One hundred kilometres down, 255 to go, and $30,000 up and $70,000 to go.
That’s where Rebecca Miller stands as she officially kicked off her Ripple of Kindness Project in Parkes over the weekend and her goal to raise $100,000 for four charities over a 355km run.
Before her launch on Sunday, Rebecca wanted to knock over 50km on Saturday, a distance she said she’s never done in one stint before.
She wanted to back that up with another 50km the following day at her official community launch at Northparkes Oval in front of a home crowd.
While the last 15km were very tough, she got there with the help of everyone, massages to ease the tight muscles and some alternative approaches to the final kilometres for stimulation.
“My goal was to get my kilometres up here in Parkes, my hometown,” Rebecca said.
“The last few kilometres [were] really tough, it’s challenged me like nothing ever before.
“I’m feeling a little bit better now – about the 36km mark I thought ‘oh my gosh’, we actually had to go out on the road.
“I’ve had to dive deep, it [took] a long time to pump out those last 15km.”
A rather chilly Sunday morning didn’t stop a good crowd from turning out in support of Rebecca’s mission, including the parents of Lilly Wyburn – for who this run is in honour of – Jodie and Kane.
Lilly battled with leukaemia for most of her young life before passing away in 2017.
Rebecca is wearing a special necklace engraved with Lilly’s name Jodie gave her to help her get through this enormous challenge.
Sunday’s temperatures that were as low as nine degrees – but felt more like 2.7 – were actually ideal for Rebecca, who started running at 6am.
By 10.40am she had reached 37km and a milestone $30,000. She had one kilometre left at 12.47pm.
“It’s been overwhelming, the temperatures really dropped today, I’ve been running in the wind all day,” she said.
“I have 100km in the kitty, only 255km to go and a lot of days to do it – it’s about 30km a day which is so achievable.
“I never have to run 50km again!
“As much pain as it is to get there, it feels so good.”
After a big and well-earned rest tonight, an ice bath, massage and rehab, Rebecca will move onto Orange on Monday.
She’d like to thank everyone who came out on Sunday and for all of their support.
“Thank you to everyone… It’s just been absolutely amazing seeing everybody jump on board,” Rebecca said.
“It blows my mind, I’ve had old school friends make contact, I’ve had other families that had children who have died from leukaemia make contact with me.
“We’re so lucky that we live in these beautiful communities where everybody absolutely supports you.
“When we put our minds to it we can be so kind, that’s the whole idea to The Ripple of Kindness Project.”
She’s running the distance from Parkes to Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney, passing through Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow and Katoomba on the way.
She will be arriving at Westmead next Sunday.
She has a GoFundMe page where people can donate to support her plight. You can also follow her journey on The Ripple of Kindness Facebook page.
She’s now raised $30,978.
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