Her positive spirit and can-do attitude is infectious, but even Carrie Bickmore has her doubts about how much she can take on and achieve in her life.
Last week, the mum-of-three had to draw on all the optimism and self-belief she had to make it through the biggest physical and mental challenge of her life – running the Big 5 Marathon in South Africa to raise money for her Beanies 4 Brain Cancer foundation.
Sharing her gruelling journey with her followers on Instagram, Carrie, 44, admitted that she “almost quit” at one point, but her teammates helped her through and together they raised an incredible $1.1 million and counting for cancer sufferers.
“I did it,” she wrote, noting she didn’t care that she came last in their group. “It’s not about how you get there, it just matters that you get there. Try it. It’s life-changing.”
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CARRIE BICKMORE’S BIG WIN!
No one could argue that it was an emotionally draining few months for Carrie as she fundraised tirelessly for her brain cancer foundation, coming across Australian families who have lost loved ones to the disease, just as she lost her first husband Greg Lange in 2010.
An insider tells Woman’s Day that often, the naturally caring star can’t help but take on the weight of other people’s hardships.
“She’s always been someone who is full of empathy for others, but at the same time is very tough on herself,” the longtime colleague says.
“She has an extraordinary sense of compassion for people who are struggling – like many like her, sometimes they take on too much crusading and trailblazing, and end up wearing themselves out.”
Carrie, who has been solo parenting her children Ollie, 17, Evie, 10, and Adelaide, six, in the wake of her split from Chris Walker, admitted she’d been feeling especially anxious three days out from the big run as she’d been struck down with sickness and her body had “just fallen apart”.
In the candid, relatable way that has made her so beloved around the nation, Carrie confessed that finishing the “horrible” race took everything she had in her tank. “I really struggled. And was angry at myself that I was finding it so hard. I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed when I finished,” she shared on Instagram, alongside a video of her crying during the run.
“I am a mum of three, terrible hips, found it hard to fit in training… I am NOT an athlete. But I did it. And you absolutely can do hard challenges too.”
SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT
An insider says despite the road being a rough one, the huge sense of accomplishment will give Carrie the confidence and encouragement she needs to keep pushing herself – even when the going gets tough.
“Running that marathon and almost quitting halfway through, but in the end finding the strength to finish it, will help her enormously in whatever she next sets her sights on,” the source says. “What many of us who have worked with her realised early on, she actually just needs to exhale and realise what a superwoman she is! And that she has nothing to prove to anyone.”
Carrie’s been an inspiration to not only those affected by cancer, but to the small group of teammates who joined her on the other side of the world.
“To Bickers – your heart, your vision, your strength. I’m in awe of you. This charity and what you’ve built with Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer is nothing short of extraordinary,” teammate
Elliot Garnaut shared.
