THERE will be roses for mums who cross the finish on Sunday morning, opting to start their Mother’s Day doing their bit to fight cancer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Breast cancer survivor Lisa Hayden has armed a large team from Hayden Real Estate to present about 800 roses for the Mother’s Day Classic at Lake Wendouree. Those not handing out roses will be walking or running on Sunday morning.
The flowers are a special touch for an event close to the heart of a lot of Hayden employees, who have been affected by breast cancer.
Ms Hayden, two saleswomen and two sisters of staff have been diagnosed with breast cancer and all were under the age of 45.
“But we’re all still alive because of the wonderful advances in treatment which come from research,” Ms Hayden said. “The event can be really emotional. It’s quite incredible to see the sea of pink walking the lake. There is an emotional tribute wall and teams of people walking to honour a loved one who has died or is going through treatment.
“Lots of family come out and it’s the way they start their Mother’s Day together.”
The Classic is a mass-participation event run simultaneously in 96 locations across Australia.
All money raised goes towards National Breast Cancer Foundation-endorsed research. The event as a whole raised $3.1 million last year funded key research projects across Australia.
Ms Hayden said the best way to fight cancer for the long run is by research. Hayden Real Estate has been involved since the first Ballarat event in 2009.
Mother’s Day Classic Ballarat had about 950 registrations by the online registration cut-off on Thursday. Organisers expect the event to easily top 1000 participants by the weekend with walk-up registrations.
About half of Ballarat participants have registered to walk, either the six-kilometre or 12km events. The other half will run either 6km or 12km about Wendouree Parade.
Ms Hayden said Alfredton Rotary Club and Wendouree Breakfast Rotary had been working hard behind the scenes to prepare and pull off the Mother’s Day Classic in what is a year-round organising effort.
On-the-day registration is open from 7.30-8.45am on Sunday morning with events to start in waves from 9.20am after an official welcome, one minute’s silence and warm-up. Details: mothersdayclassic.com.au.
