NZ – 24 Hour Runathon for Milarn Brooks

Milarn Brooks is an 8 month old little girl who has been diagnosed with (ALL) Leukaemia.  She has to be in Starship Hospital with her mother for six months.  The only way for her twin sister to be with her is if their father comes as well to care for her.  This means he is unable to work , therefore their income has been drastically reduced.

Family, friends and sports groups in Hawera recently held a 24hr Run-A-Thon to raise money to help the Brooks meet their bills and expenses.  RRT were thrilled to be able to be a part of this special event.

Participants, family and RRT

The event ran from 12 noon Friday, till 12 noon Saturday and was then finished off with an auction of items that had been generously donated by local business owners for the cause.

Friday brought thunder, lightning , very heavy rain and strong gusty winds to the start of the event.  This did not deter the participants, who did their run or walk, no matter what.  The rain cleared around 5pm, but it was still VERY cold and windy.

Still Running, despite the bad weather

RRT offered hot soup, burgers, warm biscuits and water which were gratefully received by the runners and supporters alike.  Some came back several times!

Pouring rain deterred no one

The RRT team wound up and left at 10pm Friday, and were back onsite at 9am Saturday.  The weather was much brighter. This time the team served Bacon and Egg toasted sandwiches or Burgers, and sausages in bread. These also proved very popular.

Hot food was very welcome in the cold weather

The whole event had an atmosphere of unselfishness, people doing something for someone else, regardless of the conditions.

One lady came into the RRT tent and told us that she thought it was pretty tough (the event), but when she came into our tent and got such wonderful smiling faces, she realised it wasn’t bad at all.

Another participant  said that when the organisers realised the weather was going to be bad, they thought they might move to an easier site, where supporters could wait indoors.  The family and friends all decided that little Milarn has no choice about whether she has treatment or not, so they would carry on as planned and put up with the weather.

RRT raised over $600 for the Brooks family

All food was offered for a donation in return and in doing this, RRT were able to give just over $600 to the Brooks family.   The actual run-a-thon raised over $4500, which will go a long way to support the family in this difficult time.