KAREN Crawley ran The Bloody Long Walk last year and on Sunday she is completing the charity fund-raiser by pushing or carrying a 15-kilogram wheelchair.
Dr Crawley, a GP, of Yowie Bay has a good reason for taking part in the 35-kilometre challenge from Palm Beach to North Head, Manly.
Her daughter Kara, 15, has mitochondrial disease, and the challenge is to raise money to find a cure for the condition shortened to "mito" that can see many bodily functions being lost.
Kara now uses a wheelchair but it is Kara's grandfather's wheelchair Dr Crawley will push.
"I don't want Kara's wheelchair to get wrecked," Dr Crawley said.
She has been training for the event, which includes many stairs and four kilometres of bush tracks.
"I am going to try and run as much as I can and push the wheelchair," Dr Crawley said.
The wheelchair will be covered with the names and photos of mito patients so people can put faces to the illness to show real people.
"The challenges many mito patients face every day like our beautiful daughter Kara, are far greater than anything this 35 kilometres can throw at us," Dr Crawley said.
She hopes to gather many pictures and names to put on the wheelchair to get the message out.
The disease is a genetic disorder that robs the body's cells of energy, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure and potentially death.
Dr Crawley's other two children have abnormal mitochondria and she also answers the helpline, 1300 977 180.
Former premier Barry O'Farrell presented Dr Crawley with the Local Woman of the Year award for raising awareness of mitochondrial disease.
She received the Cook Community Medal in 2012 for raising awareness of the disease.
Details: www.amdf.org.au/
