The Community Living and Respite Services flagship event has experienced a massive growth in number this year, with just short of 550 runners entered in the event so far.
“We’ve got at the moment 547 people registered to participate and 74 people registered to volunteer, so that’s nearly 650 people helping out or being involved in the event directly in one way or another which is absolutely huge,” said CLRS CEO Leah Taaffe.
“This is our 11th year running the event, and our first as Run Echuca Moama and that name change has had a really positive impact.
“We’ve seen a huge jump in the number of people registered to come and do the 21.1K and the 10K, so that’s fantastic because they were the kind of people we wanted to let know could come and run in these incredibly beautiful surroundings and have a great day.
“We’re really excited to see what our final tally will be on the day and then what our final figure is that we have raised as a result of the event because having that many people participate is what drives our fundraising and so we’re really excited to see what that outcome is.”
The event will begin from 8am at the Kerrabee Soundshell in Moama and features 21.1km, 10km and 5km events, as well as a 400m or 800m junior bolt.
The runners for 21.1km and 10km will experience the sights of the Murray River and Echuca Moama, crossing both the old and new bridges on the course.
Funds raised for the event will go towards the Opening Doors project, a CLRS initiative that looks to build homes for people with disability support needs.
“We opened our fifth project in December and we’re at the moment looking for land,” said Taaffe.
“As we all know, land is quite expensive, so whatever funds we raise will go into that bucket to help us purchase the next block of land for the next project.
“(Opening Doors) is essentially about building homes for people with very specific disability support needs who need a non-standard residential house, so it needs to be more accessible for their particular support needs.
“That costs a little bit extra to build and takes a little bit more time to plan but once you do it what it provides is a safe and secure home that they know is theirs for as long as they want it.
“We know housing is such a critical part of having a stable life and being able to be part of your community so it’s really important for us to be able to make that happen for as many people as possible.”
Run Echuca Moama has been well-supported through community sponsorships.
“(Run Echuca Moama) is a wonderful local project that enables people with disabilities to live independently,” said Jim Cosgriff of Cosgriff Lawyers.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the Echuca Moama townships for supporting such a wonderful cause.
“I understand (CLRS) have got record numbers running and walking this weekend which is tremendous and hopefully the support facilities can blossom across the twin towns under CLRS’ leadership.”
Moama Bowling Club sales and marketing manager George Santos shared Cosgriff’s sentiment.
“It’s a massive investment that CLRS have put into our community, into the event and the likelihood of it being a record event for the town is wonderful to see,” Santos said.
“We wish them all the best, it looks like the weather is going to be on side, and it’s been our privilege to be able to back this and other projects that CLRS has held over the past number of years.”
Other local sponsors include Beechworth Bakery, Edge FM, Edg.space, Radiant Media, Revolution Print, and Worklocker Echuca.
Late entries for Run Echuca Moama remain open and interested runners can even jump on board on race day.
The 21.1km will begin at 8am, the 10km at 8.45am, the 5km at 9.30am and the junior bolt at 10.30am.
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