Marathon to battle cancer

By Nicole Williams
WITH a friend like Katarina Jakovljevic on your side, it is easy to believe cancer is curable.
The Dandenong woman has thrown her support behind good friend and former co-worker Gervais Serret, who is battling adrenocortical carcinoma, an extremely rare and aggressive cancer.
Last year, Katarina dedicated time and effort into writing a children’s book, Gevi the Wombat, based on the Narre Warren father-of-two, to raise money for his treatment and other adrenocortical carcinoma patients.
Now, she is tackling one of Australia’s toughest ultra-marathons to raise money for Gervais and the Adrenocortical Cancer Foundation (ACCF), which she founded.
“Late one night, I got a call from friend and co-founder of the ACCF Jarrod Bayliss-McCulloch, and he said something along the lines of ‘how would you like to take on the biggest physical and emotional challenge of your life?’” Katarina said.
“It turned out he was talking about the North Face 100.”
North Face 100 is a 100-kilometre trail run through the Blue Mountains National Park on 19 May.
Jarrod and Katarina hope to raise $10,000 from the marathon, and the cash will be provided to Gervais and other adrenocortical carcinoma patients for treatment.
Jarrod said it was a small battle compared to those fighting adrenocortical carcinoma.
“They’re going through an intense physical and emotional journey, they’re fighting a battle for their lives,” he said.
“This was our way of saying to them, we’re with you all the way and maybe we can use this comparatively small physical and mental challenge of our own to raise awareness of your fight and raise some funds to support you in your journey.”
To support Katarina in the North Face 100 or purchase a copy of Gevi the Wombat, visit www.gevithewombat.com