Running for the Royal Children’s

BACCHUS Marsh Little Athletics Centre has raised more than $8000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

Over five hours on Sunday 1 March, club members ran a total of 227 laps at Mason Lane Reserve totalling more than 90 kilometres.

Senior athletes kicked off the event from 7am before younger age groups and parents joined in.

“Everybody participated in it, and it was a really great day,” committee member Linda Thompson said.

“Throughout the day the kids had their normal program, but they kept coming over and saying ‘we want to run’ … they just wanted to participate which was fantastic.

“There was one stage where we had our oldest athlete passing to our youngest athlete… it’s just absolutely gorgeous.”

Ms Thompson thanked the community and local businesses for their support and said the final figure exceeded her expectations.

“One of the gold sponsors, Back in Motion, attended and they actually offered a free service of doing rub-downs and taping for our athletes,” she said.

“The support that we had from local businesses and the general public was amazing.

“We thank everybody for their support, and I think it’s a worthy cause that’s touched a lot of people’s hearts at some stage.”

This was the first time the club has run a relaython since 2011 and Ms Thompson said she hopes to continue the initiative into the future.

“In the past few years we have done a laps for kids… but with the support we’ve had hopefully we continue this tradition,” she said.

“It was good for the centre, good for the Royal Children’s Hospital and good for the community.”