A perfect August morning greeted a record number of participants at Moama’s Kerrabee Soundshell for the 10th edition of Johnno’s Run.
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Community Living and Respite Services chief executive officer Leah Taaffe was overjoyed with the running of the event, which saw 340 participants complete either 21.1km, 10km or 5km, with the day a resounding success.
“It went really, really well. I’m really happy with how our second attempt at doing this has gone,” she said.
“We had absolutely fantastic participation, we got close to 340 people on the day. So that’s absolutely fantastic, helped by the weather, because it is just a stunning day.
“We’ve had really good feedback already from people who ran the course and participated who just loved it and said it was just so beautiful.
“I couldn’t be happier with how the day went and the amount of people who participated and got out and did something fun and energetic on a Sunday morning and also helped us raise money to house people with disability.”
Hayley Newman took out the 21.1km event in a time of one hour, 23 minutes and 38 seconds, just ahead of the first male across the line, Ian Eisenhuth, who recorded a time of 1.28:50.
Jamie Soares was first across the line in the 10km event, crossing in 39:38, while Kati McLeod was the first female to finish in a time of 42:48.
Tom Arthurson ran a blistering 18:50 to win the 5km event, while Allira Edgar claimed the honour of first female across the line in 23:19.
The Opening Doors Project provides support and increases the independence of those in the community living with physical or intellectual disability by building innovative housing.
All funds raised from Johnno’s Run will go towards the new Opening Doors Project house, with a final tally expected in the coming days.
“We’ll have a final tally at some point later this week when we’ve had a chance to sit down and look at those numbers,” Taaffe said.
“But I think we’ll fundraise somewhere around $20,000 to $25,000 and we’ll be absolutely thrilled with that.”
The 340 participants who ran or walked the course was a big step up from last year’s number, with Taaffe keen to see the event continue to grow.
“Last year we had 233 in total, so to have 100 more people come along this year is just absolutely brilliant,” she said.
“Hopefully next year we will do the same and we’ll have 433 people join, which would be really great.”