Pre Race Day 2012
Running for a Royal cause
MON 30 JAN 2012
Run for the Kids puts extra spring in step for parents of boy with leukaemia
Running for a Royal cause
CHASING a toddler through the Royal Children's Hospital wards, hoping he doesn't pull his drip out along the way, is the most exercise the Robbins family has managed over the past seven months.
When Owen, 22 months, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last year, parents Stuart and Dana Robbins lost track of their own health as they concentrated on their son.
"We had got to a stage where we had given so much time to him and to our kids that our own health started to go backwards a little," Mr Robbins said.
"We thought we really couldn't be there for Owen properly if we didn't maintain our health."
With Owen and their 10-week-old daughter Maya as motivation, the couple has pulled together a team to run the 14.38km leg of this year's Herald Sun/CityLink Run for the Kids.
Mr Robbins said that despite Owen's illness, his son was as energetic as ever.
"Most of the time in hospital he's running around up and down the wards and we can't really stop him, he's got a lot of energy -- it's like somebody forgot to tell him he's sick," Mr Robbins said.
"It seems so right to do something like Run for the Kids -- because that's all he does, run."
Since it began in 2005 the event has attracted more than 160,000 participants and raised more than $4.7 million for the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
The Robbins family will hit the family computer at 9am today, when registrations open for this year's run.
They plan to join up to 33,000 Victorians on the 5.2km and 14.38km routes along CityLink and through Alexandra Gardens on Sunday, April 1.
Though this won't be the first Run for the Kids the Robbins have participated in, it will be extra special.
"In the past we had run with a social group and I think we were quite disconnected from what it was all about . . . it's a whole new world when you actually realise why people are raising money," Mr Robbins said.
"The resources the hospital has and the people who maintain them . . . it can make a huge difference to the type of day or stay that you have."
To register, log on to runforthekids.com.au. Victorian entries received by March 16 will go into a draw to win a Mazda2 Maxx hatch.
Environmentally Friendly
This year's event will once again incorporate several environmentally conscious innovations. All drinking cups along the route will be recyclable and there will be co-mingling rubbish bins at the Run for the Kids village in the Kings Domain.
CityLink
Transurban, the owner of CityLink, has a long standing commitment to sustainability. Our approach to sustainability is framed around what we call the 'four pillars' of sustainability – marketplace, communities, the environment and employees.
Transurban is committed to understanding the impacts of our business across all of these pillars and doing something about them – enhancing positive impacts and minimising negative ones, engaging with communities and responding to their concerns.
You can read about Transurban's recent sustainability achievements in our 2010 Sustainability Report
News Limited
Through the News Limited 1degree program, the Herald Sun is committed to becoming a carbon neutral organisation. As such, we endeavour to minimise the carbon footprint of all events that we are associated with, including The Herald Sun/Citylink Run for the Kids. Specific activities included
- co-mingled waste recycling
- Purchasing carbon credits to offset all vehicle emissions
- Minimising plastic bag usage
If you would like to learn more about our 1degree initiative please visit us at www.1degree.com.au
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