Megan McLay, 52, aims to run the race next year on what will be the one year anniversary of her donation.
For most of her life she had not been a runner, but after deciding to donate an organ to a coworker, she went on a fitness kick to ensure the operation had the best chance of success.
Her donation journey began last year when she learned a coworker was facing kidney dialysis.
Asking the coworker if she needed anything, she was told "a kidney".
To the coworker’s astonishment, she took the suggestion seriously.
Being able to give someone hope and change a life for the better was a big motivator.
"It just made sense, ‘I’ve got two, you need one’.
A year of testing followed to make sure Ms McLay would be a suitable donor.
The plan was nearly scuppered when it was discovered that although they had a tissue match, her coworker’s antibodies would have fought and rejected Ms McLay’s kidney if it was transplanted.
However, they were able to join the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange programme, which allows a donor and recipient pair who are incompatible to join a donation chain.
She donated to an unknown recipient also in the programme, and someone else donated to her coworker.
A good level of physical fitness was an important factor in making complications from the surgery less likely, so she made a push to get active, from taking the stairs at work to running further than ever before.
"The fitter you are there, there’s a reduction in all of those side effects — so I started to get really fit."
Running was a hobby she had taken up in recent years, at first struggling to even make 200m.
A 10km run had once been her big goal — now she could cover that distance with just a training run.
She ran her first half-marathon in April, and would have run another in September if it had not conflicted with the donation timeframe.
After donation, she eased back into training again, starting with simply increasing how many laps of the hospital room she could walk.
"In the hospital, I thought, well, if I can run half marathon with two kidneys, what if I could run a whole marathon with one?"
She planned to run the Dunedin marathon next September with the hope of raising awareness for kidney donation.
More than three months post surgery, she now felt just as good as she had done before, she said.
However, the surgery and recovery had been challenging — she was unable to walk in the immediate aftermath.
Although she focused on the positive outcome the donation would have, it was a major operation and there were risks involved.
Walking in to the theatre had been scary, and she said a karakia to herself for strength.
Nevertheless it was something she would do all over again, and would like to help others going through the process, she said.
If she had two spare kidneys to give, she would give both of them — kidney donations from a live donor lasted about two decades, much longer than one from a deceased donor.
She encouraged others to consider the positive impact they could have by becoming a donor if they were able to.
"It’s really important that people do think about it and they do come forward because there’s no other option for people [who need a kidney].
"You can’t just go and buy them."
A good place to start for those in Otago or Southland was calling the area co-ordinator of Live Kidney Donation Aotearoa.
