By BRIDGET COOK
JAKE Ward plans to go the extra mile to raise money for breast cancer this year, as he gears up to run from Sydney to his Cranbourne home.
In December, Mr Ward ran 110 kilometres around Casey and Frankston and managed to raise more than $8000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).
This year he will pull on his runners again and run 1000 kilometres from Sydney to Cranbourne with a target of raising $25,000.
“I wanted to do another run because of the success from the first run,” he said.
“If I wanted to raise even more money, I knew I had to go bigger and better for the next run – I’m just obsessed with raising as much money as possible.
“At the end of the last run, I was so overwhelmed with the support of my family, friends and strangers; Facebook was going nuts and so many people came to visit or run with me.
“My friends and family showed enough support throughout the day that made me want to do more runs. Plus my body didn’t breakdown, so I was very lucky there.”
Like many Australians, Mr Ward’s family has been affected by breast cancer when his cousin Samantha lost her battle with the disease in 2006.
Mr Ward said since then he had made a personal vow to do all that he could to raise money to find a cure for the disease.
He said it would be hard to train for such an epic journey, but was just running as much as he could in preparation.
Mr Ward will leave Sydney on Monday 29 September and plans to run 65kms per day for 15 days and 25kms on the last day.
He urged people and businesses to help out in any way they could including donations, accommodation, training equipment, food and drink supplies and clothing printing.
Anyone wanting to donate can do so at www.everydayhero.com.au/jakeward or by getting in touch with Mr Ward at jakewardmotivation@gmail.com.
