HAPPY MEMORIES OF MUM

IT was an emotional Sunday morning for a Hobart mother and daughter as they completed a fun run that took on a far stronger personal meaning.

Nikki Long is the Tasmanian event manager for the annual breast cancer fundraising event, the Women in Super’s Mother’s Day Classic, and this year she participated in the event with her mother Lorna for the first time after Lorna was diagnosed with breast cancer.

When Lorna was diagnosed in November she set out a goal to complete the Mother’s Day Classic fun run and on Sunday she conquered that goal alongside Nikki and 600 other participants that turned the streets of Bellerive into a sea of pink.

After completing her most recent round of chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday, Mrs Long said nothing was going to get in her way of smashing her goal.

“I wasn’t feeling very good this morning before the event but nothing was going to stop me. I was determined to do it,” she said.

“It’s these challenges that make you thrive. It touches your heart to see how much the community comes out and how supportive people are.

“My biggest word in life now is ‘embrace’. We have to embrace what happens in our life and we have to be strong.

“All the support we get gives us the strength to go on, and I just want to be an inspiration to others.”

Nikki Long said participating with her mother was an emotional moment.

“To see Mum achieve the goal she’s had since November and to be able to do it with her was really emotional and heartfelt,” Ms Long said.

Sandy Burton and daughter Hannah Hughes have been participating in the event since 2015 after Mrs Burton lost her mother Audrey to breast cancer.

“It’s a really good day,” Mrs Burton said.

“It’s a day of reflection but it’s not a morbid day, it’s a day of happy memories and lots of laughter,” she said.

“It’s sad because Mum isn’t doing it with us but we have so many great memories of her so we think of those when we do the event.”

Cassandra Scott and daughter Ava James, 4, were covered in pink.

“My work colleagues and I try to get involved in as many fundraisers as we can, and my grandmother had breast cancer come and go a couple of times, so I feel a real connection to this event,” Ms Scott said.

Funds go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.