The Mindful Miles 2021

Ever gone for a run in the rain? What about in the pitch dark? In a National Park? How about for 20 hours?

In July 2021, myself and three of my terrific Plexians signed up to run a range of distances from a half marathon, to 100 miles (165 kms) through the You Yangs National Park in Victoria as part of The Mindful Miles fundraising team.

The Mindful Miles are a team of runners raising money for The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. The Florey Institute is the 3rd largest brain research group in the world, and the largest group in the Southern Hemisphere. The Florey Institute provides funding towards research for the treatment and cure of all neurological diseases, including: Alzheimer's, Stroke, Addiction, MND, and epilepsy.

I’m a runner already so I’ve taken on the challenge to run the 100 miles which is a bit longer than the distance from Melbourne to Shepparton!

My Grandmother, Joan Burns, suffered from Alzheimer’s and my father was diagnosed in 2018 with Parkinson’s, so the work that the Florey Institute does is extremely close to my heart.

Lots of people will have loved ones that have lived with depression, epilepsy, stroke, bipolar, MS or any other brain related issues – this run is to help find better treatments and a cure for them.

While we had initially planned to run over a weekend in July, Melbourne’s lockdown has put a pause on that plan. But being so dedicated to the cause the team ran their run distance in their local area instead. Plus everyone is committed to running in the You Yangs again later in the year - the silver lining here is that there are more opportunities for us to continue fundraising!

The team hopes to raise $50,000 for the Florey Institute. If you'd like to donate, you can donate to The Mindful Miles team or to the Florey Institute directly.