While some use overseas travel as a pass to skip the gym or polish off a bottle of exotic liquor, the Coetsees see a chance to run 42.2 kilometres in a new country.
The couple has never missed an opportunity to run marathons at home in South Africa, or on holidays in Spain, Sweden, Bermuda, Canada and the US.
Leana and Gerhard Coetsee will tick Australia off their list next week when they race about 7000 other runners around the capital.
"When we started dating, we started running together. So we always tried to plan trips around the world and incorporate a race around it," Mrs Coetsee said.
"Running is medicine for my soul. It has taken me to amazing places that I could only have dreamt of seeing as a kid growing up on a farm in South Africa."
Mrs Coetsee chose the Canberra Marathon Festival so she could visit her young nephew, Janku Joubert, and raise money for the P&C (Parents and Citizens Association) at his specialist school in Holt.
The 7-year-old has a rare neurodevelopmental disorder - MECP2 duplication syndrome - and attends Cranleigh School with 93 other students with disabilities.
Janku is her brother, Stephan, and her best friend Liane's son.
"My brother and I have been very close from a young age. We used to go running together on the farm. He pushed me to be better and really supported me to be good at school and in sports," Mrs Coetsee said.
"It's been hard not being able to support them.
"I want to run the marathon to do something hard, and help them along the way."
Mrs Coetsee went to the same university as her brother, and met Mrs Joubert in the first year of their degree. The three of them grew inseparable and Mrs Joubert soon became part of the family.
"Leana is a very special person," Mrs Joubert said.
Fast-forward to 2023, the Coetsees decided to move from Bermuda to Sydney.
"We're expats here, we don't have any support, family-wise. My husband and I only moved to Australia six, seven months ago. [The Jouberts] only had each other and caring for a child with a disability can be challenging. It's also very lonely sometimes ... visiting other people is really hard for them," Mrs Coetsee said.
She said Cranleigh School had "made a huge difference" in the Jouberts' lives, and allowed her sister-in-law to keep working so the family could afford care for Janku.
"Having a school where you can send your child and you know that he's hundred per cent taken care of ... takes a huge burden off your daily requirements," Mrs Coetsee said.
She created a fundraiser for the P&C after Mrs Joubert told her how often they raise money to put back into her son's school. Volunteers use funds to buy cots for students who nap, and games which build motor skills, colour recognition and cooperative play.
The P&C frequently also hires a coffee van to thank school staff at the end of each term.
Mr Coetsee's workplace has already pooled in $1055 to support the Jouberts' P&C.
"It's going to be nice to see them on the sidelines, supporting us in the marathon, and know that we have each other's backs," Mrs Coetsee said.
