Siblings run 10km, raise more than $7,000 for Good Friday Appeal

TWO children from Mount Duneed have raised more than $7,000 for the Good Friday Appeal after running 10km for the very first time.

Siblings Kobe and Judd Leach were joined at Point Danger in Torquay last Friday by approximately 200 supporters as they completed the run.

Many of their classmates joined in at various points along their trek, lending company and entertainment.

Both agreed that it was “the best day of their whole entire lives”, and the support from their peers helped make the run “very easy”.

“It really distracted us from all the pain,” 10-year-old Kobe said.

At the starting line, Judd (left) and Kobe (right) set out on their 10km challenge.

Mum, Tash, said the gathering on the day of the run was “community focused”.

“Everyone was there for the exact same purpose which was that we were just trying to do our bit to raise as much money as we could,” she said.

“Everyone came together for honestly the happiest morning of, I think, even my life.

“The kindness on the day was just so heart-warming and the way everyone stuck together and supported each other was beyond our wildest dreams.”

Kobe and Judd’s fundraiser began in February with the modest aim of raising $500 – a goal almost surpassed in its first 24 hours – and ended with a final tally of $7,260.

“It makes me feel very loved and grateful, and really happy that we have helped change someone’s life,” Kobe said.

Judd, 9, said he hoped the run may inspire others to also complete selfless acts to help others in need.

Judd (left) and Kobe (right) hold hands as they near the finish line, flanked by several of their classmates.

The duo were first inspired to raise funds for the annual Royal Children’s Hospital fundraiser after watching last year’s appeal.

They saw a 9-year-old girl named Novalie, a child receiving treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital herself, raising money for the cause and decided to try raise money as well.

To prepare themselves for the run, they began training several weeks prior, adding a kilometre each week until they reached 10km on Good Friday.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over this training period really reflecting on exactly what we’re doing and how lucky the kids are for the lives that they have and their health,” Tash said.

She said for Judd in particular, training for the 8th kilometre proved challenging.

“I said to him, ‘Mate, you don’t have to do this. You can pull out now. You’ve tried your best’. And he said, ‘I will not stop’.”

Tash said although the weight of what they’d achieved “hasn’t really sunk in yet”, the “awareness that they’ve created amongst children is probably one of the most rewarding” aspects of the journey.

Both Kobe and Judd are now looking ahead to next year’s Good Friday Appeal.