It’s been 10 years since Ocean Grove residents Dion and Liberty Milne decided to take their favourite local running trail and turn it into a public event, the Flying Brick Sunset Run.
There have been challenges along the way – a global pandemic, to name just one – but Mr Milne said it had been “quite humbling” to see it grow from the two of them to the expected field of nearly 2000 runners taking part this Saturday, February 8.
“To think, when we pitched the idea to Flying Brick 10 years ago we were talking about 350 people, and (this year) we’ll probably max out at 1800 registrations,” he said.
“It’s been a slow burn; we’ve kept control of our numbers, knowing it was more popular than what we were selling.
“This year (we’re) under Lindsay Sharp’s guidance, she said why don’t you see how big it can get? So here we are, 450 people more than the record.
“It’s only Liberty and I doing the whole thing, and we just get volunteers on the Friday night and the Saturday to help actually pull it all together. I’m really proud of what we’ve created.”
The event features a 21km half-marathon from Portarlington to St Leonards and back, a 10km run from St Leonards to Portarlington and the 4km Bully Buster, which raises funds and awareness to benefit kids’ mental health, particularly through exercise.
While the Sunset Run is not a charity, Mr Milne said the Bully Buster was a “good opportunity” to give back to the community.
“I think there are 102 kids running for free and then another 90 running for $10, and we donate that… registration to Bellarine Community Health,” he said.
“I think after this year we’ll have raised probably $39,000 in seven, eight years, and we’re about to hit over 1000 kids having run it to promote health.
Mr Milne thanked the Bellarine and Geelong community for its continued support for the event.
“Whether they’re running or just coming down to watch, or they’re a shop owner or local restaurant that opens their doors and welcomes our runners, to us it’s really special,” he said.
“We live in Ocean Grove, so we are Bellarine people, and we really do try to keep everything local and give the community something to remember.”
