17 August 2023
The Moreton Bay Regional PCSG recently organised a local Fun Run, which attracted over 160 locals and raised close to $15,000 for local support and PCFA. Moreton Bay Regional PCSG Committee Member John Dowling is the driver behind the event, and shared the below media release with us to share with our readers:
Our biggest and best fun run ever
By John Dowling
Back in 2020, Covid-19 forced us to review how we promoted our group and how we raised the funds to cover all our financial needs: goodbye to our Bunnings BBQ’s. So, in conjunction with the urologists at Redcliffe Hospital we decided to start a Fun Run that included a 10km run, a 5km run and a 5km walk.
To make it a unique and boutique event, a course was mapped out along the picturesque foreshores of Moreton Bay on the Redcliffe peninsula – from the Woody Point jetty to the Redcliffe jetty and back. This Sunday morning run was followed with breakfast at the Belvedere hotel. It was a small event, 50 runners in all, but with a beautiful sunrise, a mouth-watering breakfast, and a host of prizes: the day raised $6,000. It was a truly enjoyable success and laid the foundations for the years ahead.
Fast forward to 2023, our 4th Fun Run, and we can hardly believe just how much it has grown and its positive impact on our peninsula community.
This year, our complement of runners and walkers grew to 160 and raised $14,690. While there were many individual registrations, there were 17 teams and they came from all walks of life, among them; Shine Lawyers (featured in this photo), Mount Maria College Petrie, the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Caboolture Rotary Club, Green Apples Wellness Centre, BDO Private Wealth and our major sponsor, GenesisCare.
The fundraising efforts of some of the individual runners also need to be recognised. Steve Bullock, Emily Whitson and Melissa Everett raised more than $500 each and so many others raising more than $100 each.
While there was a light shower at the start, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the runners and walkers. It was probably the rainbow that also appeared at the start of the run that lifted everyone’s spirits and set them off to a great start. After that, the sun shone through and everyone crossed the finish line with a smile, just as they had in years’ past.
Luke Howarth MP, a member of our group, and a volunteer on the day, helped with the distribution of drinks and runners gift packs. Later in the morning, at the Fun Run breakfast, he did a sterling job as emcee for our raffles: a man of diverse talents.
And he was there to congratulate the runners as they finished. He has been a great ambassador for our group and in particular, our Fun Run over the past four years.
Our doctors really took up the challenge and put their hearts and souls into the event and ran the good race. While others, with a more casual approach, just took a more relaxed walk, but in their own way made a valuable contribution to the success of the day.
The Fun Run was certainly a ‘Broad Church’ event with many running as part of their lifestyle exercise program. Those 10k runners enjoyed the downhill run along the tree lined path at Scott’s Point, on their way back to the finish line.
There were others who were there to experience the ‘joie de vie’ of the Fun Run. They were really living in the moment and enjoying the day. At the same time, they all made a valuable contribution to our fundraising.
The post Fun Run Breakfast at the Komo Hotel was such a rewarding finish to the run. And catering for an exuberant group of 150 hungry runners and walkers was no easy task but the catering staff, although sometimes challenged by a carnival milieu, rose to the occasion.
The delicious breakfast was complimented by a huge array of lucky door and raffle prizes: 30 for the lucky draw and 30 for the raffles. All the chatter and laughter brought a touch of comedic pandemonium, but it was accepted with good humour.
A special thanks to the volunteers, all amateurs, who with the very capable assistance of Luke Howarth MP, did such a great job managing the Lucky Door and Raffle draw.
By the end of the Fun Run Breakfast our runners and walkers were tired but relaxed and ready to head home for a well-earned rest. But they went leaving a generous legacy. Their support and encouragement left more than just a financial benefit, it also left a spirit of commitment to building Fun Run ‘24 into an even bigger and better success.
That support and encouragement translates to a dedication to the vision of the Fun Run; raise funds to support the work of the Urologists and Oncologists at Redcliffe Hospital; Immunotherapy research at the RBWH; and support men after diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer.
For more information about the Moreton Bay group, click here.
Members of the Moreton Bay PCSG committee.
