How runners can help the Australian bush fire crisis?

Australia is burning. There isn’t a pretty or polite way to say it.

Animals were all know, koalas, kangaroos, possums and those we don’t like dunnarts and black cockatoos, are literally burning alive and the ones that survive have no where to live to and nothing to eat.

I’m not interested in getting political and casting blame, you can read all about that else where, getting on my plant based, save the animals, high horse or making you feel guilty, there is enough of that all over social and mainstream media.

There’s also a lot of fundraising going on which is great, but can also be really confusing. With pretty much everyone asking for money, food, goods, water, etc it can all be a bit overwhelming and I don’t know about you guys but a few clicks on my phone barely feels like helping at all.

For those of you who also feel like you need to “do” something, rather just clicking through sad photos and sending money online, here’s a few running related options that have been put together by the local running communities across Australia.

Donate per kilometre run

Australian Olympian in the 5K and 10K, David McNeil pledged last week to donate $1 per kilometre he ran this week. This guy is no slouch and can be running over 120k per week in peak training. Runners all over the country have jumped on board as a physical way of helping out, rather than just clicking a button.

Dave is donating his kilometres to the Australian Red Cross, but you could pick the charity of your choice. Here’s some of the wildlife ones below.

WIRES (NSW Wildlife rescue)

Wildlife Victoria (Victoria wildlife rescue)

Animals Australia

Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park

Zoos Victoria Bushfire Fund

Relief Run

There isn’t an ultrarunner in Australia who hasn’t heard of Samantha Gash. She was the first female and youngest person to complete the Four Desert Race Series. She ran across South Africa, Australia and India for charity. She’s a total badass so it was really no surprise when the epic ‘Relief Run’ flooded every runners social media feed.

If you’ve been living under a rock, The Relief Run is a virtual 5K or 21K to take place over the weekend of the 18th and 19th of January with the entire entry fee being donated to the Australian Red Cross.

You can run/walk/crawl anywhere you like. Lots of community are runs are popping up all over the world so you don’t have to run alone if you don’t want to, there’s sure to be a group run near you.

HERE TO ENTER

Race Directors Raffle

Trail runners are a very community driven bunch, probably because we spend more time chatting and eating at aid stations than we do running. So it was no surprise when the race directors of all the Victorian trail running events put together the raffle to end all raffles.

Here’s the details of the raffle:

“Dear Runners of Australia

In response to the current fire situation around Australia we would like to raise money for the CFA Public Fund, which funds volunteer leadership and development training.

So……LET’S HAVE A RAFFLE.
In partnership with race directors across Victoria we have been able to put together a prize pool of over 30 races for people to win FREE entry when they purchase tickets to the raffle!!

Tickets will be $50 each or three for $100
The raffle will be drawn on Friday 20th January via a live telecast. Winners will be notified in the days following so they may select their prizes promptly.

With events ranging from 5km to 217km, spread this post far and wide to include everyone in the running community as there is a race for everyone on the list and to help support our volunteer firefighters.

PRIZE POOL:
1st Place = 5 race entries of their choice
2nd Place = 4 race entries of their choice from the remaining races after previous winner has chosen
3rd Place = 3 race entries of their choice from the remaining races after previous winners has chosen
4th Place = 2 race entries of their choice from the remaining races after previous winners has chosen
5th-20th Place = 1 race entries of their choice from the remaining races after previous winners has chosen

PRIZES:
Afterglow Trail Run
Bellarine Sunset Run
Berry Long Run
Blue Light Run 18km Maldon
Bogong2Hotham
Brimbank Park Urban Trail Run
Buffalo Stampede
DownUnder135
Duncan’s Run
Goldrush Trail Run
GOW100
Halloween Howler Trail Run
Macedon Trail Run
Maribyrnong Valley Park- Backyard Ultra
Maroondah Dam
Marysville Marathon Festival
Mirrim Wurnit
Oscar’s/Archie’s Hut2Hut
Peaks & Trails
Phillip Island Running Festival
Princess Park Running Festival
Razorback Run
Riverina Trail Run Series Entry
Rock Around The Clock Trail Run
Rokeby Run
Rollercoaster Run
Sharpy’s Beer Run
Surf Coast Century
Surf Coast Trail Marathon
The Tan Urban Trail Run
Three Bays Running Festival Portland 60km
Trail Running Series Gold Runner Entry
Unbreakable Mountain Trail Run
Warburton Trail Festival
Wonderfalls Trail Run
You Yangs Trail Running Festival
Northburn 100
Mt Difficulty Ascent

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

RUN THE WORLD RAFFLE

The folks who created Run Down under (I’ve finally made it to Adelaide!!!) have put together a trip to Melbourne to hang out with Aussie ultra legend Lucy Bartholomew run a race and eat! Sounds like every trail runners dream.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased HERE

Shopping

The running stores and apparel companies are also on board.

If you are injured and the above active ideas don’t work for you, or you would just like some cool gear, Pace Athletic and Fractel running have put together limited edition products with all funds going to WIRES.