Kirrily Dear to open The Steps Together Ultra Marathon film at Nelson Bay Cinemas and to talk at Tomaree High School

Ultra marathon runner Kirrily Dear covered 1300 kilometres in 2017 to bring awareness to domestic and family violence.

Anti-domestic violence campaigner Kirrily Dear will stride into Nelson Bay this weekend where she expects to find a groundswell of support.

Ms Dear made national headlines with her run from Broken Hill to Sydney – a trip of 1300 kilometres – in 19 days.

Women around the country, including a team of 10 from Port Stephens, undertook a virtual race against the marathon runner.

A film made to commemorate Ms Dear’s journey will be shown on Saturday night at Nelson Bay Cinemas.

“I’ve followed the film around and what’s inspiring is to see people leave the cinemas inspired, not only to take steps against domestic and family violence but to generally feel empowered,” she said.

“One person can create change – the film talks about this – how it all starts with a conversation.”

The film follows Ms Dear from the vast, quiet scenery back to the noise and congestion of Sydney, making it a film packed with contrasts.

Ms Dear said she especially looked forward to catching up with the Port Stephens women who did the virtual run.

“Travelling around the country I’ve been meeting these women that were merely icons on a map who were racing me,” she said.

“Showing this film I’ve been able to meet a lot of them. The Port Stephens community has already done a lot but I hope this film and my visit motivates them to do more.”

Ms Dear will arrive on Friday when she will deliver a presentation to Tomaree High School students.

On Saturday morning she will join with the Reclaim the Run supporters to take over Fingal ParkRun.

The 25-minute screening of The Steps Together Ultra Marathon will conclude her weekend in Port Stephens.

It has been estimated that 935,600 Australian women and 824,300 men had their first experience of physical abuse before the age of 15, with a parent reported as the largest proportion of perpetrators, according to an Australian Human Rights Commission report in 2015.  

Tickets to the film cost $20 with proceeds to RAV and the Yacaaba Centre. The screening will start at 6pm.