Shortly before the start of the Lindsay Kent Memorial Fun Run last year, I was asked by a visitor from Melbourne to name the charity that the event supported.
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There was the sting of a challenge in her voice, as if to say the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club, which had been providing this popular low-cost Easter Sunday event for over 35 years, had no right to the very fundraiser that keeps this 52-year-old club afloat.
But she had paid her $10 entry fee and was entitled to know where the money was going.
I explained that major fun run charities, worthy as they all are, fetch upwards of $45 to $75 per person and up to $50 per child, which is beyond the range of most families.
"We are charitable by nature as are all the local businesses that donate prizes for a great percentage of runners," I said.
"We offer free membership for first year runners, provide alternatives for mums and dads who would rather their kids don't play football and have members still enjoying healthy activity in their 70s."
The SACCC and its sister club, the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club both conducted charity events last year.
The Amateurs raised $2200 for the fight against Motor Neurone Disease.
Last October, the SACCC supported Eastern Grampians Health by staging a Fun Run at the Chalambar Golf Course, helping to raise funds for the purchase of a much-needed plinth chair.
This year, thanks to an initiative by the Northern Grampians Shire, both these charitable running clubs will benefit from an injection of resources.
This extra boost will enable them to mount a bigger and better fun run, with even more generous prizes.
The new look five-kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial Fun Run and three-kilometre walk/run will be more closely linked with the Stawell Gift festivities and will include a pathway lap around the hallowed turf of Central Park as well as a challenging climb for a spectacular view of the town from Big Hill.
This will necessitate a move away from the traditional start and finish in the Stawell racecourse car park to the Gift and Town Hall precinct, together with a slight cost increase in line with the value of winning sashes, random sashes and prizes.
Both clubs begin their cross country season on the last weekend of this month.
They race under handicap conditions, allowing the youngest, the oldest, the fastest and the slowest to vie for sashes, trophies and prizes donated by generous sponsors.
- Keith Lofthouse conducts free running drills and a Fun Run warm-up at Central Park every Monday from 6pm sharp.