news, local-news, meriem daoui, ross, marathon, 2016, syria

Even before Meriem Daoui blitzed the women's field at Sunday's Ross Marathons, her race campaign had been a success. Going into her first ever marathon, the Hobart 17-year-old’s thoughts had not been dwelling on winning or even preparation, but instead making a difference in a war-torn country on the other side of the world. Disheartened by horrific circumstances being faced by Syrians living in the midst of civil war, Daoui set up a GoFundMe page leading up to the marathon with the hope of raising money and awareness for the cause. In less than two months the page has been visited by 91 donors, who have contributed $3700 to the Australian Syrian Association Victoria. “It's been going on for three years, they're just living in such a hard environment, they have no food, there's bombs being thrown everywhere, it's really sad,” Daoui said. “After seeing this happen constantly I just felt hopeless and I just got an idea; what if I try and raise awareness somehow? “My favourite thing is to run, so (I thought) maybe I could combine those two things. “So far we've raised over $3000 so I’m really happy about it.” Crossing the line in a time of 3:02:35.1, Daoui finished just seven minutes behind men’s winner Ali Foot and shaved two and a half minutes off the previous women’s record set by Holly Claridge in 2011. The Elizabeth College student’s debut marathon performance appears even more impressive in light of a hefty breeze which caused havoc for competitors throughout the morning. “It was a good experience to challenge yourself and then achieve something you thought you wouldn't have achieved,” Daoui said. “It was really windy, 80 per cent of the time (there was a) head wind but it doesn’t matter, it was worth it. “The pain that I went through is just temporary whereas people in Syria, what they're going through isn't temporary, it's always there.” RELATED: 2016 Ross Marathons | photos Byers retains perfect record

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