The Legend of SAM
As September 2026 rolls around, Let's clear something up.
In 2025 SAM popped up to much confusion, and it turns out SAM is not a person.
I know, I know, in 2025 a few people donated to "Sam" thinking there was a real bloke out there smashing out laps around the block. He's not. SAM is our family team name, and its origin story is shrouded in mystery, or born from chaos (as you'd expect from us).
Quick housekeeping note while we're here: While you can donate to "SAM" directly, it’s much more fun to scroll down the page and donate to an individual (because we’re not competitive or anything). So when you're ready to support us, you'll be helping to give someone bragging rights, and of course supporting a great cause!
Here's what actually happened.
Last year, someone in the family needed to register a team name in about four minutes flat, because registration was closing and nobody had thought about it until that exact moment.
No group discussion. No vote. No creative process whatsoever.
And now, a year on, nobody has bothered to actually confirm that's what it stands for. It's just become one of those family facts everyone nods along to. Could have a simple explanation. Could be a story that's evolved over twelve months of nobody asking a follow-up question. We may never know.
So this year, I've decided SAM can stand for whatever we want.
Some frontrunners so far:
Stubborn Aussies Moving
Still Avoiding Marathons
Someone's Always Moaning (accurate, this is a family challenge after all)
Feel free to submit your own. Bonus points if it's ridiculous.
Now, the real twist for 2026: I'm in charge.
Yep. The family has handed over the reins, and I am now Team Captain of SAM. Whether that's a good idea remains to be seen. I've been given a fundraising goal, and apparently the responsibility of "keeping everyone motivated," which is a big ask of someone who once talked himself out of a walk because it looked "a bit windy."
But here we are. The team is moving for at least 30 minutes a day, every day, throughout September, to raise money and awareness for Australians living with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Over 180,000 Aussies live with IBD, there's no cure, and funding is nowhere near where it needs to be. That's the actual point of all this — the acronym jokes are just how we keep ourselves (and hopefully you) entertained along the way.
Our goal this year is $3,000, and right now that number is sitting at a very motivating $0, so there's genuinely nowhere to go but up.
The team page was only set up today, so keep an eye out — more family members will be jumping on with their own pages as the challenge gets closer. The more of us moving, the more this thing grows.
If you'd like to support the actual humans behind the mysterious acronym, head to each person's individual page to donate — it all adds up on the SAM team tally. Or jump onto my personal page and follow along for daily updates, questionable decisions, and whatever SAM ends up standing for by the time October rolls around.
Let's do this.
— Kyle (Team Captain, apparently)
Disclaimer:
So I don’t get in trouble, the truth is they smashed our three surnames together — Savage, Allen, Mattiazzi — hit submit, and SAM was born. But you can’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.
