FEARS over bad weather didn’t dampen the incredible atmosphere at the 2016 Bathurst Relay For Life.
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More than 500 participants flocked to the oval at All Saints’ College on Saturday afternoon to begin their gruelling 19-hour walk for survival.
Cancer Council NSW community relations co-ordinator Bree Kelly said the event had grown considerably in the 12 months since it had last been held.
“It was a brilliant event; the atmosphere was great,” she said.
“We had more participants and more teams than last year.”
Bathurst gym Dedicated To Fitness (d2f) gave the event its full support.
Staff members were active at the relay all through the night running several classes, a push-up challenge and a cycling challenge.
Owner Mark Simons said they were able to hit their target of 100,000 push-ups by 7am yesterday, at which point the challenge ended and attentions were focused on the cycling challenge.
Stationary bikes were “sold” to local businesses prior to the Relay For Life and it was up to the community to ensure the pedals kept spinning for the full duration of the event.
“Our estimation is that we did 450 kilometres throughout the night,” Mr Simons said proudly.
“We had two teams, the M’Crystal Family and Wheelercycles, that rode all night long.”
The team at d2f had set themselves a goal of $4000 to raise for the Cancer Council NSW.
With gold coin donations being collected from each person who rode the bikes, and other fundraising efforts, Mr Simons is confident they’ll hit their target.
“I’m confident. We’re still waiting for the final totals and we’ve still got money coming in to count,” he said.
Overall, the Bathurst Relay For Life was able to “smash” the $50,000 fundraising goal, with more money still to be added before a final total can be confirmed.
“When I checked on Saturday afternoon we were at 98 per cent of our target, and with all the fundraising over the weekend by the teams, we’ll smash that,” Ms Kelly said.
Ms Kelly added that organisers were already making preparations for the 2017 Relay For Life and would be continuing a partnership with All Saints’ College.
“Everyone will start hearing from us in about three months for next year’s relay,” she said.
“We’re going to be back at All Saints’ College.”