CATS SHOW THEY ARE GOOD SPORTS
THE last time the entire Broadbeach Cats playing group was together was at a pre-season training camp in Byron Bay in early March.
And since their season was postponed just a week later, two players have combined to run from their clubhouse, to Byron Bay, back and even a little further.
Cats players Rhys Finn and Sophie Balcombe have both been impacted in different ways by the debilitating multiple sclerosis disease, and so pledged to run more than 250km between them during May to raise awareness and maintain fitness.
Finn’s mother was diagnosed with MS about eight years ago, making his decision to take part in the May 50km fundraiser easy.
“At the start, she was living a relatively normal life but MS has obviously taken its toll a little more each year and slowly degrader her walking ability and memory loss,” the 23-year-old said. “She used to do walking marathons and was pretty fit back in her heyday and then my aunty Trish told me she was taking up the 50km challenge so I decided to take it up as well.
“It’s a great way to keep fit and get the word out there about MS and how much of a terrible disease it is.”
As of yesterday, Finn has already run 151km and raised nearly $2500 but has no plans of stopping until the month was up.
After moving to the Coast from Nelson Bay last year, the 22-year-old Balcombe started work as a disability support worker for Multiple Sclerosis Queensland and her sister in law is also battling the disease.
“This challenge meant more to me than keeping fit and raising money,” she said. “I wanted to assist in promoting awareness of what this disease is and to also show support and appreciation of how strong my clients and sister-in-law are.”