Run For a Reason: From Melbourne to Sydney - 21 Marathons in 21 Days
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 10:22PM 
A few Aussie gents are in their last few days of a mind-blowingly epic endeavor: running from Melbourne to Sydney. In 21 days.
Running about 42 kilometers a day, that's the equivalent of a friggin marathon a day! Most people train for ages for one single marathon, after which they can collapse into a useless pile of exhaustion and exhilaration at a job well done, and call it good for the rest of the year.
But not Joel Craddock, Nick Hayes, or Ben Maddern.
They set off on June 26, and have been going strong ever since. They've blogged every day from the road and as their most recent post from Day 16 shows, they're still alive and kickin. Their goal is to raise a staggering $35,000 for the McGrath Foundation, a foundation that raises money to place McGrath Breast Care nurses in communities throughout Australia and increase breast awareness for young Australian women.
The three runners are friends who grew up together in Heathcote. In 2009, they did their first long-distance run, going from Ulladulla to Sutherland and running for the Leukaemia Foundation.The 900km run this time sets the bar so much higher, it's almost impossible for most people to even fathom, let alone attempt.
The guys, ages 21-24, are all running with personal motivation to keep them going though, all of them having had someone close to them fall victim to breast cancer. And sadly, Nick recently lost his mother to the disease.
When the trio started their blog for their daily progress, their donations stood at $18,000, thanks to online donations to their homepage and to events they had organized such as a poker day and event at a local high school.
They've currently raised an incredible $22,000, and are still hopeful for reaching their goal of $35,000. If you'd like to contribute to their goal, you can do so by clicking here to donate to Run for a Reason.
If you just want to follow along or catch up on their amazing story, give their blog a read at http://runforareason1.blogspot.com. It's good stuff.
Reader Comments