Kelsey Mason had to relearn how to walk after breaking both her legs in an accident last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The horse rider from Haddon had hoped to walk the 6-kilometre event but had surgery on her leg just two days before.
“I entered the walk as a goal after recovering and then they decided that they wanted to remove the rod from my left leg so then obviously I wasn’t able to walk but I still wanted to have my goal of completing it,” Kelsey, who was pushed by mum Leanne and sister Taylor, said.
“I set lots of small goals, my accident was originally off the horse so I had to learn to ride my horse again and a couple of weeks ago I went back and did my first competition.”
***
Paralympian Richard Colman was back in his chair for the first time since Rio at Run Ballarat on Sunday.
The gold and silver medallist lead the 12-kilometre run with fellow para-athletes Sam Rizzo and Campbell Message.
“This is my first time back in my chair since Rio so I put it together, I pumped the tyres up today and went ‘hope it works’.
“We went pretty hard so it’s a good test to see where we are, the chair works and we didn’t crash.”
Message was first over the line followed by Colman and Rizzo, a Ballarat junior who led “most of the way”, Colman said.
“It’s important that we do this and show that can we can do this and this course suits us really well - it’s flat, fast and part of our training run.”
***
X-Factor 2015 winner Cyrus Villanueva is building a bridge and hoping to get his fans over it.
The Wollongong musician released his “bridge song”, Keep Talking, earlier this year after his winner’s single Stone debuted at number 4 on the Aria charts.
“I’ve been tucked away in a studio and I’m writing the next installment,” Villaneuva, who played at Run Ballarat on Sunday, said.
“I hope they love it, it’s a lot more ‘me’.
“That’s the hardest thing, making that transition from X-Factor winner to artist and I think I’m nearly on the other side of that bridge so I’m very looking forward to next year.”
***
Ever wondered how many times you could lap Lake Wendouree in 24 hours?
Runner Ned Whyte lapped Lake Wendouree 28 times over 24 hours, clocking up 173 kilometres in aid of Ballarat Base Hospital.
Finishing the 24-hour run on Sunday morning was “the best feeling in the world,” Whyte said.
“After 15 hours my body decided it had had enough and battled me every step of the way for the next nine hours.”
***
Federation University student Natalia Howlett was cutting fruit and carrying melons from 6.30am for Run Ballarat on Sunday.
"There's so much fruit, we've been up since 6.30am doing it and we've had to move a billion melons through the wet muddy grass," the community services student said.
***
Superheroes Kyle Frew, Jamie Lampard, Brendan Sanders, Stephanie Saliba and Collen Hodge have run Run Ballarat in superhero costumes for four years, each year in different outfits.