Running for love has turned into running for someone you love, with a surge in registrations for the runners’ waves at next month’s Women In Super Mother’s Day Classic.
Recent trends have seen Australians switching from dating apps to running clubs, and this year participants in the Mother’s Day Classic will be lacing up for charity both in the name of love, and in support/memory of someone diagnosed with or having survived cancer.
Australia’s favourite fun run and walk, the Mother’s Day Classic, to be held on Sunday, May 12, has seen a 20 per cent increase in registrations to date, with 34 per cent of those registering to run, 25 per cent up on 2023.
Since the event’s inception in 1998 there have been over 1.6 million participants, and the Mother’s Day Classic community has donated $44 million to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to fund life-saving breast cancer research. Their contributions have helped increase the five-year relative survival rate breast cancer patients from 84 per cent to 92 per cent.
In 2024, the Mother’s Day Classic has taken a monumental step by introducing the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) as a second beneficiary of fundraising, aiming to increase the five-year relative survival rate for ovarian cancer which is just 49 per cent.
With proceeds from the 2024 Mother’s Day Classic being donated to both the National Breast Cancer Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, participants can choose to support and fundraise for breast cancer research, ovarian cancer research, or both.
One runner taking part is 12-year-old Sam Byrnes from Patterson Lakes in Victoria, with something special in his stride.
Sam lost his mother Jordy to ovarian cancer in October last year and has taken up running with the goal of tackling the 7km run at the Mother’s Day Classic, and fundraising for research into the disease that took his mum’s life.
Jordy is with Sam in every step of training, as he wears her runners in her honour, his motivation and inspiration to keep on running. Sam has raised more than $3000 so far.
Mother’s Day Classic CEO, Zara Lawless, said the increase in registration numbers is a great testament to the timely expansion of the event.
“2024 has already been a big year for the Mother’s Day Classic, with the inclusion of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation as a beneficiary alongside the National Breast Cancer Foundation. And the increase in early registrations is a positive step towards funding vital research for two of the most harmful cancers in women,” said Lawless.
“For the last 26 years we’ve been grateful for the contribution from the Mother’s Day Classic community, which has produced a remarkable impact on breast cancer stats. However, the job is not done, and we now look ahead to also making a difference in the numbers of the ‘silent killer’, ovarian cancer.”
