Eliza Moloney says she was a passionate runner, jogging around Lake Burley Griffin most days as part of her morning routine.
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That was until 2017, when a trip to the doctor after severe headaches and problems with depth perception revealed something far more worrying.
"I went to the doctor and had a CT scan and they told me that found a growth near my brain," Ms Moloney said.
"I then went to Canberra Hospital and got an MRI and was told that I had a brain tumour, it all happened very quickly."
The then-24-year-old was diagnosed with craniopharygioma, a rare brain tumour that developed near the pituitary gland, which doctors said had most likely started developing when Ms Moloney was a child.
A month later, she was in surgery for more than eight hours to remove the tumour, although the hard part was yet to come.
"The surgery took a very strong toll on my body, it was really intense," Ms Moloney said.
"I didn't work for five months, my fatigue was extreme, and my ability to do exercise was really impacted."
After developing arthritis and chronic pain in the wake of the surgery, Ms Moloney set herself a goal to get her fitness back on track following the surgery: run in The Canberra Times Fun Run.
While a few setbacks forced her to miss the first fun run post surgery in 2018, Ms Moloney says she is ready to go for this year's event, and will run the 10-kilometre course on November 10.
But she won't be running alone, being part of a team of seven named No Brain No Gain, helping to raise money for the Brain Tumour Alliance Australia, already raising $7000.
"One thing that helped me getting to come to terms with everything after my recovery was taking part in peer support with the Brain Tumour Alliance," Ms Moloney said.
"It can feel isolating to having brain tumour surgery and not knowing many people who had gone through the same thing, but through the meetings, I got to talk to others with the same experience."
Ms Moloney says she started getting back into training ahead of the fun run a month ago, and while she isn't running as much as she used to, she's found other ways to get fit ahead of the event.
"I've supplemented it with swimming to give my body a break but maintain the level of cardio fitness," she said.
"Because of the pain after surgery, I've learnt to love hiking a lot, walking up Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain a lot."
For Ms Moloney, next month's event represents more than just a fun run.
"It's proving to my post-surgery self that I can do what I I would have been able to do before my life was impacted because of the brain tumour," she said.
"It's going to make me feel really accomplished.
"It's ticking off that niggling goal, and showing that while life can change, you can still accomplish what you want."
- The Canberra Times Fun Run is on November 10 beginning at 7.45am with staggered starts for each distance. To register, visit canberratimesfun.com.au