of pride.

Pride, however, is quite a dangerous feeling to have. Pride allows you to think you are bigger and better than what you are. Pride facilitates an environment for complacency. It allows you to believe your job is done. Our job is just beginning.

We have a lot of work to do to make sure we make a sustainable difference to the lives of the children we are going to be working with. Me running a marathon isn’t going to change their lives. The money you have donated will help change their lives. The work we do from now on will help change their lives.

October and November are going to be huge months for TCT and you’ll see why in the coming weeks!!

Thank you so much for all your support, whether it is in the form of donations or spreading our story. I can’t express enough thankful we are for the support we get.

Always good and love to all,

Matt[/fusion_text]