Stronger Together: The Stories Behind Our 6-Week Community Challenge

At First Base, we believe fitness is about so much more than what happens inside the gym.

It’s about community. It’s about showing up for one another. And sometimes, it’s about using the strength we build together to help someone through one of the hardest seasons of their life.

This year, we’re bringing our community together for our 6-Week Community Challenge — and this time, there’s a very special reason behind it.

The challenge will raise funds and awareness to support two local families who have been navigating incredibly difficult journeys: Melainie and her family, and Suzie and her son Richie.

Melainie’s Journey

Many of our First Base members will know Melainie.

Over the past 18 months, her life has changed dramatically as she navigates serious lung disease and works towards a double lung transplant. This diagnosis was coupled with finding out she was pregnant with her first baby. Melainie has navigated pregnancy and the early months of parenthood with incredible determination and positivity.

Recently, she completed a 5km walk — something that took nine months of training to achieve.

“It honestly felt so nice to achieve something hard that I had set for myself and raising awareness about organ donation was the absolute cherry on top.”

For Melainie, the walk was about far more than completing 5km. It was about setting herself a goal, working towards it and proving to herself what she could still achieve.

She now attends physiotherapy twice a week at the Kirwan Health Campus community physiotherapy gym, where she spends hours completing monitored exercise with little Fletcher by her side.

Because Melainie needs to train with oxygen and maintain as much leg strength and muscle mass as possible, exercise has become an incredibly important part of preparing her body for a potential double lung transplant.

She believes maintaining her strength has also played a huge role in allowing her to continue caring for Fletcher while her husband works. Despite everything she is facing, Melainie continues to focus on what she can do. She is also passionate about raising awareness around organ donation, hoping her story can encourage more people to register and have conversations with their families.

Melainie has generously told us that she is currently managing financially and would rather see the funds raised through our challenge support another local cause.

She suggested that a portion could potentially go towards Brighter Lives at Kirwan Health Campus, helping support the community physiotherapy gym where she spends so much of her time.

For Melainie, raising awareness is just as important as raising money.

And that is something our community can all help with.

Suzie and Richie

Another First Base family is currently facing an incredibly difficult journey.

Suzie is a long-standing member of our community. Her son, Richie, is undergoing treatment for leukemia.

The past year has involved treatment, travel, uncertainty and some incredibly challenging days for their family.

After many conversations with their oncologist, Suzie and her family have made the decision to remain in Brisbane until December so Richie can continue receiving the treatment and care he needs.

It means another period away from home, family and normal life. It's an incredibly tough road for any family to walk. While we can't take away what they are going through, we can remind them that they are surrounded by people who care.

Why We're Doing This Challenge

The First Base 6 Week Community Challenge isn't just about getting fitter.

It's about creating something positive out of incredibly difficult circumstances.

It's about women coming together, training together, challenging themselves and knowing that their efforts are helping support people within our own community.

We want this challenge to celebrate strength in all its forms.

The physical strength it takes to complete a workout.

The mental strength it takes to keep showing up.

The determination it takes to train for nine months to complete a 5km walk.

The strength it takes for a mum to support her child through cancer treatment.

And the courage it takes to keep moving forward when life looks completely different from what you imagined.

More Than a Fitness Challenge

Throughout the challenge, we'll also be using our platform to raise awareness about organ donation, inspired by Melainie's journey.

We'll encourage our community to have conversations with their families and consider registering as an organ donor. We'll also be raising funds for Childhood Cancer Support. This is the organisation that has helped support Richie and his family during his treatment.

Every person who joins this challenge becomes part of something bigger than a six-week fitness program.

You don't need to be the strongest person in the gym.

You don't need to be the fastest runner.

You don't need to have completed a challenge before.

You simply need to be willing to show up, have a go and support the women around you.

Because when a community comes together, we can do more than we can do alone.

Join the First Base Community

Our 6 Week Community Challenge is open to teams of four, and we would love to see friends, families, businesses and First Base members get involved.

Enter your team by August 17 for $199 per person. After August 17, the price is $249 per person.

Your entry includes:

Race entry
6 weeks of unlimited training
The opportunity to train with your team
The chance to win up to $2,000 in cash prizes
And, most importantly, the opportunity to support people in our local community.

This challenge was inspired by two incredibly strong families.

Melainie, who continues to fight for her health while raising awareness about organ donation.

And Suzie and Richie, who are facing childhood cancer one day at a time.

We hope you'll join us.

Not just to get stronger.

But to help make someone else's journey a little easier.