George Malliaros

A husband, a caregiver, a widower and beyond 38km

Hello everyone,

May 2021, I signed up for the Mother’s Day Classic to raise funds for breast cancer research and in doing so I ran 38km and raised over $5000, I also received the trophy for most kilometres in a single run in Victoria that year.

This May I’ll be putting my body back on the line and again running the 38km, but this time I’ll keep running until I can’t run no more (you can insert the Forrest Gump line here!). I’ll start  Saturday 11^th May at 6:48am and will be departing from my home in Chelsea. I have a finishing distance in mind, and this distance will be determined by a couple of factors. Firstly, my training schedule and secondly my mental health.

Please click on the link below and together let's fight breast cancer!

https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/fundraisers/georgemalliaros/mothers-day-classic-melbourne

The grief of losing Vicky in 2020 has played a dramatic impact on my life since her passing and has had a profound effect on my mental and physical health. It’s an ongoing battle and I’m now comfortable in expressing that.

I’m not one to put myself out there in the public forum as I am very private person, but I feel that my story needs to be echoed throughout the gospel of social media and beyond. I’ve changed, I’m not and will never be the same person again. I’m navigating through this as best I can. It’s all new and assistance I require is for me to be in a clearer place to plan and execute the life ahead for me and my children and by keeping fit and setting goals assists me in striving for that clarity. Very few know the struggles over the past number of years.

Just when you think you’re at your worst or in the darkest place imaginable, the rollercoaster of grief takes you deeper. With the mentioned above few people and professional assistance the mountains now feel like hills. I would like to thank them from my heart and a special thank you to the Think Pink Foundation and  my brothers in our monthly forum.

It’s not to say, that thoughts will always flood in, and the pain is raw and overwhelming and in these moments of deep sadness, I find comfort in LOVE and the special times Vicky, and I always shared.

 “I have reached the top of the mountain, only now I can begin to climb”.

“If you ever get the chance to love a person who knows grief, don't let them go.

You see the thing about grief is its exclusive, it consumes life, it taints everything a little grey. It won’t hesitate to remind you that everyone and everything you love will disappear someday.

But I’ve found that the people who carry grief, love with a fierceness that no one else knows.

They understand what’s at stake because they've had to let someone go.

So, they remember the little things, and show up when it counts.  They know life is rare, you won’t have to spell it out.  So don't take for granted the people who know loss. For they know more about love because they know what it costs.”

                                                                                                                    Kimber Leigh

“There is a place that I’m searching for. It’s in the horizon, it’s just around the corner, it’s an inlet of calm water, refreshingly cool and clear to the depth of the oceans floor. Its calm and my mind is calm.

But now I am in a rip again, taking me out to trouble waters, behind the breaking waves. The waves come in a set of three. All things come in threes. Crashing and pulling me below the water’s surface, I struggle to breath, tossed around like a washing machine. I somehow manage to reach the surface and breath again until the second and third waves pull me back down under the surface again. Suddenly my feet meet the ocean’s floor. Thinking quietly to myself, thank God that's over, now let’s get to calm waters and that inlet, but the waves come again and again, some of them more intense and violent than the others.

This is my grief, the set of waves representing my loss, loneliness, and acceptance.

The inlet of calm water is the only place I can arrive at, only to lie down and surrender. This is the only place where the sun and the sea can heal me.”

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”