Dr Zentveld and her eldest son James Zentveld like to encourage each other with different challenges and fitness events and this was key to keep her momentum going in Run for a Cause.

When gyms closed and running events were cancelled, Dr Zentveld set her own running goals and started to build on them.

Dr Zentveld's target this month is to run 500 kilometres for The Ballarat Foundation's virtual event

"I am a distance runner but even when training for marathons I wouldn't normally run the sort of distances I am now," Dr Zentveld said. "With the closure of gyms, I then became a daily runner, which necessarily increased by weekly distance.

"...It started as running 100km a week, then running a half-marathon (21.1km) every day for a week.

"Being outside in the fresh air also helped me to balance the difficulty of being in lockdown with my four children doing online learning for a significant part of 2020 as well as me working from home. Running became an outlet and a way to have what felt like freedom in an environment with restrictions on freedom."

MORE RUN-SPIRATION

Run for a Cause is challenging participants to set their own goals to walk or run in November, rather than a set fun-run distance, with the aim to make every step count.

The Ballarat Foundation has nominated children's literacy as the fundraising cause this year, largely due to pressures home learning has put on families and the unknown measures the pandemic has put on families.

Efforts will support the foundation's Ballarat Reads program, which features the Dolly Parton Imagination Library that delivers Ballarat children a free book each month until they reach school.

Dr Zentveld, who is an associate professor in tourism and management at Federation University, wanted to support the university as a major sponsor for the event but also to keep spurring on her own running.

Her four children regularly check in on her running progress with James often setting out for a run with her. Run for a Cause helped define a new goal.

"Running is a wonderful outlet for the mind. And the fundraising from Run for a Cause is also for the mind," Dr Zentveld said. "The cause is worthy as reading and having access to reading materials is enormously important; and it is an opportunity to challenge myself personally with a goal."

There is still time to enter Run for a Cause and set your goal: run4ac.org.