May 50km - 500km

May is the month for raising money for MS research! There are over 25,600 Australians living with MS and MS Research Australia want to kiss goodbye to MS forever. The 30th May is MS Day and so the whole month is dedicated to moving to raise awareness and funds. The goal is 50km but you can change this to make sure it's a challenge. I personally am a long distance runner so I decided to up the ante and do 500kms for the month!

A number of our Rotary Southbank members joined the Rotary Action Group of MS Awareness for the month with a goal to lace up those shoes, get walking or running and raise money.

As a team we had a goal of $2,500 and the team smashed it with $3,891 raised. Everyone set their own distance challenge and had the month to reach it. Many surpassed their goals with Southbank member Nick Kane setting a challenge for 50km and instead doing almost 250km!

I personally loved the challenge of 500km, which was an average of over 16kms per day. I would wake up early and do 12kms in the morning and then a small run or walk in the evening. On a Saturday I would push out a long run with my longest being 27.5kms in the Dandenongs. This meant

I could have the occasional smaller day to rest and recover for my poor tired legs.

Being a long distance runner, this challenge was a great way for me to continue to train when all my trail races have been cancelled. When I received donations it was also really touching to hear the stories of some of my colleagues and friends who had been touched by MS in their lives and to know that by running I was making a difference. I definitely thought of those people on the mornings when the alarm went off early and I didn't want to brave the cold wet mornings but they inspired me to get my butt out there.

Such a great effort by our team -  Rotary Action Group of MS Awareness.

Check out our page and donate now whilst you still can https://www.themay50k.org/fundraisers/ROTARYACTIONGROUPOFMSAWARENESS