October 15th, the day of Melbourne Marathon Festival, brought beautiful weather for running, and what a great turnout of team runners – and walkers – we had this year. We’re pleased to report around 125 supporters donned our signature blue singlets and t-shirts and joined team JMB Foundation on the track. The full marathon had 18 ambitious athletes running, while 29 signed up for the half marathon, 59 gave the 10 km track a go, 11 managed the 5.7 kms, and 8 more sedate entrants walked 3 kms. Ex JMB Foundation Communications manager Sharon Kent was one of those walkers, raising more than $2,000 for the charity she knows does such good work.
The Melbourne Marathon day is always special for us because we see first-hand just how much support there is out there for the Foundation and the work we do. So many people contributed to make the 2017 Melbourne Marathon the success it was. Our dedicated fundraisers appealed to their friends, families and colleagues to contribute to their campaigns to reward them for their efforts, which in turn rewarded JMBF with a total of $20,390 in donations, representing an increase on last year of almost 50 per cent. We thank everyone who started a campaign, or gave to one, and especially to our lead fundraiser Richard Large, who raised almost $6k for the Foundation. 125-plus runners showing off our brand on marathon day made quite an impact and helped to raise awareness of the Foundation. Our very warm thanks to our sponsors, Invesco and Old Carey Grammarians Association Community Support Fund, for so generously underwriting the cost of our shirts and organisational costs again this year. Such significant contributions mean we can put more money where it does the most good – into our grants program to help young people with ABI.
The event couldn’t take place without the huge army of volunteers required to make everything work on the day, and JMBF volunteers make up a significant proportion each year. We are really proud of our 2017 team, every one of who put in a fantastic effort.
The sun shone, and our drinks stations teams were there to ensure thousands of runners stayed well hydrated. Our course marshals did a great job too! The result of these efforts was a $23,000 donation from the event organisers, so if you volunteered – THANK YOU.
We are always so impressed by the support we receive for the Marathon, and we are sincerely grateful for your contribution. Thank you to everyone who joined in on marathon day. We hope we can look forward to having you on board again in 2018.
