You Can Two

When trying to impress the person you have a crush on the worstcase scenario would be vomiting in front of them however for Can Too Coach Eoin Doyle and participant Emma Campbell it was the start of something beautiful.

Emma & Eoin

Emma

“When I first saw Eoin at a Can Too training session, I thought he’s such a good-looking man. At our second run he said ‘you’re not running fast enough’, he pushed me and when I reached the finish I vomited.

We were friends for a year texting on and off, so I kept having parties at my house in the hopes that something might happen. I had a bubble wrap party where I covered the house in, and everyone dressed up in bubble wrap. We’ve been together ever since. It’s great that we both love running and swimming as we don’t have that much in common, except loving exercise. When we go to the beach we swim out to a buoy and we go for runs together. When I was training for the Gold Coast Marathon, he wrote sessions for me. I went from being a 6.5min runner for 21km to under 6 mins for the marathon. I wouldn’t have done that otherwise. He’s really kind and generous, he sees the best in everyone and will do anything for anyone. Our wedding is on 4 May next year. During our holiday to Austria, my first-time skiing, on New Year’s Eve we watched the fireworks from the top of the mountain. He suggested going for a walk. ‘It’s a bit dangerous as there’s people letting off fireworks’ I said. He then got down on one knee and proposed. It was a complete surprise. He gave me a proposal ring so we could design the real ring together. One evening we went up to North Curl Curl to watch the sun set and he gave me the real ring with champagne, it was very romantic so I got two rings and two proposals.”

Eoin

“I joined Can Too as the organisation matched my coaching philosophy to foster, mentor and support people. I enjoy the atmosphere within the pods, getting to know everyone and helping them to achieve their personal goals – whether it’s just to finish the race, or to achieve a PB. In my first program coaching for Can Too I was lucky enough to build a friendship with quite a few of the participants, including Emma who was also a newcomer to Can Too. Coaching Emma was a lot of fun, we had a lot to talk about and it was great to see her develop as a runner throughout the program as I pushed her harder.

We became quite good friends and I would attend her fundraising events. Just before we started dating, she shaved her head down at Mona Vale after one of the ocean swimming training sessions to raise money for Can Too.

It’s the participants that are the champions of Can Too because of all the fundraising they do. Emma has raised over $15,000 and I am incredibly proud of her achievements. I waited a few months for her hair to grow back before I asked her out on a date. We have been together for six years and we’re getting married. Another Can Too couple! A lot of our Can Too friends have been asking if there will be an orange carpet down the aisle. (Spoiler alert: there will be no orange at the wedding.) Although I try not to coach her too much outside of Can Too, I have always helped her when she asks. When she was training for the Gold Coast Marathon, I gave her a program and ran a few track sessions with her to build up her strength and speed. I even ran the last 10km with her in the marathon. Emma was quite a poor swimmer when she first started ocean swimming, but she has worked very hard at it and this year she is one of the strongest in the group. We go to the pool quite often to do laps together. I’ve been active my whole life with running and swimming, it’s amazing to have someone to do that with now. Emma is extremely generous and is always trying to give back. She has been both a Mentor and Team Captain and does that role really well, always trying to help people out.”