Honouring 103 fallen women with 103 marathons in 103 days

Posted on 18 Aug 2025

By Nick Place, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia

Run for them natalie djuric jones — The banner for Run For Them, Natalie's campaign.

As you read this, there’s a good chance that Natalie Djuric-Jones is running. Today is day three of her daunting mission to run 103 marathons in 103 days – one for every victim of femicide (death by domestic, family or sexual violence) in 2024. Natalie is not a runner, but she felt she needed to raise awareness and so she’s hit the road. We spoke to her about Run For Them just before she laced up her running shoes.

Natalie, 103 days is almost one-third of a year. You plan to run a marathon every day for that long?

It’s funny you say that, because yesterday I went to buy some supplements and they come in a tub of 90 tablets, which is the equivalent of three months, and I thought, oh, I’ve just got to get through this tub. Maybe it’s a different perspective or outlook to the ordinary person, but yeah, when you put it like that it sounds crazier than it does in my mind.

All going well, you’ll run your last marathon on November 28. What is that going to do to your body?

I was just a hobby runner when the idea for this dropped in, so I ran and did my first half-marathon to make sure this was something that I wanted to do. I got my husband and we did a half marathon completely unprepared, underfed, under all the things, but since that point I’ve done upward of 10 half marathons over the last eight or so months. I think I have a very different approach to most endurance athletes. I’m a personal trainer and I don’t go into this with the idea that I’m going to suffer. I’m going to do this in a way that is enjoyable, and my number one priority is not to glamorise destroying your body, or your mental health, in pursuit of doing something, but actually adding to the value of your life, adding to the quality of your life and enriching your experience of life.

Natalie decided it was time for action, to raise awareness.

Your inspiration for this mission is personal. Could you talk about that?

In 2019, I was fresh and working my first year on the gym floor before covid hit. I had a client that I worked with and she was one of the first clients who ever signed to work with me, and I saw her three times a week, which means you build a very close relationship. She hired me because she wanted to fall pregnant, and said it was her last chance at IVF, and had me help her with nutrition, hormones, stress management. Most people want to lose weight or look good but she had a bigger ‘why’ and was always a meaningful client who stood out to me. When she told me she was pregnant, in the middle of the crowded gym, we just both started jumping up and down and screaming. It’s my most vivid memory of my time in that gym. She had her baby boy, and was so enthralled by that miracle child, and we went our separate ways. Early last year, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a news story with her face on it. It was reporting on her death, and I went completely numb, it was such a shock. By April last year, there were already maybe 35 or 36 women killed [by domestic, family or sexual violence]. You know, this is not right, this shouldn't be happening, this level of unsafety that I want to say that women feel. As a regular occurrence, [femicide] is just completely outrageous.

(Note: at the time of publishing, the number of women so far killed by femicide in Australia in 2025 was 45.)

The figure of 103 marathons really brings home how many women die in this way.

A lot of people say, Oh my God, 103 marathons! My first thought is, why aren’t we saying, Oh my God, 103 women? To me, the marathons don’t even touch the sides of the stories of those women and the lives unnecessarily lost. This is completely preventable and it’s something that shouldn’t happen, does not need to happen. It’s not an epidemic or a disease or an illness; it’s a behaviour. It’s completely within our control to eradicate this.

But why marathons as a means of spreading this message?

I think women for decades have tried to use their words to portray a message and I think sometimes words aren’t enough, they’re not listened to, and so in my case I guess it’s an act of saying less and doing more. Not just the running, but the money we raise and that money going into action that does so much more than words. That’s not to say advocacy and truth telling is not helpful, but I also think we need to get creative in the ways we get that message out there and contribute to change.

“You know, this is not right, this shouldn’t be happening, this level of unsafety that I want to say that women feel. As a regular occurrence, [femicide] is just completely outrageous.”

Run For Them's Natalie Djuric-Jones

You’re raising money for the charity What Were You Wearing (WWYW), which is such a great name; it says everything. Why did you choose that charity?

Funnily enough, it was the name that caught my eye. I just thought, that’s a charity that knows what they’re doing, and they understand, you know, that “what were you wearing” has nothing to do with it. The subliminal messaging of the name just absolutely caught my attention, so when I decided to run, I got in contact with the founder, Sarah, and she was completely on board, and had such blind faith in me. They do some of the best work that I have ever seen when it comes to not-for-profit or charity organisations. They are responsible for changing a lot of legislation, they run training for venues and staff for drink spiking, they run healing groups for victim survivors that are completely free. Their whole organisation is completely volunteer led so nobody gets paid, which is insane given the gravity of the work that they do. Obviously, if they want to keep operating and being able to deliver free resources, services and impact, they need money in their hands to be able to do that work.

How much money are you hoping to raise?

The target we’ve set is $200,000.

How do we stop this appalling toll?

Oh, how long is a piece of string, you know? It’s such a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional question. I’m just one person and I haven’t been an advocate for very long. I just want to get resources in the hands of the right people who can consider that question and contribute to change. I just want to achieve awareness of the numbers. The issue gets minimised, the government isn’t doing enough and women get ghosted and denied the very, very real experience that every day women experience, whether it’s on the most extreme end, which is the numbers of deaths we’re seeing, or in covert, subliminal ways where women’s safety is threatened on a daily basis. If we want to do something, we need to acknowledge that this is a problem, before we can start creating solutions. It needs airtime as a mainstream conversation, not pushing under the rug because it’s in the too-hard basket.

Does the family of your deceased client know you’re doing this for her?

I would say no. She has a lot of family overseas. I haven’t specified her name, especially given she has a child, so I’m very sensitive when I speak of the specifics of her and her story.

It’s kind of like at the Shrine, where there’s the tomb of the unknown soldier. She could be any of the 103.

I hadn’t thought about it like that, but yes, I respect all the women equally, whether or not we had a personal connection.

Where are you going to be running on the 103 days?

Everywhere. I don’t have much of a plan. My game plan is to have no game plan and to take a completely intuitive approach of what each day is going to bring me.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.