GET ready to deck yourself out in pink, because the Mother\u2019s Day Classic returns to Bendigo this May.<\/p>\n
Co-owner of Bendigo Cycles and treasurer of the Bendigo Mountain Bike Club Jo Lythgo is the volunteer host of this year\u2019s event and said she hopes to restore the charity fundraiser to its former glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a participant of the Mother\u2019s Day Classic for the past 10 years,\u201d she said. \u201cI remember it being so great.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did it two years ago when it was virtual and my daughter and I went down to the site where they\u2019ve always run it, and we were the only people there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit sad because I would\u2019ve thought even though it was virtual people would\u2019ve gone to the site and ran it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lythgo hopes she can bring back the \u201ccommunity feel\u201d of the day while raising money to support people affected by the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very optimistic I can bring it back and try to get that same feeling it had all those years ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Lythgo\u2019s close friend and breast cancer survivor Bronywn Keating is this year\u2019s ambassador, and will speak at the event and lead the minute silence for those who\u2019ve lost their lives to the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2020 Bron was doing a routine check and found a lump which turned out to be breast cancer,\u201d Ms Lythgo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt knocked us all for six because she was fit and healthy, and still is now, and it was the first time it was super close to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been such an inspiration; I really wanted a warm story. She\u2019ll talk a lot about community and being fit and healthy, and how important having a village of people around her was.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the day, participants can check out a mini market, a bacon and egg breakfast supplied by the Bendigo Rotary club, a coffee van as well as the usual for the four-kilometre and eight-kilometre runs.<\/p>\n
The Mother\u2019s Day Classic is in its 25th year and has raised over $40 million for breast cancer support.<\/p>\n