Sea of pink turns out for Mother’s Day Classic

MORE than 2,300 people wore pink for a purpose last weekend and participated in the Geelong edition of the Mother’s Day Classic.

Held at Eastern Gardens, the much-loved community event raised vital funds to support breast and ovarian cancer research.

Participants took part in either a 4km or 8km walk or run, or the specialty embrace and honour walk.

A beaming event village played host to many community ambassadors sharing their stories with both types of cancer, as well as special activities and activations for the whole family to get involved in.

Geelong local and committee member Isla Foy said it was a super successful day.

“It went really well, it was well attended, with very close to 2,300 participants coming out. An amazing effort.

“It was such a beautiful day. We got the chance to hear from our community ambassadors too.

“One of our ambassadors Albane is currently going through treatment and raised the most among Geelong participants with over $4,000. A fantastic effort.”

Albane said she thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the event.

“Each year, I run the 8km Mother’s Day Classic in Geelong in honour of my mum and everyone affected by breast cancer.

“This year, due to the fatigue from treatment, I was only able to walk the 4km but I still had the best time!

“Many of my friends surprised me and joined me on the walk! It is such a special event, and I especially love the minute of silence at the start, surrounded by a sea of pink.”

Ms Foy said all eyes are on making the event even bigger in 2026.

“I know years ago when it was on the waterfront it used to hit 5,000, and then COVID hit!

“It’s had a bit of a hiatus and is now building up again.

“It’s getting up there, hopefully we can make it a bit bigger again. This year was certainly bigger than last year.”

Final fundraising figures from the 2025 event are still yet to be calculated.