Afterglow spreading message of unity in 10th year

A BIGGER message is set to emerge from this weekend’s Afterglow Trail Run, as hundreds of colourful participants head to the region’s coastline for the annual event.

The run tomorrow (Saturday, December 7) will join Respect Victoria’s 16 Days of Activism, shining a light on the issue that has one in three women experience violence perpetrated by men.

 

Afterglow race director Chris Ord said the importance of the event reaching its 10th edition was not lost on him, leading Afterglow to being one of the Surf Coast’s marquee sporting events of the year.

“We’re super-stoked to get to 10 years, given what the average life span is for fun runs nowadays,” Mr Ord said.

“We’re also really proud to be part of the 16 Days of Activism, it brings real meaning to this event and to do it during a fun event like this, it creates a great chance to facilitate conversations and talk more about this issue in an

inclusive setting.”

As part of the 16 Days of Activism, the event will raise funds for Geelong’s Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre by asking the 700 participants to get their fingernails painted prior to collecting their running bibs.

For each participant who dons the bright nail polish for the run, $5 will also be donated to the centre.

 

“My daughter and drew the inspiration for the nail polish behind the Polished Man initiative,” Mr Ord said.

“Having done it before and leaving the polish on for a week at a time, people tend to ask about it, and that’s how the conversations start.

“It made me to think about bringing it to Afterglow, it makes us all one when we’re all together, and it’ll be awesome to see what that looks like this weekend.”

Afterglow’s 21km run along the Surf Coast Walk is again the most popular challenge this year, while a “half glow” distance of 13km and two “mini glow” runs of 5km will round out the schedule of events.

For more information or to make a last-minute registration, head to afterglowtrailrun.com