Kareela’s Hailey Maxwell simply loves to run.
So when her grandma died earlier this year, after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Mrs Maxwell decided to raise funds and awareness for dementia the best way she knows how.
She will run 240km early next month during the Coast to Kosciuszko ultramarathon, raising money for the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA).
“It was pretty hard for me and my family [when my grandma died] so I thought I would do something just as hard,” she said. “I’ve been raising funds for CHeBA for a couple of years now and this has certainly spurred me on a lot more.”
She hopes to raise $10,000 by doing the 240km challenge.
Mrs Maxwell said she had only been running for about five years.
“One of my girl friends used to drag me around to events and from there I did a half marathon.”
Mrs Maxwell said she started out simply wanting to lose weight but quickly caught the running bug.
“I just kept increasing the distance,” she said. “I really like a challenge and I think I’m a bit stubborn too which probably helps. And I like to fund raise, and I think people expect you to do something challenging if they are going to donate.”
The furthest she has run was 170km in September, in an event between Newcastle and Sydney.
She said she did not plan on making many stops during the up-coming 240km Coast to Kosciuszko, in southern NSW, which will begin on Friday, December 9.
“The cut off time is 46 hours. I have to do it in less than that so it means not much resting. I will have a support crew though the whole time.”
To support Mrs Maxwell go to the Everyday Hero website and search Hailey Runs.
