Organiser Shaun Moore with fellow paramedic Thomas Manallack.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
From Yarrawonga to Shepparton, a charity run and bike event set to traverse up to 300km of the Hume region has kicked off to a flying start.
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Before the clocked chimed 11am on Monday, April 7, the first runners in the event crossed the line at Ritchies IGA in Cobram.
They included organiser and Shepparton-based paramedic Shaun Moore and Cobram paramedic Thomas Manallack.
Mr Manallack was pleasantly surprised by how well he felt after his 40km run.
“The legs feel really fresh, I think we had a really good weather turnout this morning, the sun wasn’t too hot,” he said.
“I think that a lot of the time, not just in emergency services, everyone puts their mental health last, and you don’t really check in with yourself. As human beings, we kind of leave ourselves last and like to help others.
“So this more is like an awakening with myself to check in with me and bring awareness to other people.”
The entourage embarked from the Ambulance Victoria unit in Yarrawonga around 6.30am on Monday, April 7.
As the sun rose, the runners wound westward along farm tracks and dirt roads, followed by a support van and, later, a flock of personnel who opted to cycle.
The emergency services personnel who ran and cycled met in the car park at Ritchies IGA in Cobram for a feed and refreshments before the next leg of their journey.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
Running As One aims to raise funds for the Code 9 Foundation, a charity that provides mental health and wellbeing support for emergency services personnel.
The event has already surpassed an initial goal of $20,000.
Mr Moore said he wasn’t feeling too bad after running his 40km.
“Probably better just to know we’ve ticked one of the days off in one piece, and ready for recovery and then another almost-marathon distance tomorrow,” he said.
“As you would know, it’s been 40°C every other day. Today it was a balmy 10°C. I was ready to put my arm warmers on, to be honest.”
Alongside raising funds for the Code 9 Foundation, the endurance event aims to achieve several things.
“We’re really trying to promote that it’s okay to need help with your mental health,” Mr Moore said.
“We’re trying to get the emergency services in this upper Hume region closer as well.
“Up here, there’s lots of mass casualty jobs, lots of MVAs (motor vehicle accidents), lots of traumatic jobs up here, which take a toll on everyone.
“We’re humans as well, the same as the rest of the population. It’s good for us to let each other know that we all need to look out for each other and for the community to understand as well what we go through.
“We all do so many jobs together — cops, firies, ambos. So one step was all of us coming together to do something, and it got bigger and bigger, so we’re just going through all of these branches in the Hume region to get that closer connection.
“And from that, it spreads the word in the community, too. And we’ve seen an amazing result with that at our recent charity night, where we had up to 30 local businesses more than happy to make [a donation].
“It just showed how much they want to give back to us.”
Over the event’s seven days, emergency services personnel will run and bike almost 300km through the Hume region.
By Wednesday, April 9, the entourage expects to depart Numurkah for the Tatura Middle Pub — a distance of about 76km.
From there, it will be on to Murchison, Euroa and finally Mooroopna.
After over 280km of running and cycling, the emergency services personnel will join the community to walk in a show of unity from Mooroopna to Shepparton on Sunday, April 13.
Find out more about how you can support the event by going to the link at tinyurl.com/3wxp9apn
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