Amber is running a half marathon for codebar!!

From zero to 13.1 miles for codebar! 🏃🏾‍♀️

I'm taking on my first ever half marathon to raise money for codebar, a charity that played a huge part in helping me break into tech.

And when I say I'm starting from scratch, I mean it. I've never been a runner. In fact, I've started and abandoned Couch to 5K so many times that I've genuinely lost count...

So taking on 21.1km is going to be a serious challenge! 😅

Why codebar?

A better question might be: why on earth would someone who absolutely despises running voluntarily sign up for a half marathon?

But in all seriousness, during the pandemic, I found myself feeling completely lost and desperately trying to break into the tech industry. At times, landing my first software engineering role felt almost impossible.

I remember constantly refreshing codebar's job board, looking for junior developer opportunities and hoping someone would give me a chance and codebar gave me so much more than somewhere to look for jobs.

Through their free workshops, I was paired with volunteer coaches who helped me work through technical challenges, improve my problem-solving skills and build confidence in my coding abilities.

Those experiences helped me prepare for technical interviews and eventually land my very first role as a Software Engineer.

Breaking into tech can be incredibly daunting, especially when you don't know where to start or have people around you who can help. Having access to a supportive community and people willing to give up their time to help others made a massive difference to me.

And that's exactly why I want to give back!

codebar is a charity dedicated to making programming more accessible to people from underrepresented backgrounds. Through free coding workshops, mentorship and community events, they help people build technical skills, grow their confidence and access opportunities in tech.

I know firsthand how life-changing that support can be, and I've wanted to give back in a meaningful way ever since.

Why a half marathon?

Running 21.1km is something I genuinely never imagined myself doing. Until, of course, I discovered that when you turn 30, apparently the next logical step is to sign up for a (half) marathon. 😂

And with the race taking place just a few weeks after my 30th birthday, the timing felt strangely perfect.

I'm starting with zero running experience, and I'm not going to pretend I'm looking forward to all those training runs. I even put off announcing this because I knew that once I told people, there'd be no backing out!

But I wanted to challenge myself to do something difficult for a cause that genuinely means something to me.

If I can raise money to help even a few more people access the opportunities and support that helped me start my career, every kilometre will be worth it.

How you can help 💜

Every donation, no matter how small, will help codebar continue providing free coding workshops, building supportive communities and opening doors for more people in tech.
Whether you donate, share this page or simply cheer me on, I'd be incredibly grateful.

Thank you so much for helping me give back to a community that gave me so much when I needed it most.

And please wish me luck, because I'm definitely going to need it! 🏃🏾‍♀️😅