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<\/p>\nNOT many people have the mental fortitude to complete a marathon at any stage throughout their entire life, but Geelong\u2019s Richie Egan has just completed seven marathons in seven days as a part of the Bravehearts Foundation\u2019s 777.<\/p>\n
Last week child protection organisation, the Bravehearts Foundation, held its annual 777 Marathon in the state of Queensland to help raise funds and awareness to combat child exploitation and sexual assault, where participants completed seven marathons over the course of a week.<\/p>\n
One of the participants was former St Mary\u2019s footy player Richie Egan, as he looked to cross off seven of his 100-marathon goal with the added aim of raising funds for the Bravehearts Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had not even heard of the 777 until I was scrolling through the list of Australian marathons a couple of years ago,\u201d Egan said.
\n\u201cBut it was late last year when I decided to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Egan set up a fundraising page prior to the event and set a goal of $10,000 to be raised.<\/p>\n
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Since then, the 22-year-old has surpassed his target raising more than $10,500 in donations which will go directly into education programs in schools, counselling services and more.<\/p>\n
According to Egan, following his fifth leg of the seven \u201cit got real\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout halfway through the fifth leg my Achilles were really starting to feel it and it just hurt to land. There have been about 30 national runners who have been on this journey together with me and with all the high fives and cheering, it has been wild,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a COVID-19 version of previous 777 events, this year\u2019s legs remained in Queensland, with legs one and two in Toowoomba, leg three in Mt Isa, and legs four and five in Cairns before the event was cut short.<\/p>\n
Due to the most recent lockdowns in other states around Australia, Egan chose to complete his sixth and seventh marathons at home in Geelong and then in Melbourne over the weekend, capping off what he described as \u201cthe biggest week of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe thing I love about running,\u201d said Egan, \u201cis it gives you the greatest return for what you put in. The more work you put in, a lot of the time you are going to get a reward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final day of Egan\u2019s 777 run also marked the end of what was his 520-day continuous running streak and the 22nd of the 100-marathon mission that he decided to undertake a few years ago.<\/p>\n
He will now enjoy his much-needed rest until the next event appears on his radar \u2013 set to be marathon number 23.<\/p>\n
To get up-to-date information regarding Richie\u2019s 100-marathon goal, follow along on his Instagram page @my_marathon_mission100.<\/p>\n
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NOT many people have the mental fortitude to complete a marathon at any stage throughout their entire life, but Geelong\u2019s Richie Egan has just completed seven marathons in seven days as a part of the Bravehearts Foundation\u2019s 777. Last week child protection organisation, the Bravehearts Foundation, held its annual 777 Marathon in the state of […]<\/p>\n