Mothers Day – a chance to spend time with and appreciate our lovely mums and thank them for everything they do for us.
For some people over the last 15 years, it has also been an opportunity to raise money for breast cancer research by running in the Mothers Day Classic. This year, I was one of those people.

I arrived at Beischer Park in Bendigo around 8:30am on Sunday. It was quite fresh and there was already a large amount of people gathered.
The 8km run was underway, and had been completed by some people already. I was running the 4km option and had roped my younger sister into joining me.
Neither of us have been runners in the past and it was the first time anyone in our family had decided to do a fun run. We set ourselves a goal of 30 minutes for completing the 4km circuit around Beischer Park and the Kennington Reservoir, and we finished in a time of 34:28 minutes.
There were times when I felt the need to slow to a walk, but still kept the pace up as much as possible. I'm proud of completing the run (my sister and I have differing views on how much of it I ran. She thinks three quarters, I think two thirds) and am also proud to have contributed $495 to breast cancer research.
Crossing the finish line and seeing my mum, dad, older sister and boyfriend waiting for me was a great feeling. They were all so proud of us for completing it – and mum suggested making it even more of a family event next year.

I chose to participate in the run because it is a cancer that affects so many people. As I get older and get to know more people, I'm realising that more and more people in my life have been affected by it.

Knowing now that I have what it takes to physically complete a fun run, I'm keen to do more - even though two days after, my legs are still really sore!