On Sunday 14 October 2012, nearly 300 runners and over 300 volunteers gave their time and energy to the JMB Foundation to help raise money and awareness about the plight of young people who acquire a life changing brain injury. Since the Foundation started nearly 6 years ago, the volunteer work force and runners have contributed nearly 5,000 hours and raised close to half a million dollars for the Foundation. The Melbourne Marathon is the Foundations major fund raiser for the year, and our supporters have done us proud! What an extraordinary effort.
While it is far too early to report the fudnraising success of this year’s Marathon, what I can say is ‘what a wonderful day it was’. The weather was superb – perfect for running – and record participation levels in all events engendered a wonderful community spirit which washed over all of us who were there.
I want to say thank you.
Thank you to all people who ran, walked or just turned up to watch loved ones perform. Thank you to all volunteers, be they first timers who braved the cold early morning to stand guard over the course or seasoned campaigners who marshalled busy intersections and kept runners and pedestrians apart. Thank you to school students from Carey, Wesley and MLC who gave up their precious Sunday morning sleep-in to help us. Thank you to the staff at all three schools for your time and patience in helping us to organise the morning – especially Wendy Wood from Carey, Dimity Harris and Amanda Douglas from Wesley, and Annette Rome from MLC. Thank you to all those connected with the Foundation who worked tirelessly in the marquee, especially Meagan and hubby Tim who photographed proceedings for us. Thank you to all our contributing sponsors – Invesco, Active Feet, Fashion Clubwear and of course IMG, the event hoster. Thank you to the carers at Austin St, James’ home, who in keeping with their unflagging willingness to go the extra mile, brought James to the MCG to share the day with so many people. A special thank you to Nathan Howard, John Nairn and Andrew Mill who roved the course so effectively, delivering shirts, hats, encouragement and lollies to our work force. Andrew Mill was our chief volunteer coordinator who gave up many hours attending meetings and visiting schools to make sure the day was the outstanding success it was. Thank you to Tim McDonald who works so hard for us each year and without whom our connection to the event would not exist. Thank you to Anne McDonald who organises the T-shirt and singlet distribution each year. And – thank you to anyone else who was connected with the day that I haven’t mentioned.
Well done to everybody – except for the person who nicked my cap from the tent, leading to the sunburn I am suffering from at the moment.
We would love to see as many of you as we can back again next year. The support for JMB is so great, the event organisers seem to rely on us more and more each year. We will undoubtedly be under pressure for next year’s event to provide even greater volunteer numbers.
Very warm regards and thanks again,
Andrew Macready-Bryan
For the JMB Foundation