Our December Member of the Month: Elliott Dowler

I'll start this by saying we are all so proud of Elliott. I had no idea until his nomination of his medical journey that started at just 3 days old. The nomination email honestly made me cry. He is so inspiring, and it makes that video of him and his mum crossing the finish line at the last summer series run even more special, and it was pretty damn special before https://www.facebook.com/reel/1304234873571284 .

Elliott was born with bilateral clubfoot and started treatment at just 3 days old! This involved plaster casting from toes to thigh on both legs every week for 12 weeks. He also had surgery on both feet when he was 9 weeks old. After the casting phase, Elliott had to wear boots and a bar brace all the time until he was 1. Then he only had to wear it for sleeps - right up til age 5!

His treatment was quite intensive for a long time, and it affected his mobility and development. His Mum, Morgana was so proud when recently they completed the ASRWC summer series together. ‘To see my boy taking on 5km races, on trail no less, was so amazing’, it makes her so proud. He’s a resilient kid and has overcome some big obstacles to get where he is now. They are both looking forward to another year of running club events side by side!!

We can't wait to see what running feats Elliott achieves this year; we hear he's gotten some awesome trail runners for Christmas. Awesome work Elliott, we cant wait to run with you, this is so well deserved.