Moranbah to Mackay Ride for motor neurone disease
There is no known cause and it can impact anyone at any time regardless of age or prior health. This untreatable disease is the reason 13 cyclists will this month attempt to ride from Moranbah to Mackay.
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There is no known cause and it can impact anyone at any time regardless of age or prior health.
With an average life expectancy of 2.5 years, motor neurone disease remains an untreatable disease.
When riders leave Civeo at Moranbah Village later this month to help the impacted families of the region, their fundraising efforts will go toward medical research,
A group of 13 people will attempt a staggering 220km on Saturday July 23 for the Moranbah to Mackay Ride for MND.
It is the second time the event has run, with the inaugural ride raising more than $30,000, and the past two rides cancelled because of covid.
Organiser Michael Scholer said so far the event had raised about $18,000 in direct sponsorship and the riders had raised about $3500.
They have also received sponsorship in kind to the equivalent of about $7000.
While the inaugural ride was solely men, this year’s riding group is far more diverse.
“The first ride that we did, it was mainly word of mouth and only a male participated event, not through lack of trying,” Mr Scholer said.
“This year it is good to see so many females involved and when you do things multiple times, word gets around and people want to be involved.
“It is good that we are diverse in sex, diverse in age and diverse in reasons why they want to have a crack at it.”
Mr Scholer was a part of the Magpies AFL Football Club which started its own “Chill Factor” event to raise money for MND, which AFL legend Neale Daniher inspired across the country.
He said he branched out because he wanted to do a physical challenge that also raised money for the disease.
The riders have differing reasons for wanting to be involved, with some saying they wanted to embrace the physical challenge, while others were touched by the immense toll of MND.
“My main drive is after seeing some of the people that have MND, and there is no cure, to see how their life goes in such a short amount of time is pretty horrific,” Mr Scholer said.
“The effect it has on not only themselves but their immediate family, it is destroying.”
Mr Scholer said research and development funding was largely community-driven but he wanted his event to focus on support of sufferers in the Mackay district.
“So for people in our district who have currently got the disease and they need immediate support and that is through various things, whether it is maintenance on wheelchairs, helping them get access to wheelchairs and even support so when they come in to town to visit the doctors, their loved ones can come in and spend the time here with them,” he said.
“It is not about research and development, it is about supporting the people who have currently got the disease.”
Mr Scholer said so far the Mackay and Moranbah communities had gone above and beyond with the spread of sponsorship.
The ride will begin in the early hours of the morning down the Peak Downs Highway and finish at Muscle Garden Gym in Mackay.
To find out more information or to donate to a rider, head to their fundraising website.
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